Famous Places and Their Rivers: Pandharpur, Tiruchirappalli, Hampi

Only two of the three pairs hold up. The sources below settle Pandharpur, Tiruchirappalli and Hampi one by one.

1. Which river flows past Pandharpur?

Pandharpur is a pilgrimage town on the right bank of the Bhima. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) wrote a status report on the town in 2005.

The report says the Bhima is also known as the Chandrabhaga in this area. The reason it gives is the shape of the river near Pandharpur.

So Chandrabhaga is a local name for the Bhima, not a separate river. It is named for the river’s shape. The report does not call the name mythological.

The report places the town 65 km west of Solapur. It calls the Vitthal of Pandharpur the premier deity of rural and urban Maharashtra and its neighbouring states. The temple complex list on the Vitthal Rukmini Mandir site also shows a Chandrabhaga River.

2. What is the Bhima, the river behind the local name?

The Bhima rises in the forest of Bhimashankar in Pune. It joins the Krishna near Kudlu in Raichur taluk. India-WRIS data gives these figures:

• Length: 861 km.
• Catchment: 70,614 sq km.

NCERT calls the Bhima one of three major tributaries of the Krishna. The other two are the Koyna and the Tungabhadra.

3. Where does Pandharpur appear in the history textbooks?

The Class XII history textbook (Themes in Indian History Part II, Chapter 6) mentions the Deccan Sufis. It says they drew on the bhakti tradition of the Kannada vachanas of the Lingayats. It adds the Marathi abhangs of the sants of Pandharpur.

This chapter does not name the river at Pandharpur.

4. Which river flows past Tiruchirappalli?

The district site says Tiruchirappalli lies along the Kaveri (Cauvery) in Tamil Nadu. Both spellings appear in the sources. The textbook gives these facts about the river:

• Source: the Brahmagiri hills (1,341 m) of Kogadu district in Karnataka.
• Length: 800 km.
• Drainage area: 81,155 sq km.
• Basin shares: 3 per cent in Kerala, 41 per cent in Karnataka and 56 per cent in Tamil Nadu.
• Tributaries: the Kabini, the Bhavani and the Amravati.

The Kaveri carries water all year. The upper catchment gets southwest monsoon rain. The lower part gets northeast monsoon rain.

5. Which river flows past Hampi?

Karnataka Tourism says Hampi lies along the banks of the Tungabhadra. UNESCO places the World Heritage property in the Tungabhadra basin in Central Karnataka. It says the setting is dominated by the river, craggy hill ranges and open plains.

UNESCO gives these details:

• Date of inscription: 1986.
• Area: 4,187.24 ha.
• Criteria: (i), (iii) and (iv).
• A minor boundary change came in 2012.

The Class XII history textbook (Chapter 7) explains the site. Its most striking feature is the natural basin formed by the Tungabhadra. The river flows in a north-easterly direction. Granite hills seem to form a girdle around the city.

The textbook adds three more facts:

• The name Hampi comes from the local mother goddess Pampadevi.
• Colonel Colin Mackenzie brought the ruins to light in 1800 and made the first survey map.
• The Raichur doab lies between the Tungabhadra and the Krishna. It was acquired in 1512 under Krishnadeva Raya.

So Hampi stands on the Tungabhadra, not the Malaprabha. The hills and the river basin shaped the city’s setting.

6. How is the Tungabhadra formed?

The Tungabhadra is formed in the Shimoga district by the union of the Tunga and the Bhadra. The CPREEC eco-heritage page gives the place as Koodli, near Shimoga, Karnataka.

The river then flows east across the Deccan Plateau. It joins the Krishna in Andhra Pradesh.

CPREEC puts the confluence with the Krishna at Sangameswaram. It says the river is identified with Goddess Pampa. It is also known as Pampa or Hampi.

These are the main figures:

• Origin: Gangamula in the Western Ghats, at 1,198 m.
• Length: 531 km. CPREEC gives the same length.
• Catchment: 71,417 sq km.

7. Where does the Malaprabha really flow?

The Malaprabha is a principal tributary of the Krishna in Karnataka. It joins the Krishna directly at Kudalasangama. These are the main figures:

• Origin: the Western Ghats, at 792.48 m.
• Length: 306 km.
• Catchment: 11,549 sq km.

The same note says the Ghataprabha, the Malaprabha and the Tungabhadra join the Krishna from the right bank. It lists the Ghataprabha as a separate tributary, with 283 km and a catchment of 8,829 sq km.

So the Malaprabha does not reach the Krishna through the Ghataprabha. It also does not flow past Hampi.

8. Which tributaries join the Krishna from which bank?

Here is a ready-made exam list:

• Right bank: Venna, Koyna, Vasna, Panchganga, Dudhganga, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha and Tungabhadra.
• Left bank: Yerla, Musi, Halia, Maneru and Bhima.

The textbook adds facts on the main river. The Krishna is the second largest east-flowing Peninsular river. It rises near Mahabaleshwar in the Sahyadri. It is 1,401 km long.

Of its catchment, 27 per cent lies in Maharashtra and 44 per cent in Karnataka. The other 29 per cent lies in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Matching city to river is a steady source of exam marks. The facts below come from Britannica, district sites and the Class XI textbook.

9. Which cities stand on the Yamuna?

Britannica says Delhi lies on the west bank of the Yamuna, a tributary of the Ganga. It places Agra on the Yamuna about 125 miles (200 km) southeast of Delhi.

The Yamuna is about 855 miles (1,376 km) long before it joins the Ganga near Prayagraj. The textbook calls it the Ganga’s western most and longest tributary.

Four rivers join it on the right bank. They come from the Peninsular plateau:

• The Chambal.
• The Sind.
• The Betwa.
• The Ken.

10. What is the Triveni Sangam?

Britannica says Prayagraj lies at the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna. It adds that the fort sits at the confluence of the two rivers.

The PIB explainer on the Maha Kumbh calls the Triveni Sangam the sacred confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. Elsewhere it calls the third river the mythical Sarasvati.

The Class XI textbook still names the city Prayag (Allahabad). The city was renamed Prayagraj in 2018. This lesson uses Prayagraj.

11. Which rivers flow past Kanpur, Patna and Lucknow?

District sites place two cities on the south bank of the Ganga:

• Kanpur.
• Patna.

Britannica says Lucknow lies on the Gomati River, about 45 miles (72 km) northeast of Kanpur. The textbook lists the Gomati among the Ganga’s important left-bank tributaries.

The full left-bank list is:

• The Ramganga.
• The Gomati.
• The Ghaghara.
• The Gandak.
• The Kosi.
• The Mahananda.

12. Which river flows past Srinagar?

The Jhelum is an important tributary of the Indus. It rises from a spring at Verinag. The spring lies at the foot of the Pir Panjal, in the south-eastern part of the Kashmir valley.

The river flows through Srinagar and the Wular Lake. It then enters Pakistan through a deep narrow gorge.

Britannica says it meanders northwestward through the Vale of Kashmir to Wular Lake at Srinagar. It spells the spring Vernag. This lesson uses the textbook spelling.

13. Which river flows past Kota?

Britannica says Kota lies mainly on the east (right) bank of the Chambal. The Chambal is a Yamuna tributary, 550 miles (900 km) long. It rises in the Vindhya Range near Mhow.

Its lower course is lined by a 10-mile (16 km) belt of badland gullies. They result from accelerated soil erosion.

14. Which rivers flow past Ahmedabad, Surat and Jabalpur?

Ahmedabad. Britannica says it lies along the Sabarmati River, about 275 miles (440 km) north of Mumbai. It places Sabarmati Ashram along the banks of the same river, north of Ahmedabad. Gandhi lived there from 1917 to 1930.

Surat. Britannica says Surat lies near the mouth of the Tapti at the Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay). The textbook gives these facts about the Tapi:

• Source: Multai in Betul district, Madhya Pradesh.
• Length: 724 km. Drainage area: 65,145 sq km.
• Basin: about 79 per cent in Maharashtra, 15 per cent in Madhya Pradesh and 6 per cent in Gujarat.

Britannica says the Satpura Range forms the watershed between the Narmada (north) and the Tapti (south). So the Satpura forms the watershed between the two rivers.

Jabalpur. Britannica says it lies just north of the Narmada. So Jabalpur lies just north of the river. The Narmada forms a gorge in marble rocks near the city, with the Dhuandhar waterfall. The marble rocks are at Bhedaghat, in the Jabalpur area.

The textbook gives these facts about the Narmada:

• Length: 1,312 km.
• It has a 27 km estuary south of Bharuch.
• It flows in a rift valley between the Satpura (south) and the Vindhyan range (north).
• The Sardar Sarovar Project is on it.

15. Which rivers flow past Kolkata, Cuttack and Guwahati?

Kolkata. Britannica says it is centred on the east bank of the Hooghly (Hugli), once the main channel of the Ganga.

It calls the Hooghly an arm of the Ganga, formed by the Bhagirathi and Jalangi rivers at Nabadwip. The river runs about 160 miles (260 km) to the Bay of Bengal.

Cuttack. A Britannica caption shows the Mahanadi River at Cuttack, Odisha. The Mahanadi is one of Peninsular India’s major rivers. The textbook gives these facts:

• Source: near Sihawa in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh.
• Length: 851 km. Catchment: 1.42 lakh sq km.
• Basin: 53 per cent in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and 47 per cent in Odisha.

Guwahati. Britannica says it lies along the Brahmaputra River. The river is conventionally called the Brahmaputra (“Son of Brahma”) below the Lohit and Dibang confluence.

16. Which rivers flow past Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Nashik and Ayodhya?

• Vijayawada. It lies on the Krishna, in a generally level plain with hills. The Prakasam Barrage on the Krishna was completed in 1959.
• Hyderabad. It lies on the Musi River in the heart of the Telangana Plateau. The Musi is a left-bank Krishna tributary, with a catchment of 11,212 sq km.
• Nashik. The Godavari rises in the Nasik district of Maharashtra. It is the largest Peninsular river system and is also called the Dakshin Ganga. It is 1,465 km long, with a catchment of 3.13 lakh sq km. Britannica says Nashik lies in the Western Ghats along the Godavari River.
• Ayodhya. It lies on the Ghaghara, locally known as Sarayu or Sarju. The Sarda or Saryu rises in the Milam glacier in the Nepal Himalayas and joins the Ghaghara.

17. Where does the name Varanasi come from?

Down To Earth says the Varuna and the Assi are the two tributaries of the Ganga that gave Varanasi its name. It says they also defined the original extent of the city.

A Purana Index entry lists Matsya Purana chapters 180 to 185 as passages on Avimukta, the old name for the sacred Varanasi tract. No opened page quotes a Purana for the name’s origin. So treat any Purana link for the name as tradition.

The same pairing trick works for world cities. Britannica is the main source for the facts below.

18. Which rivers flow past European cities?

Britannica gives these pairs:

• London: on the Thames, some 50 miles (80 km) upstream from its estuary on the North Sea.
• Paris: along the Seine.
• Rome: on the Tiber, about 15 miles (24 km) inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea.
• Lisbon: on the estuary of the Tagus (Tejo).
• Cologne: on the Rhine, from a photo caption.

The Thames is about 205 miles (330 km) long. Britannica marks The Nore sandbank as the change from estuary to open sea. So the Thames ends in the North Sea, not the Irish Sea.

Britannica says Vienna lies where the Danube has cut its course. The Danube is the second longest river in Europe after the Volga. It is about 1,770 miles (2,850 km) long and passes through 10 countries.

The Belgrade entry shows the Sava near its confluence with the Danube. The Budapest entry shows the Danube running through the city.

19. Which river flows past Cairo and Khartoum?

Britannica calls the Nile the longest river in the world, at about 4,132 miles (6,650 km). Its quick answer adds that many believe the Amazon might be longer. So say the Nile is usually listed as the longest.

Britannica says Khartoum is just south of the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers. Cairo also stands on the Nile.

20. Which rivers flow past Baghdad and Basra?

Britannica says Baghdad lies on the Tigris River, about 330 miles (530 km) from the headwaters of the Persian Gulf.

The Shatt al-Arab is formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates at the town of Al-Qurnah. It flows 120 miles (193 km). It passes the port of Basra and Abadan and empties into the Persian Gulf.

21. Which rivers flow past Shanghai, Bangkok, Dhaka, New York and Washington?

• Shanghai. It lies on the Huangpu, a tributary of the Yangtze. The Yangtze is 3,915 miles (6,300 km) long. Britannica calls it the longest river in China and Asia, and the third-longest in the world.
• Bangkok. It lies on the delta of the Chao Phraya River.
• Dhaka. It lies just north of the Buriganga River, a channel of the Dhaleswari.
• New York City. The Hudson and East rivers empty here into one of the world’s premier harbors.
• Washington. It lies on the banks of the Potomac River.

Four news hooks tie back to the famous places. Each figure is a dated snapshot from the cited page.

22. What happened at the Maha Kumbh at the Triveni Sangam?

The PIB explainer says the Maha Kumbh ran from 13 January 2025 to 26 February 2025. The expected turnout was 45 crore devotees in 45 days. PIB says this was exceeded within a month. The count reached 66 crores+ by the concluding day.

Basant Panchami, the third Shahi Snan, drew 2.33 crore bathers. PIB notes that the Sangam is the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati.

23. What happened at the Tungabhadra Dam?

Deccan Herald reported on 17 August 2024 that crest gate 19 was washed away after a chain link snap. Engineers lowered five elements, each four feet high, to fix the breach.

On 3 December 2025 it reported that work to replace 33 gates was likely to start soon. The page title says it begins on Friday. This followed the loss of gate 19 in floodwater the year before.

On 24 June 2026 it ran two stories on the new crest gates:

• One says the dam, which has completed 73 years, was all decked up for the event.
• The other says the new gates give the dam a fresh lease of life.

This lesson gives no project cost or exact event date.

24. What happened at Pandharpur on Ashadhi Ekadashi in 2026?

ANI, via Free Press Journal, reported on 25 July 2026 that lakhs of Warkaris gathered on the banks of the Chandrabhaga at Pandharpur. The annual Pandharpur Wari ended on Ashadhi Ekadashi. The report called the Wari 800 years old.

It says devotees bathed in the river and prayed at the Shri Vitthal-Rukmini Temple. Maharashtra Minister Girish Mahajan reviewed arrangements and spoke of record crowds.

The Incredible India page explains the Wari. Devotees of Vithoba walk for days to Pandharpur. They carry palkhis with the paduka of saints Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram.

25. What did the Centre plan for cleaning the Yamuna in Delhi?

PIB reported on 22 May 2025 that the Union Home Minister held a meeting on cleaning the Yamuna, drinking water and sewage in Delhi. He said the Yamuna is not just a river but also a symbol of faith.

He asked the Ministry of Jal Shakti to prepare a Standard Operating Procedure for all Sewage Treatment Plants. He asked for plans with a 20-year vision.

26. Why is there a Mahanadi water dispute?

PIB reported on 20 February 2018 that the Union Cabinet approved a tribunal for the Mahanadi. It falls under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956. The request came from Odisha.

The tribunal has a Chairman and two members nominated by the Chief Justice of India. It must report in 3 years, extendable by up to 2 more years. PIB calls it a long-pending dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

This item covers the 2018 tribunal decision only.

27. Which place-river pairs did UPSC Prelims 2019 test?

The question is from the UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2019, General Studies Paper I, Question 23.

Answer key: (a) 1 and 2 only. This is the key in the UPSC answer-key file for Series A.

Pairs 1 and 2 are right. Pandharpur is on the Bhima, locally the Chandrabhaga (item 1). Tiruchirappalli is on the Kaveri (item 4). Hampi is on the Tungabhadra, not the Malaprabha (items 5 and 7).