Godavari River, sacred river of central India. It rises in the Western Ghats 50 miles (80 km) from the Arabian Sea and flows generally eastward across the Deccan plateau, along the Maharashtra–Andhra Pradesh border and across Andhra Pradesh state, turning southeastward for the last 200 miles (320 km) of its course before reaching the Bay of Bengal. There it empties via its two mouths: the Gautami Godavari to the north and the Vasishta Godavari to the south. Its total length is about 910 miles (1,465 km), and it has a drainage basin of 121,000 square miles (313,000 square km).
From its source to the Eastern Ghats, the Godavari River flows through gentle, somewhat monotonous terrain, along the way receiving the Darna, Purna, Manjra, Pranhita, and Indravati rivers. Upon entering the Eastern Ghats region, however, the river flows between steep and precipitous banks, its width contracting until it flows through a deep cleft only 600 feet (180 metres) wide, known as the Gorge. On either side wooded hills rise almost vertically from the waters. Having passed through the Eastern Ghats, the river widens again, traversing wide plains, the low islands in its stream being used for tobacco growing. At this point the Godavari flows placidly. Just above the city of Rajahmundry, a dam was constructed on the river in 1948 to provide irrigation and hydroelectric power.
The upper reaches of the Godavari are dry in winter and spring, making it virtually useless for irrigation. At its mouths, however, the development of a navigable irrigation-canal system, linking its delta with that of the Krishna River to the southwest, has made the land one of the richest rice-growing areas of India. The Godavari, throughout its entire length, is sacred to the Hindus.