Rivers in India – Sacred, Longest, Oldest, Types

Articles entails information about “Rivers in India – Sacred, Longest, Oldest, Types” like Ganga, Brahmaputra, Indus, Godavari, Narmada etc.

Major rivers in India can be divided into the 

• Himalayan rivers and 
• Rivers of the Indian plateau 

The major Himalayan rivers are 

• Ganga 
• Brahmaputra 
• Indus 

these are not just rivers they are River system 

River Ganga is the longest and the most important river of India it is 2500 km long and it flows to the states of 

• Uttarakhand 
• Uttar Pradesh 
• Bihar 
• Jharkhand and 
• West Bengal 

River Ganga

• Most sacred river to Hindus 
• It is also a lifeline to millions of Indians 
• Many depends on it for the daily needs 

River Ganga originates from Gangotri Glacier 

• Bhagirathi joins river Alaknanda at Devprayag and from here the river is known as Ganga 

Yamuna is the second largest tributary of Ganga river 

• Yamuna originates from Yamunotri and 
• Yamuna joins Ganga at Allahabad 
• It is the longest river in India, which does not directly flow into the sea 

The rivers joining Ganga from the north are 

• Ramganga 
• Gomti 
• Ghagra – is the largest tributary of river Ganga
• Rapti
• Gandak
• Kosi

Rivers joining Yamuna from the south are 

• Chambal – The tributaries of chambal are Banas, Parbati and Kalisind

Other tributaries of Yamuna river 

• Sindhu and 
• Betwa – it’s tributaries are dhassan, ken and tons

River Son joins river Ganga

• Tributaries of River Son are Rihand and Koyal 

In West Bengal river Ganga is joined by 

• Mayurakshi and 
• Damodar 

River Indus 

• ~3200 kilometres long
• This makes it one of the longest rivers in Asia 
• The river originates in the western part of Tibet in the vicinity of Mount Kailash and lake Mansarovar 
• Passes through kashmir and passes through Pakistan before joining Arabian Sea it
• It is the longest river and one of the river of Pakistan 
• River Sutlej is the largest tributary of river Indus 
  • River Sutlej originates from Rakshastal lake in Tibet 
  • Flows through the states from Himachal Pradesh & Punjab
  • Joins river Indus in Pakistan 

The tributaries of Indus are 

• Jhelum
• Chenab
• Ravi
• Beas
• In the northern part the tributaries are Shyok, Gilgit and Zaskar

Next important Himalayan River is the river Brahmaputra 

• River Brahmaputra is one of the major rivers of Asia 
• It flows through 
  • China 
  • India
  • Bangladesh
• 3848 km long river
• Also called Tsangpo in Tibet 
• It originates on the Chemayungdung Glacier located on the Northern side of the Himalayas in Burang county of Tibet 
• The Brahmaputra enters India in the state of Arunachal Pradesh where it is called Siang 
• In Assam the river is called Brahmaputra 
• In Bangladesh the Brahmaputra is joined by the River Teesta then it is known as Jamuna 
• Later on it merges with the lower Ganga called the river Padma 
• In the final part the river is called Meghna 

The main tributaries of Brahmaputra are 

• Teesta 
• Dhubri
• Manas 
• Subansiri 
• Lohit 
• Dibang
• Dhansiri
• Kopili and 
• Meghna : River Meghna in the initial stage is known as Barak 

The important rivers of the Indian plateau 

• Mahanadi 
• Godavari 
• Krishna 
• Kaveri 
• Narmada and 
• Tapi 

River Mahanadi 

• Originates in Chhattisgarh 
• It is an important river of Chhattisgarh and Odisha 
• The tributaries of river Mahanadi are 
  • Seonath
  • Hasdeo
  • Mand
  • Ib
  • Ong
  • Tel

River Godavari

• Second longest river in India after the river Ganga 
• It has its source at Trimbakeshwar 
• The main tributaries of river Godavari are river 
  • Pravara 
  • Puma
  • Wainganga: The tributaries of Wainganga are Penganga and river Wardha 

River Krishna 

• Originates in the Western Ghats near Mahabaleshwar 
• The main tributaries of Krishna are 
  • Bhima
  • Tungabhadhra
  • Ghatprabha
  • Malprabha

Then another important peninsular river is river Kaveri.

Two important West flowing rivers of India are river Narmada and river Tapi. River Narmada is the longest westward flowing rivers of India.

River Narmada, River Johilla and River Son originates from Amarkantak present in Madhya Pradesh.

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