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.


✊ 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?
- The river The Pennar River, not the Cauvery, Manjira, or Tungabhadra, is responsible for Gandikota’s gorge.
- Answer: (c) Pennar.
- View this question on the full 2022 paper →
Test Yourself
Beyond the answer
Browse all indian-geography topics →
📚 Keep reading
UPSC CSP 2022 — General Studies Paper I (Full Question Paper)GK0029 — Andhra PradeshIndGeo0073 — The Cuddapah SystemUPSC CSP 2026 — General Studies Paper I (Full Question Paper)UPSC CSP 2021 — General Studies Paper I (Full Question Paper)❓ Practice this topic
D0311 — Consider the following statements: 1. Filling a lake removes natural flood storage. 2. Wetlands recharge groundwater aquifers. 3. Reclaimed water bodies increase local heat island effects. How many of the statements are correct?D0310 — Which of the following directly governs wetland conservation in India?D0309 — Why is the East Kolkata Wetlands ecologically valuable?D0308 — Which of the following is a direct environmental effect of filling an urban lake?🎲 Take a Indian Geography Quiz
Leave a Reply