TRIVENI or Tribeni, the Three Streams, is a village in the Hoogli district of Bengal, in lat. 22° 59' 10" N., and long. 88° 26' 40" E., at the junction of the Hoogli branch of the Ganges, the Saraswati, and the Jamuna. North of the Saraswati is the Tribeni ghat, a magnificent flight of steps. Tribeni was one of the four samaj or places famous for Hindu learning, the others being Nadiya, Santipur, and Guptipara. Formerly there were over 30 Sanskrit schools in Tribeni. At Tribeni, the Makara Sankranti or Uttara yan festival, the day on which the sun enters Capricorn, takes place in January, on the last day of the Hindu month of Paush, and the first day of the succeeding month of Magh. Offerings are made to progenitors, to the domestic genii, and to the universal gods. The ceremonies are performed in the house by the family priest. (1) The great bathing festival on Sangor Island is held at this time ; (2) Bisuva Sankranti is held in honour of the sun at the vernal equinox, in February ; (3) Varuni, the great bathing festival of Bengal, in honour of Varuna, the god of the waters, held in February or March ; (4) Dasahara, held in June, in commemoration of the descent of the goddess Ganga from heaven to save the souls of the 60,000 sons of king Sagar, who were reduced to ashes for the crime of assaulting a Brahman sage ; (5) Kartik, in honour of Karti keya, son of the goddess Durga. All these
gatherings are utilized for purposes of trade.
This very old place is spoken of by both Pliny and Ptolemy. It is a school of great repute for indigenous Sanskrit. The great pandit Jag anath Turkopunchanum, who was Sanskrit tutor to Sir William Jones, and who compiled the digests of Hindu laws under the patronage of Lord Cornwallis, was a native of this village.— Statistical Account of Bengal, iii. p. 322 ; Tr. of Hind. p. 16.