About Krishna River
The Krishna River has its origin at Mahabaleswar in the vicinity of Jor village in the state of Maharashtra. The Jor Village is situated to the farthest north of the Wai Taluka in the west. The river ultimately pours into the Bay of Bengal at Hamasaladeevi in Andhra Pradesh, on the eastern shorelines of India.
The delta of the river is one of the productive regions in India. The area also housed the prehistoric Ikshvaku and Satavahana sun reign of kings. Wai is the oldest city on the riverbanks of Krishna in the Satara District of Maharashtra. The biggest city on the banks of the river in Maharashtra is Sangli and at the same time, the biggest city on the banks of the River in Andhra Pradesh is Vijayawada.
Environmentally, the Krishna River is one of the most ruinous rivers in the world because it creates intense land corrosion throughout the monsoon. The river runs in rapids and it is quite fuming, frequently attaining depths of more than 75 feet or 23 meters. Paradoxically, there is a maxim in Marathi language of Maharashtra, "santh vaahate krishnamaai" which stands for "calmly runs Krishna". This expression is also utilized to denote how an individual should be as calm as Krishna. Nevertheless, in fact, the flow of the river results in a significant extent of corrosion between June and August. Throughout this period, Krishna gathers productive soil from Karnataka, Maharashtra, and the western part of Andhra Pradesh to the delta area.
The most important tributary of the river is the Tungabhadra River, which is the result of the union between two rivers - the Tunga River and Bhadra River. Both these rivers have their sources in the Western Ghat Mountain Ranges. Other tributaries of the Krishna River include the following:
- Koyna River
- Venna River
- Malaprabha River
- Bhima River (and the tributaries of Bhima River like the Kundali
- River, flowing into the Upper Bhima River Valley)
- Yerla River
- Ghataprabha River
- Dindi River
- Warna River
- Musi River
- Paleru River
- Dudhganga River
Three tributaries join the Krishna River close to Sangli. The Warana River joins the river at Haripur, which is also quite close to Sangli. This area is also named as Sangameshwar. The Panchganga River joins the Krishna River at Narsobawadi in the vicinity of Sangli. These spots are regarded as quite holy. It is believed that Lord Dattatraya passed a number of his years at Audumber on the riverbanks of this river. In Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, Sangameswaram is a popular religious hub for Hindus. In this area, the Bhavanasi and Tungabhadra Rivers meet Krishna. Sangameswaram Temple is currently submerged in the Srisailam reservoir. Pilgrims come to this area to see this temple only during the summer while the water volume of the reservoir decreases.
Bridges on Krishna River
Irwin Bridge, Sangli
Irwin Bridge, Sangli is one of the oldest, biggest, and famous bridges built on the river at the time of the British rein. The structure has been constructed with red colored rocks and there are two channels to descend in the center of the bridge and see the river waters. Late Shri Vasantdada Patil, the previous Chief Minister of Maharashtra who was spearheading the independence movement in Western Maharashtra, also plunged into the river from this bridge while British Armed Forces were running after him.
Krishna Bridge, Wai
This bridge is one of the oldest bridges constructed during the British rule. The entire structure was constructed with black stone with the captivating nine kaman's. While the water of the river meets the top boulevard of the bridge, then people of the Waikar community had believed that the river inundated.
Ankali Bridge, Sangli
The Ankali Bridge in Sangli is also one of the oldest bridges constructed during the British rein. The bridge works as a link between Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Tributaries of Krishna River
The tributaries of this major river are as follows:
Andhra Pradesh
- Bhadra River
- Varada River
- Tunga River
- Veda River
- Avathi River
- Bhavanasi River in Kurnool District
- Suvarnamukhi River
- Tungabhadra River
- Vedavathi River
- Paleru River
- Musi River
- Munneru River
- Akeru River
- Venna River
- Varma River
- Koyna River
- Malaprabha River
- Ghataprabha River
- Bhama River
- Pavna River
- Kumandala River
- Ghod River
- Indrayani River
- Kundali River
- Man River
- Bhogwati River
- Moshi River
- Bori River
- Chandani River
- Kamini River
- Mula River
- Mutha River
- Nira River
- Mula-Mutha River
- Bhima River
- Sina River
Temples and Places of Attraction on the Riverbanks of Krishna
The oldest religious spot on the river is known as Dakshin Kashi Wai. There are other temples and places of worship such as Kashivishweshwar temple and Mahaganpati Mandir. The river is also known for the seven ghats on the riverbanks. Other popular temples include Dattadeva Temple (Narasoba Waadi), Audumber (close to Sangli), Ramling Temple, and Sangameshwar Shiva Temple (Haripur).
There are famous religious places such as Narsobawadi and Audumber on the riverbanks close to Sangli. Kudalasangama is situated close to Bagalkot, Karnataka. The place is regarded as an Aikya Linga of Basaveshwara, Srisailam, which is one of the 12 jyotirlingas, is home to a prehistoric place of worship for Lord Shiva. The temple of Sangameswara Swamy (noticeable only during summer) is located in the vicinity of Atmakur. The riverbanks are also famous for the International Kalachakra Festival, which was observed in front of the Dalai Lama in Amaravati. Amaravati served as the capital of the Satavahana kings who ruled South India for 400 years and a significant place for studying and gathering insights on Buddhism. Vijayawada is another major tourist attraction on the banks of this river with a number of temples and places of worship.
Wai is one of the famous and old cities situated on this sacred river. There are seven famous ghats on the banks. The ghats are famous for the Krushnabai Utsav, which is observed for a period of one to two months (usually held in January to February). Other places of attraction on the riverbanks are Karad, Satara City, and Sangli.
Dams on Krishna River
A number of dams were built over the Krishna River and they are as follows:
- Dhom Dam
- Dhom Balakwadi
- Almatti Dam
- Basava Sagar Dam
- Nagarjuna Sagar Dam
- Srisailam Dam
- Jurala Dam
- Narayanpur Dam (downriver of Almatti Dam)
- Prakasham Barrage
- Pulichitnthala Dam is under construction.
- Amar Dam
Catchment Area of Krishna River
The drainage area of the river encompasses a territory of 258,948 sq km (99,980 sq miles), which is almost 8% of the overall geographical region of India. The catchment area covers parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. The area is 113,271 km2 in Andhra Pradesh, 69,425 km2 in Maharashtra, and 76,252 km2 in Karnataka.
The river has its origin in the Western Ghat Mountain Ranges. The altitude is around 1,337 meters (4,386 feet) to the north of Mahabaleshwar, around 64 km from the Arabian Sea. The river runs for approximately 1,400 km and pours into the Bay of Bengal. The main tributaries meeting Krishna are as follows:
- The Malaprabha
- The Ghataprabha
- The Tungabhadra
- The Bhima
- The Musi
The majority of this catchment area consists of undulating landscape other than the western boundary, which has been created by a continuous streak of Western Ghat Mountain Ranges. The significant categories of soil seen in the valley are red soils, black soils, lateritic and laterite soils, alluvial soils, hybrid soils, alkaline, and saline soils.
It has been evaluated that the mean yearly surface water capacity of the river is 78.1 km3. Out of this, 58.0 km3 is usable water. Arable zone in the valley is approximately 203,000 km2, which is 10.4% of the overall arable territory of India.
Flora and Fauna
Krishna riverbanks are home to a diverse variety of plants and animals. The final existing Mangrove forests in the river estuary have been announced as the Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary. It houses a wide variety of migrant and local birds. Otter, fishing cat, spotted deer, estuarine crocodile, black buck, sambar, lizards, snake, and jackal are also found in the sanctuary. The sanctuary also hosts plenty of foliage with trees such as Avicennia, Rhizophora, and Aegiceros.
Last Updated on : March 13, 2020
