Mo Chhu is a major river in
Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
. The word "Chhu" means "river" or "water" in
Dzongkha
Dzongkha (; ) is a Tibeto-Burman languages, Tibeto-Burman language that is the official and national language of Bhutan. It is written using the Tibetan script.
The word means "the language of the fortress", from ' "fortress" and ' "language ...
, the official national language in Bhutan. The river rises in
Gasa Dzongkhag (district) near the border between Bhutan and Tibet. From there, the Mo Chhu flows generally southward to
Punakha in central Bhutan, where it joins the
Pho Chhu from the northeast. The confluence of the two streams is immediately below the
Punakha Dzong
The Punakha Dzong, also known as Pungthang Dewa chhenbi Phodrang (meaning "the palace of great happiness or bliss"), is the administrative centre of Punakha District in Punakha, Bhutan. Constructed by Ngawang Namgyal, 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, in 16 ...
, which is the winter home of the
Dratshang Lhentshog (Central Monk Body) and the
Je Khenpo.
The combined streams are then joined by the
Dang Chhu near the town of
Wangdue Phodrang, and the name of the river becomes the Puna Tsang Chhu. The river then flows through
Dagana and
Tsirang Districts. After leaving Bhutan near the town of Lhamoidzingkha, formerly known as Kalikhola,
[From Damphu to Lhamoidzingkha, in the Bhutanese daily "Kuensel", 21 May 2020 https://kuenselonline.com/from-damphu-to-lhamoidzingkha/] the river enters
Assam
Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and is known as the
Sankosh. The Sankosh ultimately empties into 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 ...
, flowing 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 ...
.
Bibliography
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References
Rivers of Bhutan
International rivers of Asia
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