The Seti Gandaki River, also known as the Seti River or the Milk River, is a river of western

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, a left tributary of the

Trishuli River The Trishuli River () is one of the major tributaries of the Narayani River basin in central Nepal. The river is formed by the merger of the Kyirong Tsangpo and the Lende Khola originating in Gyirong County of Tibet, which join together near the ...

. It gorges around

Pokhara Pokhara ( ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city located in central Nepal, which serves as the capital of Gandaki Province. Named the country's "capital of tourism" it is the List of cities in Nepal, second largest city after Kathmandu, with 599,5 ...

and is a major attraction for tourists worldwide.

Geography

The Seti rises from the base of the

Annapurna massif Annapurna (; ) is a massif in the Himalayas in north-central Nepal that includes one peak over , thirteen peaks over , and sixteen more over . The massif is long, and is bounded by the Kali Gandaki Gorge on the west, the Marshyangdi River on t ...

, and flows south and south-east past

and Damauli to join the

near Devghat. The lakes of

were created through a geological process. As the Seti carried the

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...

from Annapurna Himalayas after the burst of

glacial lake A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity. They are formed when a glacier erodes the land and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier. Formation Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,0 ...

s at various pre-historical time periods, the moraine were deposited on the routes of the rivers. This caused formation of natural lakes.

Cultural and religious significance

The Seti is one of the holiest rivers of Nepal, worshiped in

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

as a form of

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

. The river is also famous because of its proximity to some holy places and is the central point of many stories of

Hindu mythology Hindu mythology refers to the collection of myths associated with Hinduism, derived from various Hindu texts and traditions. These myths are found in sacred texts such as the Vedas, the Itihasas (the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Ramayan ...

, such as the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

, one of the longest books of Hinduism, written by

Vyasa Vyasa (; , ) or Veda Vyasa (, ), also known as Krishna Dvaipayana Veda Vyasa (, ''Vedavyāsa''), is a ''rishi'' (sage) with a prominent role in most Hindu traditions. He is traditionally regarded as the author of the epic Mahabharata, Mah� ...

, who was born near the confluence of the Gandaki and

Madi Multichannel Audio Digital Interface (MADI) standardized Standardization (American English) or standardisation (British English) is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties ...

rivers near Damauli, Tanahun, Nepal.

Gorges

Tributaries

Major tributaries of Seti Gandaki River are Mardi Khola, Kali khola, Phedi khola, Bijayapur khola, Kotre khola, Pudi khola, Suraudi khola, Bange khola and the largest tributary Madi. Pokhara, Leknath, Suklagandaki, Bhimad and Damauli are the cities through which Seti river flows.

Exploration

The Seti Gandaki was successfully descended for the first time in June 1971 by Daniel C. Taylor and Jennifer Ide. They went by raft, having to portage around the three kilometer section where the whole Seti river goes underground.

May 2012 flood

A slurry of sediment, rock, and water suddenly surged through Pokhara Valley on May 5, 2012, obliterating dozens of homes and sweeping 72 people to their death.

Pollution

Dams

On 18 August 2022, the investment board of Nepal signed a memorandum of understanding with India's National hydroelectric power corporation (NHPC) Limited to develop the West Seti and Seti river projects. These projects are a total of 1200 MW.

2023 plane crash

On 15 January 2023, Yeti Airlines Flight 691 crashed on the Seti bank during approach to

Pokhara International Airport Pokhara International Airport () is an international airport in Pokhara, Gandaki Province, Nepal. It is located east of the old Pokhara Airport, domestic airport, which it will gradually replace. The airport is Nepal's List of airports in Nep ...

, killing all 72 people on board.

Bridges

* KI Singh Pul * Mahendrapul * Manipal Suspension Bridge * Naraynathan Bridge * Seti Nadi Pul - span 180m * Dhunge Sanghu (natural bridge)

Gallery

File:Gurung Museum, Pokhara, Nepal.JPG, Gurung Museum, Pokhara File:Seti Gandaki River.jpg, view of Seti River from Tanahun File:सेती नदि.jpg, Seti visible from Tanahun Dulegonda File:ISS038-E-020918ann.jpg, The rockfall that temporarily blocked the river

References

{{coord, 27.8211, N, 84.4546, E, source:wikidata, display=title Rivers of Gandaki Province