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The rivers of India play an important role in the lives of the Indian people. The river systems provideirrigation, potable water, cheap transportation, electricity, as well as provide livelihoods for a largenumber of people all over the country. This easily explains why nearly all the major cities of India arelocated by the banks of river. The rivers also have an important role in Hindu mythology and areconsidered holy by all Hindus in the country.

Seven major rivers (Indus, Brahmaputra, Narmada, Tapi, Godavari, Krishna and Mahanadi )along with theirnumerous tributaries make up the river system of India. Most of the rivers pour their waters into theBay of Bengal. Some of the rivers whose courses take them through the western part of the countryand towards the east of the state of Himachal Pradesh empty into the Arabian Sea. Parts of Ladakh,northern parts of the Aravalli range and the arid parts of the Thar Desert have inland drainage. Allmajor rivers of India originate from one of the three main watersheds.

The Himalaya and the Karakoram ranges Also see Major River

Groups

Vindhya and Satpura ranges and Chotanagpur plateau in central India

Sahyadri or Western Ghats in western India

The rivers of India can be classified on the basis of origin and on the type of basin that they form.

On the basis of origin : Himalayan Rivers and Peninsular Rivers.

(source: www.wikimedia.org)

Himalayan RiversThe main Himalayan river systems are the Ganga, the Indus and the Brahmaputra river systems. TheHimalayan rivers form large basins. Many rivers pass through the Himalayas. These deep valleys withsteep rock sides were formed by the down - cutting of the river during the period of the Himalayan

uplift. They perform intense erosional activity up the streams and carry huge load of sand and silt. Inthe plains, they form large meanders, and a variety of depositional features like flood plains, river cliffsand levees.

These rivers are perennial as they get water from the rainfall as well as the melting of ice. Nearly all ofthem create huge plains and are navigable over long distances of their course. These rivers are alsoharnessed in their upstream catchment area to generate hydroelectricity.

Peninsular RiversThe main peninsular river systems include the Narmada, the Tapi, the Godavari, the Krishna, theKaveri and the Mahanadi river systems. The Peninsular rivers flow through shallow valleys. A largenumber of them are seasonal as their flow is dependent on rainfall. The intensity of erosional activitiesis also comparatively low because of the gentler slope. The hard rock bed and lack of silt and sand doesnot allow any significant meandering. Many rivers therefore have straight and linear courses. Theserivers provide huge opportunities for hydro-electric power.

The Indus River SystemThe Indus originates in the northern slopes of the Kailash range in Tibet near Lake Manasarovar. Itfollows a north-westerly course through Tibet. It enters Indian territory in Jammu and Kashmir.

It forms a picturesque gorge in this part. Several tributaries - the Zaskar, the Shyok, the Nubra and theHunza join it in the Kashmir region. It flows through the regions of Ladakh, Baltistan and Gilgit andruns between the Ladakh Range and the Zaskar Range. It crosses the Himalayas through a 5181 mdeep gorge near Attock, lying north of the Nanga Parbat and later takes a bend to the south westdirection before entering Pakistan. It has a large number of tributaries in both India and Pakistan andhas a total length of about 2897 km from the source to the point near Karachi where it falls into theArabian Sea. The main tributaries of the Indus in India are Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.

Jhelum

The Jhelum originates in the south-eastern part of Kashmir, in a spring at Verinag. It flows into theWular Lake, which lies to the north, and then into Baramula. Between Baramula and Muzaffarabad itenters a deep gorge cut by the river in the Pir Panjal range. It has a right bank tributary theKishanganga which joins it at Muzaffarabad. It follows the Indo-Pakistan border flowing into the plainsof Punjab, finally joining the Chenab at Trimmu. Chenab

The Chenab originates from the confluence of two rivers, the Chandra and the Bhaga, whichthemselves originate from either side of the Bara Lacha Pass in Lahul. It is also known as theChandrabhaga in Himachal Pradesh. It runs parallel to the Pir Panjal Range in the north-westerlydirection, and cuts through the range near Kishtwar. It enters the plains of Punjab near Akhnur and islater joined by the Jhelum. It is further joined by the Ravi and the Sutlej in Pakistan. Ravi

The Ravi originates near the Rotang pass in the Kangra Himalayas and follows a north-westerly course.It turns to the south-west, near Dalhousie, and then cuts a gorge in the Dhaola Dhar range entering thePunjab plain near Madhopur. It flows as a part of the Indo-Pakistan border for some distance before

entering Pakistan and joining the Chenab river. The total length of the river is about 720 km. Beas

The Beas originates in Beas Kund, lying near the Rohtang pass. It runs past Manali and Kulu, where itsbeautiful valley is known as the Kulu valley. It first follows a north-west path from the town of Mandiand later a westerly path, before entering the Punjab plains near Mirthal. It joins the Sutlej river nearHarika, after being joined by a few tributaries. The total length of the river is 615 km. Sutlej

The Sutlej originates from the Rakas Lake, which is connected to the Manasarovar lake by a stream, inTibet. Its flows in a north-westerly direction and enters Himachal Pradesh at the Shipki Pass, where itis joined by the Spiti river. It cuts deep gorges in the ranges of the Himalayas, and finally enters thePunjab plain after cutting a gorge in a hill range, the Naina Devi Dhar, where the Bhakra Dam having alarge reservoir of water, called the Gobind Sagar, has been constructed. It turns west below Rupar andis later joined by the Beas. It enters Pakistan near Sulemanki, and is later joined by the Chenab. It has atotal length of almost 1500 km. The Brahmaputra River SystemThe Brahmaputra originates in the Mansarovar lake, also the source of the Indus and the Satluj. It isslightly longer than the Indus, but most of its course lies outside India. It flows eastward, parallel to theHimalayas. Reaching Namcha Barwa (7757 m), it takes a U-turn around it and enters India inArunachal Pradesh and known as dihang. The undercutting done by this river is of the order of 5500metres. In India, it flows through Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, and is joined by several tributaries.

In Tibet, the river is known as the Tsangpo. There, it receives less volume of water and has less silt.But in India, it passes through a region of heavy rainfall and as such, the river carries a large amount ofrainfall and considerable amount of silt. The Brahmaputra has a braided channel throughout most of itslength in Assam, with a few large islands within the channel.

The shifting of the channels of the river is also very common. The fury of the river during rains is veryhigh. It is known for creating havoc in Assam and Bangladesh. At the same time, quite a few bigpockets suffer from drought.

The Narmada River SystemThe Narmada or Nerbudda is a river in central India. It forms the traditional boundary between NorthIndia and South India, and is a total of 1,289 km (801 mi) long. Of the major rivers of peninsular India,only the Narmada, the Tapti and the Mahi run from east to west. It rises on the summit of AmarkantakHill in Madhya Pradesh state, and for the first 320 kilometres (200 miles) of its course winds among theMandla Hills, which form the head of the Satpura Range; then at Jabalpur, passing through the 'MarbleRocks', it enters the Narmada Valley between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges, and pursues a directwesterly course to the Gulf of Cambay. Its total length through the states of Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, and Gujarat amounts to 1312 kilometres (815 miles), and it empties into the Arabian Seain the Bharuch district of Gujarat. The Tapi River SystemThe Tapi is a river of central India. It is one of the major rivers of peninsular India with the length of

around 724 km, and only the Tapi River along with the Narmada river, and the Mahi River run fromeast to west. It rises in the eastern Satpura Range of southern Madhya Pradesh state, and flowswestward, draining Madhya Pradesh's historic Nimar region, Maharashtra's historic Khandesh and eastVidarbha regions in the northwest corner of the Deccan Plateau and South Gujarat before emptyinginto the Gulf of Cambay of the Arabian Sea, in the State of Gujarat. The Western Ghats or Sahyadrirange starts south of the Tapti River near the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The Tapi River Basin lies mostly in northern and eastern districts Maharashtra state viz, Amravati,Akola, Buldhana, Washim, Jalgaon, Dhule, Nandurbar, Malegaon, Nashik districts but also coversBetul, Burhanpur districts of Madhya Pradesh and Surat district in Gujarat as well.

The principal tributaries of Tapi River are Purna River, Girna River, Panzara River, Waghur River,Bori River and Aner River.

The Godavari River SystemThe river with second longest course within India, Godavari is often referred to as the Vriddh (Old)Ganga or the Dakshin (South) Ganga. The name may be apt in more ways than one, as the riverfollows the course of Ganga's tragedy. The river is about 1,450 km (900 miles) long. It rises atTrimbakeshwar, near Nasik and Mumbai (formerly Bombay) in Maharashtra around 380 km distancefrom the Arabian Sea, but flows southeast across south-central India through the states of MadhyaPradesh, Karnataka, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, and empties into the Bay of Bengal. At Rajahmundry,80 km from the coast, the river splits into two streams thus forming a very fertile delta. Like any othermajor rivers in India, the banks of this river also has many pilgrimage sites, Nasik, Triyambak andBhadrachalam, being the major ones. It is a seasonal river, widened during the monsoons and driedduring the summers. Godavari river water is brownish. Some of its tributaries include Indravati River,Pranahita (Combination of Penuganga and Warda), Manjira, Bindusara and Sabari. Some importanturban centers on its banks include Nasik, Bhadrachalam, Rajahmundry and Narsapur. The Asia'slargest rail-cum-road bridge on the river Godavari linking Kovvur and Rajahmundry is considered to bean engineering feat. The Krishna River SystemThe Krishna is one of the longest rivers of India (about 1300 km in length). It originates atMahabaleswar in Maharashtra, passes through Sangli and meets the sea in the Bay of Bengal atHamasaladeevi in Andhra Pradesh. The Krishna River flows through the states of Maharashtra,Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The traditional source of the river is a spout from the mouth of a statue of a cow in the ancient templeof Mahadev in Mahabaleshwar.

Its most important tributary is the Tungabhadra River, which itself is formed by the Tunga and Bhadrarivers that originate in the Western Ghats. Other tributaries include the Koyna, Bhima, Mallaprabha,Ghataprabha, Yerla, Warna, Dindi, Musi and Dudhganga rivers.

The Kaveri River SystemThe Kaveri (also spelled Cauvery or Kavery) is one of the great rivers of India and is considered sacredby the Hindus. This river is also called Dakshin Ganga. The headwaters are in the Western Ghats rangeof Karnataka state, and from Karnataka through Tamil Nadu. It empties into the Bay of Bengal. Its

waters have supported irrigated agriculture for centuries, and the Kaveri has been the lifeblood of theancient kingdoms and modern cities of South India.

The source of the river is Talakaveri located in the Western Ghats about 5,000 feet (1,500 m) abovesea level. Talakaveri is a famous pligrimage and tourist spot set amidst Bramahagiri Hills near Madikeriin Kodagu district of Karnataka. Thousands of piligrims flock to the temple at the source of the riverespecially on the specified day known as Tula sankramana when the river water has been witnessed togush out like a fountain at a predetermined time. It flows generally south and east for around 765 km,emptying into the Bay of Bengal through two principal mouths. Its basin is estimated to be 27,700square miles (71,700 km²), and it has many tributaries including Shimsha, Hemavati, Arkavathy,Kapila, Honnuhole, Lakshmana Tirtha, Kabini, Lokapavani, Bhavani, Noyyal and Famous Amaravati.

The Mahanadi River SystemThe Mahanadi is a river of eastern India. The Mahanadi rises in the Satpura Range of central India, andflows east to the Bay of Bengal. The Mahanadi drains most of the state of Chhattisgarh and much ofOrissa and also Jharkhand and Maharashtra. It has a length of about 860 km.

Near the city of Sambalpur, a large dam - the Hirakud Dam - is built on the river.