Godāvari

Godāvari, river of India, rising in Mahārāshtra State, western India, near the city of Nasik in the Western Ghats. It flows 1,400 km (900 mi) generally southeast to its delta on the Bay of Bengal, into which seven mouths of the river empty. Just above the entrance of the river into the delta, the Godāvari courses through a gorge about 183 m (about 600 ft) wide. Every 12 years Pushkaram, a great bathing festival, is held on the banks of the Godāvari by the Hindus, to whom the river is sacred. The waters of the river are used for irrigation chiefly in the delta, which is one of the richest rice-growing areas in India. An irrigation dam at Dowlaiswaram, a town at the head of the delta, was built in 1850 and provides three canals with sufficient water to irrigate nearly 404,685 hectares (1 million acres). Sections of the lower Godāvari are navigable; rapids hinder navigation on the upper part of the river. Its valley ranks with those of the Ganges and Indus rivers in agriculture, commerce, and scenic beauty.