Excerpts from Garhwal Ancient and Modern by Patiram Bahadur

According to Vishnu Purana Book II chapter II,The Ganga descending from the Heavens
divides itself into four mighty rivers, flowing in to four different directions.These rivers
are1; the Sita, which passing by the east side of Meru, runs through the country
ofBhadrashva(identified with Chinain Asiatic Researchers,Vol,VIII,page354) and falls
into the ocean,2; Alaknanda which flows south towards the country of Bhatara and
deviding itself into seven rivers on its way, falls into the sea.;3the Chakshu, which
traversing over the western mountains, falls into the sea,;4 the Bhadra, which washes the
country of Uttarkuru and empties itself into the northern ocean.
Patiram quotes India by Sir John Stachery which says;
The river which comes from Gangotri is the Bhagirathi, one only of the numerous Himal
ayan feeders of the true Ganges. The main stream is that of the Alaknanda, which has a
much larger course, and at all seasons of the year, a much larger body of water than the
Bhagirathi; its most distant sources are on the southern side of the watershed near the Niti
and Mana passes in Tibet, and it collects the drainage of the peaks and glaciers of
Kumaon and Garhwal Himalaya from Nanda Devi to the sacred shrines of BadriNath and
Kedar Nath. These two streams unite about 40 miles above Hardwar at Devaprayag and
are thenceforward known as the Ganga or Ganges.
While the Shastras quoted above appear to differ widely in their descriptions of the
course of the Ganges, yet they are in complete agreement on one point, viz~, that the
Ganges issued from the matted hair of Mahadeva. This has a special significance for us in
so far as it helps our deduction considerably. Alaknanda is derived from the words Alak
(locks) and Nanda (nandini) (a daughter), i.e., the daughter of locks. It will not be unfair
if we incline to the view that Alaknanda is no other than the main Ganges, with the
limitation that the river up to Devaprayag, where Bhagirathi meets her, is known as
Alaknanda, and in her onward course she is called the Ganges. Vishnu Puran also lends
support to this theory. In immensity of volume, in the central position that she commands,
and the circumstance that a group of rivers empty themselves into her bosom-in all
physical features Alaknanda possesses in an eminent degree the attributes assigned to the
Ganges. Moreover, a special sanctity attaches to Alaknanda in the fact that prayags
(sacred pilgrim stations) are found at the confluences of this river alone. We admit that at
the confluence of Jamuna and the Ganges near Allahabad, there is a noted prayag, but we
must not forget that jamuna and alaknanda emanate from the same source and there exists
a special affinity between the two. We derive our authority from the Shastras, but we are
happy to find that we are driven to the same conclusion as that drawn by Sir john
strachey from a scientific and geographical standpoint.