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Gandikota Canyon: The Grand Canyon of India

A river most people haven’t heard of carved a gorge people compare to Arizona’s Grand Canyon. It sits in Andhra Pradesh, not the American Southwest.

Gandikota Gorge, carved by the Pennar River
Gandikota Gorge, Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh. Photo: ThejeshGN, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Locator map of Gandikota Canyon in Andhra Pradesh, India
Locator map of Gandikota Canyon, on the Pennar River, Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh. Base map: India location map.svg, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0); marker added.
✊ Must Know
India’s ‘Grand Canyon’
  • The Pennar (Penna) River carved Gandikota canyon, cutting through the Erramala Hills.
  • It sits in Kadapa (YSR Kadapa) district, Andhra Pradesh.
  • The gorge’s layered, sheer-cliff rock formations earned it the nickname ‘Grand Canyon of India.’
  • A 12th-13th century fort, built during the Kalyani Chalukya period, overlooks the gorge. Its name literally means ‘gorge fort’ in Telugu.
  • The site now draws tourists for camping, kayaking, and rock climbing along the Pennar’s banks.
📝 Previous Year Questions
Which River Carved Gandikota Canyon?

Test Yourself

1. Gandikota canyon of South India was created by which one of the following rivers?

 

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