Top 10 Longest Rivers in India

India has always been popularly described as “The Land of Rivers” as hundreds of rivers run across the length and breadth of India throughout the whole year. In Indian culture, many of the rivers are considered to be holy and are prayed as a goddess and at the same time are an integral part of many rituals and holy ceremonies that take place in every part of the country. Apart from their cultural values, these rivers also serve as the most important part of the economy of the country in respect to their offerings for better irrigation and a huge support system of India’s dynamic cultivation of various crops and spices the whole year long. 

The rivers of India are broadly classified as Himalayan rivers and peninsular rivers. Among the top 10 longest rivers in India, 90% of them flow from west to east and drain in the bay of Bengal but out of the 10 longest rivers in India only 10% or less of them flows from east to the west of the country and they are Tapi, Narmada and Mahi. All the Himalayan rivers are everlasting as they are the result of the glacier melts whereas the Peninsular rivers are rain-fed and depend solely upon the monsoon season. We all know that Neil is the biggest river in the world but let us find out the top 10 longest rivers of India in this article. This is initially illustrated in the map of India for a better understanding.

(image will be uploaded soon)

Image: Illustration of the top 10 biggest rivers in India map 

List of 10 Longest Rivers in India by Length

The list of 10 longest rivers in India according to the length they are stretched in are given in a tabular form below:-

India’s top 10 Longest Rivers’ Description

Description of top 10 biggest rivers in India are discussed below:-

1. Ganga: Ganga holds a special place in Indian culture and religious beliefs and is considered the most sacred river that comprises the Indian subcontinent. It originated from a very sacred place of prayers for Hindus called Gangotri and then it merges in Devprayag situated in Uttrakhand with two rivers namely, Alaknanda and Bhagirathi. It is the longest and the largest river in India with its tributaries divided into two segments, the left tributary consists of Ramganaga, Gomti, Gara, Koshi, Mahananda and Buri Gandhak. Whereas, the right tributary consists of Yamuna, Tamsa, Son, Punpun, Kiul, Karamnasa and Chanchan. The states that are covered by Ganga are Uttrakhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The last section of Ganga ends in Bangladesh where it finally meets with the Bay of Bengal. 

The water of river Ganga has become highly contaminated over many decades not just for human beings but also for the marine species that includes 90 species of fish, 40 species that are both land and water skilled, some reptiles among which Gharials are mostly found, warm-blooded water creatures like Ganga dolphins. With the incorporation of the last two species in the list, the IUCN has declared the list under the endangered category. 

2. Godavari River: In terms of the length of the river, Godavari river ranks second in terms of the total length it covers and its total length across India. As it is the second-largest river after Ganga, and flows in southern India, it is also called “Dakshin Ganga '' which means the Ganga of the south. The river Godavari emerges from Nasik which is a place in Maharashtra and then crosses over Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to finally drain in the Bay of Bengal. A few of its very important tributaries consist of the left tributary that contains Purana, Pranhita, Indravati as well as Sabari rivers. This river is also considered very sacred according to Hindu mythologies as some of its banks are recognized as the oldest bank through which this river has been followed for hundreds of years. Few of the important banks of this river are in Nasik, Nanded and Rajahmundry as the total length of the river across the country is 1464 km. 

3. Krishna River: In terms of the length of the river flowing across India, Krishna river is considered as the third-longest river but in terms of the amount of inflow of water every year in the river with the number of basins, the Brahmaputra being the third-largest whereas Krishna is placed in the fourth position. It is considered the most important river in terms of serving as a prime source of irrigation of the lands in some of the major cities of India like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. It emerges from Mahabaleshwar and finally meets in the Bay of Bengal. It flows across many cities before it flows into the Bay of Bengal and some of the major cities that serve as its banks are Sangli and Vijayawada. Some of its major tributaries are Panchaganga, Bhima, Dudhaganga, Ghataprabha, Tungabhadra. 

4. Yamuna River: In India Yamuna is popularly called Jamuna that is a Himalayan river and is perennial as it originates from the Yamunotri Glacier of the Banderpooch Peak situated in the city of Uttarkashi that is a part of Uttrakhand state. The Yamuna has been the largest and the longest tributary of Ganga and it does not drain itself directly into the Sea. The Yamuna has a large number of tributaries of its own that include Giri, Rishiganga, Sasur, Hanuman Ganga, Chambal, Sindh, Ken, Betwa and many more. Uttarakhand, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are the major banks of the river Yamuna.

5. Narmada River: Narmada river was called Nerbuddha before it was named “Narmada” and sometimes it is also referred to as Rewa. It originated from Amarkantak. As it has been the main source of water and a primary water resource for irrigation in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, thus it is also known as the lifeline of these two states. It falls among the 10% of the rivers that travel from east to the western parts of the country unlike the majority of other rivers of the country. According to the Hindu beliefs and religion, it is the seventh holiest river of India that is considered utmostly sacred, the rest of the six are Ganga, Jamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Sindhu and Kaveri. Also, the river has been mentioned multiple times in the mythologies of India like Ramayana and Mahabharata.    

6. Indus River: The historic names of our country are majorly derived from the river Indus considering the first Indus Valley Civilization. It originates from the lakes of Mansarovar and flows across the states Ladak, Gilgit and Baltistan. After that, it enters Pakistan. This has flourished the oldest civilization of our country and is popularly known for its importance in the history of our country. Janker, Jhelum, Soan, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas are some of the major tributaries of the river Indus. Some of the major cities that serve as its biggest banks are Leh and Skardu. It is one of the longest rivers that flow across India to its neighbouring country as its total length of flow is 3180 KM but it only has a flow length of 1114 KM across India.    

7. Brahmaputra River: The Brahmaputra is the second-longest river that emerges from the Mansarovar range. It actually originated from the glacier of Angsi that is very near to Mansarovar lake that falls partly in Tibet, China. As it originates in China and enters India via Arunachal Pradesh, thus in China this river is known as the Yarlung Tsangpo. It is the sole river that is considered male in India, the rest of the rivers are considered female and thus few of them are worshipped as Goddesses. As the flow of the river is very strong thus in the monsoon month, that is, from June to October, heavy floods are quite a natural occurrence almost every year. Kaziranga National Park is one of its major banks and then it finally enters Bangladesh. Thus the length of the river within India is just 916 KM. The first island of river Brahmaputra falls in the state of Assam and is known as Majuli or Majoli and therefore in 2016, this is converted as a district and therefore is the first river Island that is considered as a district. 

8. Mahanadi River: Mahanadi river is also known as the “distress of Odisha'' as it has been mentioned in history many times for its destructive floods. It originated from the district of Chhattisgarh called Raipur. But after the construction of the Harkunda dam now the flood has been restricted to a greater extent and the circumstances around the river have been controlled for many years now.

9. Kaveri River: it is considered as one of the sacred rivers of southern India as its entire course is considered to be highly sacred and it has been mentioned for its scenic beauty in the pieces of literature of Tamil Nadu for centuries. It generates in the Brahmagiri Hills in Karnataka’s the Western Ghats and then flows in the south-eastern direction to merge into the Bay of Bengal via the coast of Tamil Nadu. As this river has been distributed into numerous tributaries that flow in the southern part of India, it is therefore termed as the “garden of southern India”. It is also a very important source of irrigation and canal projects. 

Tapi River: It is among the three rivers that flow from east to west of India and originates from Peninsular India and therefore highly depends upon the monsoon season in India. It emerges from the Betul District that has Satpura ranges and merges into the Gulf of Khambhat of the Arabian sea. Its major tributaries are Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat with six other minor tributaries. The tributaries of river Tapi are Purna, Girna, Gomai, Panzara, Pedhi and Arna.