Major River System in India

What are the Major River System in India?

India is a home to hundreds of rivers. It has 10 prominent river systems of which the Indus River
Sysytem is the longest. Its total length is 3180km of which 1114 km lies in India. The Ganga
River System Starts and ends within India and has a length of 2510 km.

The major River System in India is divided into Himalayan rivers and Peninsular Rivers based
on their source of origin. The Himalayn rivers originate from Himalayas and Flows all along the
Northern Plains while the rivers the Peninsular River System originates from the Western Ghats.
Also, these Peninsular rivers are rain fed rivers.

List of Major River System in India

The Major River System of India are listed below in the table along with their total length and
Their respective length in India-

Indian River System Total Length Length of river in India

Tapi River System 724 km 724 km

Cauvery River System 805 km 805 km

Mahanadi River System 851 km 851 km

Narmada Rriver System 1376 km 1376 km

Yamuna River System 1376 km 1376 km

Krishna River System 1400 km 1400 km

Godavari River System 1465 km 1465 km

Ganga River System 2510 km 2510 km

Brahmaputra River System 2900 km 916 km

Indus River System 3180 km 1114 km

Indian River System and their Tributaries

Here is a brief detail of the Indian Rivers and their tributaries, i.e., Indian River System-
Indus River System
Indus River, popularly known as Puranik Riover is one of the historical rivers being found in
mythological texts and great Hindu Sculptures. The key featutes of the Indus River System in
India are as follows-
• It arises in Tibet from the northern slopes of the Kailash range of Himalays near
the Mansarovar lake.
• Indus is one of the largest river with significant number of tributaries running from
the states of India and some parts of Pakistan.
• The River falls in the Arabian Sea near Karachi. The length of the river from its
source to where it falls in the Arabian Sea is 2897km.
• In India, it enters the J&K region and forma a picturesque gorge.
The major tributaries of the Indus River System are Sutlej, Beas, Chenab, Ravi, and Jhelum.

Brahmaputra River System

Just like the Indus River System, the Brahmaputra River System also originates from the
Mansarovar Lake. The key details of the Brahmaputra River System are as follows-
• Though Brahmaputra is one of the major River System in India, yet, most of its course
lies out of India.
• The total length of the Brahmaputra River Sysrem is 3848 km.
• It flows in the eastward direction, parallel to the Himalayas and enters India in Arunachal
Pradesh.
• Brahmaputra river is called as Dihang River in Arunachal Pradesh.
In Tibet, this Indian River System is known by the name of Tsangpo river. The Brahmaputra
River System in India, is considered to be the largest river in volume.

Ganga River System

The river Ganga drives its name from the Gangotri glacier, its source. The Ganga River System
is explanined as below-
• Bishenganga, Dhauliganga, Pindar, Mandakini rivers merge inTo Ganga, before it
reaches Devprayag.
• At Karan Prayag, the Nanda Devi unites with the Alaknanda river while the Pindar river
is rosen from the Eastern Trishul.
• At Rudraprayag, it is joined by the Mandakini.
• The river Alaknanda and Bhagirathi is known as Ganga at Devprayag.
The Ganga River System in India has the following tributaries- Son, Ghaghara, Gomati, Ram
Ganga, Sapti Kosi, Damodar and Yamuna.

Narmada River System

Located at the central India, the Narmada River drains out into the Arabian sea from the
Bharuch region of Gujarat. Its features are-
• It originates in Madhya Pradesh, from the Amarkantak Hills and runs to Gujarat and
Maharastra.
• Narmada lines the traditional frontier between the southern and Northern India.
• Narmada along with the Mahi and Tapti rivers flows from east to west.
• Just like Yamuna, the Narmada river drains out from the Bharuch district of Gujarat into
the Arabian Sea.
Yamuna River System
The river Yamuna is the largest tributaries of the Ganga River System. The key features of the
Yamuna River System is as follows-
• Yamuna river originates in Uttarakhand, from the Yamunotri glacier.
• The largest tributary of the Yamuna River System is Tons.
• The Yamuna’ catchment extends to Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar
Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi.
The prominent tributaries of the Yamuna River System in India are Chambal, Betwa Ken,
Hindon, and Sin.

Tapi River System

The Tapi River System is one of the most important river system of the peninsular India that
orignates from the Southern Madhya Pradesh in east to west direction.
• It drains through South Gujarat, Khandesh of Maharashtra, East Vidarbha region, and
Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh.
• Tapi’s river basin mostly lies in the norther and eastern districts of Maharastra and few
districts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
The prominent tributaries of Tapi River System are Bori River, Panzara River, Purna River,
Girna River, Aner River, and Waghur River.

Godavari River System

The second largest Indian river system in terms of course with brownish water in India is the
Godavari River System. The features are-
• It is called as the Vriddh (old) Ganga or Dakshin (south) Ganga.
• Godavari is one of the seasonal rivers in India that widens up during monsoons and gets
dried during summers.
• Godavari originates near Nasik from Trimbakeshwar in Maharastra and flows through
Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh and ends up into the BAy of
Bengal.
• At Rajahmundry, it forms a delta.
• Its bank is considered as holy and has been a pilgrimage site in Trimbak, Bhadrachalam,
and Nasik.
Some of the major tributaries of Godavari River System of India includes Manjira, Sabari,
Bindusara, Indravati River, and Pranahita. Also, the Asia’s largest bridge (road-cum-rail) is
located on Godavari river. It links Rajahmundry and Kovvur.

Krishna River System

Krishna river orginates from Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra. It is one of the major rivers in India,
in term sof length that flows through Sangli and ends up at Bay of Bengal.
• It flows through Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Maharshtra.
• One of its major tributory, Tungabhadra is formed by Bhadra nad Tunga Rivers,
originates from the Western Ghats.
The major tributories of the Krishna River System are Musi, Yerla, Warna, Ghataprabha, Dindi,
Mallaprabha, BHima, Koyna, and Dudhganga.
Cauvery River System
The Cauvery River System also originates from the Western Ghats and is one of the pilgrimage
site for Hindus in Kodagu district, Karnataka.
• It flows through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and ends up by draining at Bay of Bengal.
• People are dependent on Cauvery for irrigation and agriculture since ancient times.
The major tributories of the Cauvery River System in India are Tirtha, Noyyal, Bhavani,
Lokapavani, Kabini, Lakshmana, Amaravati, Hannuhole, Shimsha, Kapila, Hemavati, Shmisha,
and Arkavathy.

Mahanadi River System

The Mahanadi River System originates in the central India from Satpura Range and flows in the
eastern India.
• It flows through Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra.
• Hirakud Dam, the largest dam in India is built on Mahanadi River System.