The Ganga System
Course of the Ganga
- Length: about 2,525 km (India about 2,071 km); basin the largest in India (about 26 per cent of the country).
- Source: the Bhagirathi begins at the Gangotri glacier (Gaumukh) (about 3,892 m); the Alaknanda rises from the Satopanth and Bhagirathi Kharak glaciers (near Badrinath); they meet at Devprayag, where the combined river is named Ganga.
- Enters plains at Haridwar, flows through Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand (touch), West Bengal.
- At Farakka (West Bengal) it divides: the Bhagirathi-Hooghly flows south through Kolkata; the main river goes to Bangladesh as the Padma, meets the Brahmaputra (Jamuna) and then the Meghna, to the Bay of Bengal; the Sundarbans delta is the world's largest delta.
The Five Prayags (Alaknanda)
| Prayag | Confluence |
|---|---|
| Vishnuprayag | Alaknanda + Dhauliganga |
| Nandprayag | Alaknanda + Nandakini |
| Karnaprayag | Alaknanda + Pindar |
| Rudraprayag | Alaknanda + Mandakini |
| Devprayag | Alaknanda + Bhagirathi → Ganga |
At Prayagraj (Allahabad) the Ganga and Yamuna meet (with the mythical Saraswati), the Triveni Sangam.
Tributaries
| River | Bank | Origin | Joins | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yamuna | Right | Yamunotri glacier (Bandarpoonch), Uttarakhand | Ganga at Prayagraj | 1,376 km; Delhi, Mathura, Agra; tributaries Tons, Chambal, Sindh, Betwa, Ken |
| Ramganga | Left | Gairsain, Uttarakhand | Ganga near Kannauj | Corbett |
| Gomti | Left | Pilibhit (UP) | Ganga near Varanasi | Lucknow |
| Ghaghara (Karnali) | Left | Mapchachungo glacier, Tibet | Ganga at Chhapra | Large; Nepal; Rapti tributary |
| Gandak | Left | Nepal Himalaya (Tibet) | Ganga at Sonepur, near Patna | Nepal; Valmiki |
| Kosi | Left | Nepal (Sapt Kosi) | Ganga near Katihar | "Sorrow of Bihar"; shifts course; 2008 flood |
| Mahananda | Left | Darjeeling | Ganga (Malda) | Siliguri |
| Son | Right | Amarkantak | Ganga near Patna (Maner) | Largest southern tributary; Rihand dam |
| Damodar | Right | Chotanagpur (Palamu) | Hooghly | "Sorrow of Bengal"; DVC |
| Chambal | Right (of Yamuna) | Janapav hill near Mhow (Vindhyas) | Yamuna | Ravines; Gandhi Sagar, Rana Pratap Sagar; Gharial sanctuary |
| Betwa | Right (of Yamuna) | Raisen (MP) | Yamuna near Hamirpur | Ken-Betwa link |
| Ken | Right (of Yamuna) | Kaimur | Yamuna | Panna |
| Punpun | Right | Chotanagpur | Ganga near Patna | Patna |
Ganga's special status
- National River (4 November 2008); Ganges river dolphin is the National Aquatic Animal (2009).
- Ganga Action Plan (1986) and Namami Gange (2014) for cleaning; NMCG implements. Check the latest extension and funding in official sources.
- Water sharing: Farakka barrage and the 1996 Ganga Water Treaty with Bangladesh (30 years, renewal due 2026; verify the current position).
Map practice
Locate Gangotri, Devprayag, Haridwar, Prayagraj, Patna, Farakka, Kolkata; Yamuna, Chambal, Son, Ghaghara, Gandak, Kosi, Damodar.
Keep practising
Notes are only half the work. Test yourself with questions and discuss doubts with other aspirants.
Prepared for exam revision from NCERT, standard geography textbooks, the Census of India 2011, the India State of Forest Report, IMD, Ministry of Agriculture and other official sources. Maps are schematic teaching maps, not Survey of India maps, and zone boundaries are approximate. Figures such as production, capacity, counts of parks and ports, and census status change, so check the latest official source before relying on them. Found a mistake? Tell us.