Indian Rivers: Origin, Length, Tributaries, Dams & States

Rivers of India is a guaranteed 2-4 mark topic in Kerala PSC exams. Questions test origin, tributaries, dams, and which states a river flows through. Use the tables below for quick memorization.

1. Classification of Indian Rivers

Type	Source	Examples
Himalayan Rivers	Glaciers/snow	Ganga, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Indus
Peninsular Rivers (East-flowing)	Western Ghats	Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Mahanadi
Peninsular Rivers (West-flowing)	Western Ghats/Central Highlands	Narmada, Tapti (Tapi), Periyar, Bharathapuzha

Key difference: Himalayan rivers are perennial (snow-fed); Peninsular rivers are mostly rain-fed (seasonal flow variation).

2. The Ganga River System

Feature	Detail
Origin	Gangotri Glacier (Gaumukh), Uttarakhand
Name at source	Bhagirathi
Becomes “Ganga” at	Devprayag (confluence of Bhagirathi + Alaknanda)
Total length	2,525 km
Drains into	Bay of Bengal (Sundarbans delta, Bangladesh)
States	Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal
Name in Bangladesh	Padma

Major Tributaries of Ganga

Left Bank Tributaries	Right Bank Tributaries
Ramganga	Yamuna (largest tributary)
Gomti	Son
Ghaghara (Karnali)	Damodar
Gandak
Kosi

Five Prayags (Confluences) in Uttarakhand

Prayag	Rivers Meeting
Vishnuprayag	Alaknanda + Dhauliganga
Nandprayag	Alaknanda + Nandakini
Karnaprayag	Alaknanda + Pindar
Rudraprayag	Alaknanda + Mandakini
Devprayag	Alaknanda + Bhagirathi = Ganga

Major Dams on Ganga System

Dam	River	State
Tehri Dam	Bhagirathi	Uttarakhand
Farakka Barrage	Ganga	West Bengal
Rihand Dam	Rihand (Son tributary)	Uttar Pradesh

3. The Brahmaputra River System

Feature	Detail
Origin	Angsi Glacier, near Mansarovar (Tibet)
Name in Tibet	Tsangpo (Yarlung Tsangpo)
Name in Arunachal Pradesh	Dihang/Siang
Name in Assam	Brahmaputra
Name in Bangladesh	Jamuna
Total length	2,900 km (880 km in India)
Drains into	Bay of Bengal (merges with Ganga as Meghna)
States in India	Arunachal Pradesh, Assam
River island	Majuli (largest river island in India, Assam)

Major Tributaries

Left Bank	Right Bank
Subansiri	Teesta
Jia Bhareli (Kameng)	Manas
Dhansiri	Sankosh
Lohit	Torsa

4. The Godavari River

Feature	Detail
Origin	Trimbakeshwar (Nasik), Maharashtra
Total length	1,465 km
Nickname	Dakshin Ganga (Ganga of the South)
Drains into	Bay of Bengal (Andhra Pradesh coast)
States	Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha
Largest peninsular river	Yes (by length and basin area)

Major Tributaries

Left Bank	Right Bank
Penganga	Pravara
Wardha	Manjira
Wainganga	Indravati
Pranhita	Sabari

Major Dams

Dam	State
Jayakwadi Dam	Maharashtra
Sri Ram Sagar (Pochampadu)	Telangana
Polavaram (under construction)	Andhra Pradesh

5. The Krishna River

Feature	Detail
Origin	Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra
Total length	1,400 km
Drains into	Bay of Bengal (Andhra Pradesh — Hamasaladeevi)
States	Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh
Second largest peninsular river	Yes

Major Tributaries

Left Bank	Right Bank
Bhima	Tungabhadra
Musi	Ghataprabha
Dindi	Malaprabha
	Koyna

Major Dams

Dam	River	State
Almatti Dam	Krishna	Karnataka
Nagarjuna Sagar	Krishna	Telangana/AP
Srisailam Dam	Krishna	Andhra Pradesh/Telangana
Tungabhadra Dam	Tungabhadra	Karnataka
Koyna Dam	Koyna	Maharashtra

6. The Narmada River

Feature	Detail
Origin	Amarkantak Plateau, Madhya Pradesh
Total length	1,312 km
Drains into	Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay), Arabian Sea
States	Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat
Flows through	Rift valley (between Vindhya and Satpura ranges)
Direction	East to West
Delta	Does NOT form a delta; forms an estuary

Major Dams

Dam	State
Sardar Sarovar Dam	Gujarat
Indira Sagar Dam	Madhya Pradesh
Omkareshwar Dam	Madhya Pradesh
Bargi Dam	Madhya Pradesh

Key PSC fact: Narmada and Tapti are the only two major west-flowing rivers of Peninsular India that flow through rift valleys.

7. The Tapti (Tapi) River

Feature	Detail
Origin	Multai (Betul district), Madhya Pradesh
Total length	724 km
Drains into	Gulf of Khambhat, Arabian Sea
States	Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat
Flows through	Rift valley (parallel to Narmada, south of Satpura)
Delta	Does NOT form delta; estuary

Major Dams

Dam	State
Ukai Dam	Gujarat
Hatnur Dam	Maharashtra

8. West-Flowing vs East-Flowing Rivers

Feature	West-Flowing	East-Flowing
Number	Few (Narmada, Tapti, Mahi, Sabarmati, Luni)	Many (Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Mahanadi)
Drain into	Arabian Sea	Bay of Bengal
Delta	Generally no delta (estuaries)	Form large deltas
Why fewer west-flowing?	Western Ghats close to west coast; short run	Gentle eastward slope of Deccan Plateau

9. Rivers of Kerala (Bonus for Kerala PSC)

River	Length (km)	Origin	District of Origin
Periyar	244	Sivagiri Hills	Idukki
Bharathapuzha (Nila)	209	Anamalai Hills	Palakkad
Pamba	176	Pulachimalai	Idukki
Chaliyar	169	Ilambaleri Hills	Wayanad
Kabbini (Kabani)	174	Wayanad	Wayanad

• Longest river in Kerala: Periyar (244 km)
• Second longest: Bharathapuzha (209 km)
• Total rivers in Kerala: 44 (all west-flowing except 3 east-flowing tributaries)

10. PSC Exam Quick-Fire Facts

• Longest river in India: Ganga (2,525 km, entirely within India)
• Longest river flowing through India: Brahmaputra (total 2,900 km)
• Largest peninsular river: Godavari
• Only major river crossing Tropic of Cancer twice: Mahi
• River forming India’s largest delta: Ganga-Brahmaputra (Sundarbans)
• Highest dam in India: Tehri Dam (260.5 m, Bhagirathi, Uttarakhand)
• Longest dam in India: Hirakud Dam (25.8 km, Mahanadi, Odisha)
• River on which maximum dams are built: Narmada