Godavari River

'''Godavari (gōdä`vərē),''' Godavari river, c.900 mi (1,450 km) long, rising in the Western Ghats in Maharashtra state, W central India, and flowing SE across the Deccan Plateau to the Bay of Bengal. The Manjra and Indravati rivers are its chief tributaries. Below Rajahmundry Rajahmundry (rä`jəməndrē), city (1991 pop. 401,397), Andhra Pradesh state, E central India, in the Godavari River delta. It is a center of the tobacco industry and headquarters of the Godavari irrigation works. ..... Click the link for more information. , c.50 mi (80 km) from the coast, the river divides into two streams that form a large delta. The delta, site of some of the earliest European settlements in India, has an extensive navigable irrigation-canal system, linking the region to the Krishna River delta to the southwest. A dam NW of Rajahmundry provides water for irrigation and generates hydroelectricity. The Godavari River is sacred to Hindus and has several pilgrimage centers on its banks.