Biggest rivers in India – 15 Major and Important rivers List

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What do we mean by Biggest, Longest, and Largest rivers in India ?

By Biggest rivers, We mean the average discharge of a river. What is the discharge ? Discharge is the volumetric flow rate (m3/s) of a stream.

When some people look or search for biggest rivers in the world they most probably thinking and expecting the list of longest rivers in the world, which is different and makes the understanding and information about biggest rivers in India a bit misleading.

By Longest rivers, we mean the length of the river from start to the end.

By Largest rivers,  We mean the large drainage area of the river. What is the drainage area ? A drainage area is an area of land where all the flowing surface water converges to one point such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as lake or ocean.

List of Biggest rivers in India

S No	River	Average discharge (m3/s)	Outflow
1	Ganga	41,199	Bay of Bengal
2	Indus	6,600	Arabian Sea
3	Tapti	6,371	Arabian Sea
4	Godavari	3,505	Bay of Bengal
5	Krishna	2,213	Bay of Bengal
6	Mahanadi	2,119	Bay of Bengal
7	Narmada	1,447	Arabian Sea
8	Baitarani	903	Bay of Bengal
9	Kaveri	677	Bay of Bengal
10	Tapti	489	Arabian Sea

List of Longest rivers in India

S. No.	River	Length (km, India)	Total Length (km)
1.	Ganga	2525	2525
2.	Godavari	1464	1465
3.	Krishna	1400	1400
4.	Yamuna	1376	1376
5.	Narmada	1312	1312
6.	Indus	1114	3180
7.	Brahmaputra	916	2900
8.	Mahanadi	890	890
9.	Kaveri	800	800
10.	Tapti	724	724

7 Longest rivers of India – Infographics

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List of Largest rivers in India

S. No.	River	Drainage Area (km2)
1	Ganga	1,200,000
2	Indus	1,085,000
3	Godavari	312,812
4	Krishna	258,948
5	Mahanadi	141,600
6	Narmada	98,796
7	Kaveri	81,155
8	Tapti	65,145
9	Penna	55,213
10	Baitarani	39,033

Quick and Interesting Information about the Major and Important rivers in India

1. Ganga, 2525 km, India and Bangladesh

The Ganga flows through India and Bangladesh. It originates in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.

It starts at a town named Devprayag as a result of the merging of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers.

Some of the Tributaries of Ganga are:

• Ramganga, Gomti, Brahmaputra, and Meghna (Left)
• Yamuna, Sone, and Damodhar (Right)

2. Godavari, 1464 km, India

The Godavari is the second longest river, after Ganga, in India. It originates in Trimbakeshwar, Nashik, Maharashtra.

Though it originates at a location only 80 kms from Arabian Sea, Godavari travels 1464 kms and flows into Bay of Bengal.

It flows through or covers six Indian states: Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha.

3. Krishna, 1400 km, India

The Krishna river is also called Krishnaveni. It originates in western ghats near Mahabaleshwar at the altitude of 1,300 m (4,300 ft).

It is the main source of water for irrigation for Indian states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

4. Yamuna, 1376 km, India

The Yamuna is the second Biggest (i.e. Average Discharge) tributary river of the Ganga and longest tributaries in India.

It originates from Yamunotri Glacier at the altitude of 4,500 m (14,800 ft) in Bandarpunch peaks of Lower Himalayas in Uttarakhand.

It merges with the Ganga at Triveni Sangam, Prayagraj, after traveling 1,376 km.

The Taj Mahal, Agra, is built on the banks of Yamuna river.

5. Narmada, 1312 km, India

The Narmada is the biggest flowing river in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is considered to be the Lifeline of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat states. 

It originates from Narmada Kund, a small reservoir, in Amarkantak and drains into the Arabian sea, through the Gulf of Khambhat.

6. Indus, 1114 km, China, India, and Pakistan

The Indus river was home to Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, the major cities of the ancient world.

Its main tributaries on the left bank in the Ladakh is Zanskar river and in the plains is the Panjnad river, which is formed by merging of five Punjab rivers:Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers.

Its main tributaries on the right bank are the Shyok, Gilgit, Kabul, Kurram, and Gomal rivers.