Rivers of India

Niharika Bhattacharjee

The rivers of India play an important role in the lives

of the Indian people.

Rivers provide water for farms and drinking

Source of photo : wikipedia

Source of photo : http://www.greatmirror.com/index.cfm?navid=169

Rivers are used for transportation

This picture shows a boat on river Narmada at Jabalpur

Source of photo : self

Rivers provide food

This picture shows fishing in the river Ganga

Source of photo : http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/India/North/Uttar_Pradesh/Varanasi/photo501176.htm

Rivers also provide electricity

This picture shows electricity generation on the Satlej River

Source of photo : wikipedia

Rivers are worshipped for supporting life

This picture shows my family on the river Narmada at Jabalpur

Source of photo : self

Rivers in India also support rich wildlife.

Lots of wildlife parks are located by the banks of rivers.

Photo shows Rhinos in the Kaziranga National Park on the Brahmaputra River

Source of photo : wikipedia

Major rivers of India start from one of three main sources

1. The Himalayas
In fact, around Lake Manas Sarovar in Tibet itself one finds the
sources of the Indus, Brahmaputra and the Satlej Rivers

Photo shows the Lake and Mount Kailash

Source of photo : http://www.shangri-la-river-expeditions.com/journals/indus2005/indus2005.html

2. Vindhya and Satpura Ranges

Source of photo :

http://img.xcitefun.net/users/2009/05/62970,xcitefun-vindhya.jpg

3. Western Ghats and Sah yadiri Ranges

Source of photo :

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Western-Ghats-Matheran.jpg/800px-Western-Ghats-Matheran.jpg

Major rivers of India ends in one of three ways

1. Falls into another river

Source of photo : Wikipedia

2. Empties into the Bay of Bengal

Source of photo : http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/img/news/2010/Bay_of_Bengal_map.png

3. Empties into the Arabian Sea

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arabian_Sea_map.png

Some major rivers of India

Name

Length
(in miles)

Outflow

Countries
the river crosses

Indus and its

tributaries

1976

Arabian Sea

China, India, Pakistan

Brahmaputra

1832

Bay of Bengal

China, India Bangladesh

Ganga and its

tributaries

1560

Bay of Bengal

India, Nepal, Bangladesh

Godavari

910

Bay of Bengal

India

Krishna

808

Bay of Bengal

India

Narmada

801

Arabian Sea

India

Kaveri

475

Bay of Bengal

India

Source : wikipedia

I am going to talk about the following rivers

1. Indus River
2. Brahmaputra River
3. Ganga River
4. Narmada River

Indus River
It is also known as the Sindhu river

and it is the longest river which flows through India.

The Indus River gave India its name.

It starts near Lake Manas Sarovar in Tibet.

In India it crosses the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir

The Sindhu Darshan Festival is held every year there to celebrate the River Indus.
Source of photo : http://www.geoterrestrial.com/pics/745a233d2e18b/omar-inaugurates-sindhu-darshan-festival-today

The Indus then flows through Pakistan and ends in the Arabian Sea

The Indus was the home of the Indus Valley Civilization which is about
5300 years old. The picture on the right shows a toy Ox Cart from that
time.
Source of map : wikipedia
Source of photo : http://www.harappa.com/figurines/gif/2.jpg

The Indus gets water from 5 other major Himalayan rivers

These rivers are Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas

The rivers flow through the Punjab which means Land of 5 Rivers.
The Punjab is thus a very fertile area
Source of map: wikipedia

Brahmaputra River
Is the second longest river which flows through India
It also starts near Lake Manas Sarovar in Tibet

Brahmaputra means Lord Brahmas son

Source : wikipedia

In Tibet the Brahmaputra is called the Tsangpo

It flows east and enters India in the state of Aruna chal Pradesh and Assam

Source of map: wikipedia

In Assam on the banks of the Brahmaputra is the world famous wildlife

park called the Kazi ranga National Park

Source of photo: wikipedia

It is home to one horned rhinos, water buffalos and swamp deer

Source of photos: wikipedia

Ganga River
The Ganga river starts off as the Bhagi rathi River from Gango tri Glacier

Source of photo : wikipedia

At Dev Prayag, the Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda

River meet to form the Ganga

Bhagirathi

Alaknanda

Ganga

Source of photo : wikipedia

This area has a lot of religious places for Hindus like Hari dwar

This picture shows prayers at Hari dwar

Source of photo : wikipedia

The Yamuna is a major tributary of the Ganga.

The famous Taj Mahal is on the banks of the Yamuna River at Agra

The Taj Mahal is the white building in the background

source of photo : http://famouswonders.com/wp-content/gallery/taj-mahal/view-from-the-river-yamuna.jpg

Some of the big cities on the Ganga river include

1. Kanpur
2. Allahabad
3. Varanasi
4. Patna

Some of the big cities on the Yamuna river include

1. Delhi
2. Agra

Source of photos : wikipedia

The Ganga and the Brahmaputra meet and form the worlds largest Delta

This picture shows the Ganga Delta as it flows into the Bay of Bengal
Source of photo : wikipedia

The Delta is very rich in fish

Ilish Maach

Pabda Maach

Rui Maach

Katla Maach

Source of photos http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Ilish.JPG, http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t8/himal0y/Frozen_Rohu_Fish.jpg

http://blog.padma-tr.com/images/pabda.jpg , http://images01.olx.in/ui/9/95/02/1287828299_125309302_2-Tilapia-Pangasius-Rohu-Katla-Mrigal-fish-seeds-in-bulk-by-air-Hyderabad-1287828299.jpg

It supports close to 300 million people

Source of photos : wikipedia , http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/31913008.jpg

http://www.instablogsimages.com/images/2008/05/21/local-train-rush-hour_XOCcQ_16751.jpg

and has lots of Royal Bengal Tigers

Source of photo : http://wallpapers-diq.net/wallpapers/15/Royal_Bengal_Tiger%2C_Bangladesh.jpg

Narmada River
The river starts from a small pond called Narmada Kund on the Amarkantak
Hill in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

It then flows west towards Jabalpur

Source of photo : http://img1.eyefetch.com/p/qf/1113122-49694b09-84e7-468c-9da1-3f68f53ac8a4.jpg

At Jabalpur it falls down a waterfalls called Dhua Dhar

Source of photo : self

My family at the Dhua Dhar waterfalls

It then travels through a narrow gorge of marble.

Source of photo : self

People light prodeeps

Picture shows me and ma floating a prodeep on the river Narmada

Source of photo : self

Source of photo : self

Our floating prodeeps on the river Narmada

Narmada has been supporting humans for over 10,000 years.

People used to live in caves and hunt for food.

These pictures show caves from Bhim betka in Madhya Pradesh

Source of photo : wikipedia

Bhim betka is known for its cave painting

and is the oldest known paintings in India

Bhimbetka is named after Bhima

Source of photo : wikipedia

The Narmada has a big dam on it called the Sardar Sarovar Dam

The Narmada drains into the Arabian Sea

Source of photo : http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Sardar_Sarovar_Dam_partially_completed.JPG

Quiz Question 1 : Which is the longest river which flows through India ?

A.Ganga
B.Nile
C.Indus
D.Hudson
E.Brahmaputra

Quiz Answer 1 : Longest river which flows through India is

C. Indus

Quiz Question 2 : The Taj Mahal is on the banks of which river ?

A.Nile
B.Yamuna
C.Indus
D.Hudson
E.Ganga

Quiz Answer 2 : The Taj Mahal is on the banks of river

B. Yamuna

Quiz Question 3 : What does the Punjab mean ?

A. Land of 2 rivers
B. Land of 5 rivers
C. Land of no jobs
D. Land of fun
E. Land of no rivers

Quiz Answer 3 : Punjab mean

B. Land of 5 rivers

Quiz Question 4 : Kaziranga National Park is on the banks of which river ?

A. Ganga
B. Hudson
C. Brahmaputra
D. Nile
E. Narmada

Quiz Answer 4 : Kaziranga National Park is on the banks of the

C. Brahmaputra

Quiz Question 5: Bhim betka is close to which river ?

A. Ganga
B. Hudson
C. Brahmaputra
D. Nile
E. Narmada

Quiz Answer 5: Bhimbetka is close to the river

E. Narmada