A 2019 UPSC question paired three famous Indian places with rivers. Two pairs were genuine. One was a trap. This article covers which place-river pairs are actually correct, and a few more worth knowing.
Vitthal Temple, Pandharpur, on the banks of the Chandrabhaga (Bhima) river. Photo: A.Murali, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
MCQ QuestionsIndGeo0147 · Famous Places and Their Rivers
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Only two of the three 2019 place-river pairs are genuinely correct
Hampi is the trap: it sits on the Tungabhadra, not the Malaprabha.
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Local name for the Bhima river as it flows past Pandharpur
Survey of India
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River that Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu genuinely sits on
Survey of India
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Real river past Hampi, not the Malaprabha as often assumed
Survey of India
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Two rivers whose confluence forms the Tungabhadra in Karnataka
Karnataka Geography
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River Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, genuinely sits on
Survey of India
✊ Must Know
Three Places, Checked Against Their Real Rivers
- Pandharpur Pandharpur genuinely sits on the Chandrabhaga river. Chandrabhaga is the local name given to the Bhima river as it curves past the town.
- Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli genuinely sits on the Cauvery river, in Tamil Nadu.
- Hampi Hampi actually sits on the Tungabhadra river, not the Malaprabha. This is the pairing the 2019 question got wrong.
📘 Good to Know
Three More Genuine Place-River Pairs
- Varanasi Varanasi sits on the Ganga river, one of Hinduism's most important pilgrimage sites.
- Ayodhya Ayodhya sits on the Sarayu river, in Uttar Pradesh.
- Nashik Nashik sits on the Godavari river, in Maharashtra.
Test Yourself
🌟 Great to Know
Where the Names Actually Come From
- A local name pattern Chandrabhaga is not a separate river. It is a local, mythological name for the Bhima at Pandharpur, similar to other rivers picking up local names at pilgrimage sites.
- Tungabhadra's origin The Tungabhadra forms from the confluence of the Tunga and Bhadra rivers in Karnataka's Western Ghats. It then flows past Hampi before joining the Krishna.
- Malaprabha is real, just elsewhere The Malaprabha is a genuine river too, a tributary that joins the Krishna system via the Ghataprabha. It simply doesn't flow past Hampi.
📝 Previous Year Questions
Two of Three Pairs Actually Match
- Answer: (a) Only pairs 1 and 2 are correctly matched.
- The trap Hampi is actually on the Tungabhadra river, not the Malaprabha. Pandharpur-Chandrabhaga and Tiruchirappalli-Cauvery are both genuine.
- View this question on the full 2019 paper →
- See also: IndGeo0134 — Famous Places and Their Regions: A Common Matching Trap, a related trap testing place-to-region pairs instead of place-to-river pairs.
Beyond the answer
Browse all indian-geography topics →
📚 Keep reading
UPSC CSP 2022 — General Studies Paper I (Full Question Paper)UPSC CSP 2019 — General Studies Paper I (Full Question Paper)IndGeo0002 — Indian River SystemsUPSC CSP 2023 — General Studies Paper I (Full Question Paper)MedHist0043 — Deva Raya I❓ Practice this topic
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