With a land area of consisting of diverse ecosystems, India has many river systems and perennial streams. The rivers of India can be classified into four groups – Himalayan, Deccan, Coastal, and Inland drainage. The Himalayan rivers, mainly fed by glaciers and snow melt, arise from the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

. The Deccan rivers system consists of rivers in

Peninsular India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the Union territories of In ...

, that drain into the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

and the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

. There are numerous short coastal rivers, predominantly on the West coast. There are few inland rivers, which do not drain into the sea. Most of the rivers in India originate from the four major

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

s in India. The Himalayan watershed is the source of majority of the major river systems in India including the three longest rivers–the

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

, the

Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Southwestern China, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh. It is known as Brahmaputra or Luit in Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, and ...

and the

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans- Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northwest through the dis ...

. These three river systems are fed by more than 5000 glaciers. The

Aravalli range The Aravalli Range (also spelled ''Aravali'') is a mountain range in North India, Northern-Western India, running approximately in a south-west direction, starting near Delhi, passing through southern Haryana and Rajasthan, and ending in Ahme ...

in the north-west serves the origin of few of the rivers such as the Chambal, the Banas and the Luni rivers. The

Narmada The Narmada River, previously also known as ''Narbada'' or anglicised as ''Nerbudda'', is the 5th longest river in India and overall the longest west-flowing river in the country. It is also the largest flowing river in the state of Madhya Prade ...

and

Tapti The Tapti River (or Tapi) is a river in central India located to the south of the Narmada river that flows westwards before draining into the Arabian Sea. The river has a length of around and flows through the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat a ...

rivers originate from the

Vindhya The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal) () is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India. Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the ...

and Satpura ranges in

Central India Central India refers to a geographical region of India that generally includes the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The Central Zonal Council, established by the Government of India, includes these states as well as Uttar Prades ...

. In the peninsular India, majority of the rivers originate from the Western Ghats and flow towards the Bay of Bengal, while only a few rivers flow from east to west from the

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats is a mountain range that stretches along the East Coast of India, eastern coast of the Indian peninsula. Covering an area of , it traverses the states and union territories of India, states of Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Prade ...

to the Arabian sea. This is because of the difference in elevation of the Deccan plateau, which slopes gently from the west to the east. The largest of the peninsular rivers include the

Godavari The Godavari (, �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga River and drains the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakeshwar, Nashik, Maharash ...

, the

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

, the

Mahanadi The Mahanadi River is a major river in East Central India. It drains an area of around and has a total length of . Mahanadi is also known for the Hirakud Dam which was the first major multipurpose river valley project after India's independenc ...

and the

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery) is a Rivers of India, major river flowing across Southern India. It is the third largest river in the region after Godavari River, Godavari and Krishna River, Krishna. The catchment area of the Kaveri basin i ...

River systems

As per the classification of

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

, the rivers systems are combined into 20 river units, which includes 14 major rivers systems and 99 smaller river basins grouped into six river units. The

Meghna The Meghna () is one of the major rivers in Bangladesh, one of the three that form the Ganges Delta, the largest delta on earth, which fans out to the Bay of Bengal. A part of the Surma-Meghna River System, the Meghna is formed inside Bangladesh ...

basin is the largest, which covers 34% of the land area and contributes to nearly 59% of the available water resources.

Alphabetical list

A–H

* Arvari * Adyar * Agniyar * Ahar * Ajay * Aji *

Alaknanda The Alaknanda is a Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and a river considered holy in Hinduism. In hydrology, the Alaknanda is considered the headstr ...

* Amanat *

Amaravathi Amaravati ( , Telugu: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Guntur district on the right bank of the Krishna River, southwest of Vijayawada. The city derives its name from the nearby historic site of ...

Arkavati The Arkavati is an important mountain river in Karnataka, India, originating at Nandi Hills of Chikkaballapura district. It is a tributary of the Kaveri, which it joins at 34 km south of Kanakapura, Ramanagara District called Sangam ...

* Atrai * Baga * Baitarani * Balan * Banas *

Banganga The Banganga Tank is a temple tank which is part of the Hindu Walkeshwar Temple complex in the Malabar Hill area of the city of Mumbai, India. History The tank was built in AD 1127 by Lakshman Prabhu, a minister in the court of Silhara ki ...

Barak Barak ( or ; ; Tiberian Hebrew: '' Bārāq''; "lightning") was a ruler of Ancient Israel. As military commander in the biblical Book of Judges, Barak, with Deborah, from the Tribe of Ephraim, the prophet and fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israe ...

* Beas * Bhadar *

Bhima Bhima (, ), also known as Bhimasena (, ), is a hero and one of the most prominent characters in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. As the second of the five Pandava brothers, Bhima was born to Kunti—the wife of King Pandu—fathered by Vayu, the ...

* Brahmani *

* Chambal * Chapora *

Chenab The Chenab River is a major river in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, the Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul region of Himac ...

* Chitravathi * Coovum *

Damanganga The Daman Ganga, also called the Dawan River, is a river in western India. The river's headwaters are on the western slope of the Western Ghats range, and it flows west into the Arabian Sea. The river flows through Maharashtra and Gujarat states, ...

* Deo *

Devi ''Devī'' (; ) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is Deva (Hinduism), ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The concept ...

* Daya * Damodar *

Dhansiri The Dhansiri is an Indian river of Golaghat District of Assam and the Chümoukedima District and Dimapur District of Nagaland. It originates from ''Laisang peak'' of Nagaland. It flows through a distance of from south to north before joining ...

* Dravyavati * Falgu *

Gadananathi Gadananathi (கடனாநதி), also called as Gadananadhi or Gatananadhi or Kadananathi or Kadananadhi is a river flowing in the Tirunelveli district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Gadananathi originates from Agasthyamalai Biosphere ...

* Gambhir * Gandak *

Gayathripuzha Gayathripuzha River is one of the main tributaries of the Bharathapuzha River, the second-longest river in Kerala, South India. It originates from Nelliyampathi hills, passes through Kollengode, Nenmara (Nemmara), Alathur, Padur and Pazhaya ...

Ghaggar The Ghaggar-Hakra River () is an intermittent river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season. The river is known as Ghaggar before the Ottu barrage at , and as Hakra downstream of the barrage in the Thar Desert. In pr ...

Ghaghara The Ghaghara River, also known as the Karnali River in Nepal, Mapcha Tsangpo in Tibet, and as the Sarayu River in the lower Ghaghara of India's Awadh, is a perennial trans-boundary river that originates in the northern slopes of the Himalaya ...

* Ghataprabha * Girna *

* Gomti * Gosthani * Gundlakamma * Halali * Hasdeo * Hugli * Hindon * Hiran

I–L

* Ib *

* Indravati * Indrayani *

Jaldhaka Jaldhaka (also referred to as Jhalong) is a small town in the Gorubathan CD block in the Kalimpong Sadar subdivision of the Kalimpong district in the state of West Bengal, India. It lies on the bank of Jaldhaka River. Geography Locatio ...

Jhelum Jhelum (; , ) is a city, located along the western bank of the Jhelum River, in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 21st largest city in Punjab and 31st largest in Pakistan, by population. Located in northern Punjab, it serves as the capital of the ...

Kabini The Kabini River is one of the major tributaries of the river Cauvery in southern India, It originates in Wayanad district of Kerala state by the confluence of the Panamaram River and the Mananthavady River. It flows eastward through Wayanad ...

Kadalundi Kadalundi is a village in Kozhikode district, Kerala, India. It is a coastal village close to the Arabian Sea. Kadalundi is famous for its bird sanctuary, which is home to various migratory birds during certain seasons and has been recently decla ...

Kahn Kahn is a surname of German origin. ''Kahn'' means "small boat", in German. It is also a Germanized form of the Jewish surname Cohen, another variant of which is '' Cahn''.

* Kali (Anas) * Kali (KA) * Kali (UK) * Kali (UP) * Karmanasha * Kallada *

Kallayi Kallai (or Kallayi) is a suburb of Kozhikode on the banks of Kallai River which links with the Chaliyar river on the south by a man-made canal. It is in the Kozhikode district of Kerala in south India and is noted for timber trading. Durin ...

* Kalpathipuzha * Kameng * Kanhan * Kamla * Kannadipuzha * Karha * Karnaphuli *

* Kathajodi * Ken * Kodoor * Koel *

Kolab Kolab is a free and open source groupware suite. It consists of the Kolab server and a wide variety of Kolab clients, including KDE PIM-Suite Kontact, Roundcube web frontend, Mozilla Thunderbird and Mozilla Lightning with SyncKolab extension ...

* Kolar (Narmada) * Kolar (Kanhan) *

Kollidam The Kollidam (referred to as Coleroon in Colonial English) is a river in southeastern India. The Kollidam is the northern distributary of the Kaveri River as it flows through the delta of Thanjavur. It splits from the main branch of the Kaveri ...

Kosi KOSI (101.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in Denver, Colorado. KOSI is owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International and airs an adult contemporary music format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. ...

* Koyna *

* Kshipra * Kuakhai * Kundali * Lachen * Lachung *

Lakshmana Tirtha The Lakshmana Tirtha (Lakshmantīrtha River) is a river of Karnataka, India. It rises in Kodagu district and flows eastward. It joins the Kaveri in the Krishna Raja Sagara lake. The river originates at the height of 1450 meters in the Brahmag ...

* Luni

M–R

* Machchhu *

* Mahananda *

Mahakali Mahakali () is the Hindu goddess of time and death in the goddess-centric tradition of Shaktism. She is also known as the supreme being in various tantras and Puranas. Similar to Kali, Mahakali is a fierce goddess associated with universal po ...

* Mahi * Malaprabha * Manas * Mandakini * Mandovi *

Manjira The ''taal'' or ''manjira'' (also spelled ''manjīrā'' or ''manjeera''), ''jalra'', ''karatala'', ''kartal'' or ''gini'' is a pair of clash cymbals, originating in the Indian subcontinent, which make high-pitched percussion sounds. In its ...

* Manimala * Manu *

Mapusa Mapusa () is a city in North Goa, India. It is situated 13 km north of the state capital of Panaji. The city is the headquarters of Bardez taluka. It is located on the main highway NH-17, linking Mumbai to Kochi. During Portuguese Indi ...

* Markanda (HR) * Markanda (TN) * Matla * Mayurakshi *

Meenachil Meenachil is the north-eastern region of Kottayam district in Kerala, south India. The name originates from Meenakshi, the Hindu Goddess. Pala is the main city in Meenachil. The arterial river of the district is also named Meenachil. Geogra ...

* Mithi * Moyar * Mula * Musi * Mutha *

Muvattupuzha Muvattupuzha () is a Municipalities of Kerala, municipalityhttps://lsgkerala.gov.in/system/files/2017-10/localbodies.pdf in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. It is located east of the district headquarters in Thrikkakara and a ...

* Nag * Nagavali *

Nethravathi The Netravati River or Netravathi Nadi has its origins at Bangrabalige valley, Yelaneeru Ghat in Kudremukha in Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka, India. This river flows through the famous pilgrimage place Dharmasthala and is considered on ...

Nubra Nubra, also called Dumra, is a historical region of Ladakh, India that is currently administered as a subdivision and a tehsil in the Leh district. Its inhabited areas form a tri-armed valley cut by the Nubra and Shyok rivers. Its Tibetan nam ...

Padma The Padma () is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the eastern and main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally southeast for to its confluence with the Meghna River, near the Bay of Bengal. The city of Rajshahi is situated on the bank ...

* Pahuj *

Palar Palar (Tamil: ''பாலாறு'' pālāṟu �paːlaːɾu literally "milk river") is a river of southern India. It rises in the Nandi Hills in Chikkaballapura district of Karnataka state, and flows in Karnataka, in Andhra Pradesh and i ...

* Panchganga * Pamba * Panjnad * Panzara *

Parambikulam Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, which also includes the erstwhile Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, is a protected area lying in Palakkad district and Thrissur district of Kerala state, South India. The Wildlife Sanctuary, which had an area of wa ...

* Parbati (HP) * Parbati (MP) * Parbati (RJ) * Pavana *

Payaswini The Chandragiri River, also known as the Payaswini River in Karnataka and as the Perumpuzha River in Kerala, is the longest river in Kasaragod district, Kerala, India. The river is a historical treasure of Chemnad. It was named after the Maurya ...

* Penna * Pench * Penganga * Penner *

Periyar Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 187924 December 1973), commonly known as Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician. He was the organizer of the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam and is considered the architect o ...

* Phalgu * Ponnaiyar *

Pranhita The Pranahita River is the largest tributary of Godavari River covering about 34% of its drainage basin conveying the combined waters of the Penganga River, the Wardha River, and the Wainganga River. By virtue of its extensive network of tr ...

* Punarbhaba * Purna-Godavari * Purna-Tapti *

Ravi Ravi may refer to: People * Ravi (name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Ravi (composer) (1926–2012), Indian music director * Ravi (Ivar Johansen) (born 1976), Norwegian musical artist * Ravi (rapper) (born 1993), a Sou ...

* Rapti * Rupnarayan

S–Z

Saraswati Saraswati (, ), also spelled as Sarasvati, is one of the principal Devi, goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of knowledge, education, learning, arts, speech, poetry, music, purification, language and culture. Together with the godde ...

Sarasvati Saraswati (, ), also spelled as Sarasvati, is one of the principal Devi, goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of knowledge, education, learning, arts, speech, poetry, music, purification, language and culture. Together with the godde ...

Sarayu The Sarju ( Kumaoni: सरज्यू, Hindi: सरयू), also known as Saryu, is a major river draining Central Kumaon region in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Originating from Sarmul, Sarju flows through the cities of Kapkot, Bageshw ...

Sutlej The Sutlej River or the Satluj River is a major river in Asia, flowing through China, India and Pakistan, and is the longest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is also known as ''Satadru''; and is the easternmost tributary of t ...

Sunar } The Sunar (alternately, Swarnkar, Soni, Sonar, Singh, Shah, Sonkar) is a caste in India.The Sunar community work as traders of gold or as goldsmiths. The community is primarily Hindu, Sikhism, Muslim and found all over India. Etymology The te ...

* Sabarmati * Sal * Sengar *

Sharavati Sharāvati is a river which originates and flows entirely within the state of Karnataka in India. It is one of the few westward flowing rivers of India and a major part of the river basin lies in the Western Ghats. The famous Jog Falls, locat ...

* Shetrunji *

Son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current ...

* Sharda *

Shimsha Shimsha is a river that flows in the state of Karnataka, India. It is one of the tributaries of the river Kaveri, which is one of the major rivers of South India. The river originates in the southern part of the Devarayanadurga hill in the ...

* Shyok * Subarnarekha *

Thamirabarani The Thamirabarani or Tamraparni or Porunai is a perennial river that originates from the Agastyarkoodam peak of Pothigai hills of the Western Ghats, above Papanasam in the Ambasamudram taluk. It flows through Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi dis ...

Tungabhadra The Tungabhadra River () starts and flows through the state of Karnataka, India, for most of its course, then through Andhra Pradesh where it ultimately joins the Krishna River near Murvakonda. The Tungabhadra derives its name from two strea ...

* Tamsa * Tunga * Terekhol * Ulhas * Umngot * Vaan * Vaigai *

Vamsadhara River Vamsadhara or River Banshadhara is an important east-flowing river between Rushikulya and Godavari, in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh states in India. The river originates near Lanjigarh in the Kalahandi district of Odisha at an elevation ...

Varuna Varuna (; , ) is a Hindu god. He is one of the earliest deities in pantheon, whose role underwent a significant transformation from the Vedic to the Puranic periods. In the early Vedic era, Varuna is seen as the god-sovereign, ruling the sky ...

* Vashishti *

Vedavathi ttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/358414946%20Archaeological%20Investigations%20in%20Upper%20Vedavathi%20Basin%20of%20Karnataka%20With%20Special%20Reference%20to%20Kadur%20Taluk archaeology The Vedavathi is a river in India. It originates ...

* Vellar-North * Vellar-South * Vrishabhavathi * Vishwamitri * Vaitarna * Wainganga * Wagh *

Wardha Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The administrative headquarter of Wardha district is situated here. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows on the northern, western ...

* Yagachi *

Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...

Zuari The Zuari River ''Zuvari,'' pronounced ) is the largest river in the state of Goa, India. It is a tidal river which originates at Hemad-Barshem in the Western Ghats. The Zuari is also referred to as the Aghanashani in the interior regions. It fl ...

Notes

References

External links

{{India Rivers

River systems

Alphabetical list

A–H

I–L

M–R

S–Z

See also

Notes

References

External links