River · India
Krishna
The Krishna is one of the longest rivers in India. It begins in the Western Ghats mountains, close to the Arabian Sea, and then flows east across the south of India to the Bay of Bengal.
Picture credit: Zeman (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Krishna?
The river starts here: Near Mahabaleshwar in the Western Ghats, Maharashtra.
It ends in the Bay of Bengal near Hamsaladeevi, Andhra Pradesh.
Countries on the river: India.
The story behind it
The Krishna starts high in the Western Ghats near the hill town of Mahabaleshwar, not far from the Arabian Sea. Yet it does not flow to that nearby sea. Instead it travels east through four states: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Big rivers such as the Bhima and the Tungabhadra join it on the way. The Krishna is fed by monsoon rains, so its water level changes a lot during the year. Large dams store the water for fields and electricity. When the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam was finished in 1967, it was the tallest stone dam in the world. Its lake flooded an ancient Buddhist town, so old monuments were moved to an island that is now a museum. Near the sea, the Krishna and the Godavari form a fertile delta called the “rice granary of India”. Its mangrove forests shelter otters and rare fishing cats.
Questions children ask
How long is the Krishna?
The Krishna is about 1 400 kilometres long. Some sources give a shorter length of about 1 300 kilometres, because rivers can be measured in different ways.
Which states does the Krishna flow through?
It flows through four Indian states: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Its longest stretch, about 612 kilometres, is in Andhra Pradesh.
Why is the Krishna important to people?
Its water irrigates huge fields, and its delta is known as the “rice granary of India”. Hindus also see the river as holy and hold the Krishna Pushkaram fair on its banks once every twelve years.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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