Krishna

River Krishna is another sacred river of India and is the second largest in southern India and third largest in India. Its name means as dark in Sanskrit and is also known as krishnaveni. River Krishna originates at Mahabaleswar in Maharashtra and meets the sea in the Bay of Bengal at Hamasaladevi in Andhra Pradesh.Through the central-southern part of India it covers an area of 1400kms. The traditional source of the river is a spout from the mouth of a statue of a cow in the ancient temple of Mahadev in Mahabaleshwar. 

           The waters of River Krishna are considered sacred for religious rituals and for releasing ashes of the dead people. Hindus believe that a holy dip in the river purify the mortals. Many Piligrim places including the Mallikarjuna temple (Srisailam), Amareshwara Swamy temple (Amaravati) and the Durga-Malleshwara temple (Vijayawada) flourish along the course of the river. The Krishna Pushkaram fair is held on the banks of the river once in every twelve years.  The river irrigates a huge land area and makes a fertile delta. Paddy is the chief crop that is cultivated on a large scale with the waters of River Krishna. Given below are the major dams that are built across it.

In Andhra Pradesh

• Srisailam Dam
• Nagarjuna Sagar Dam
• Prakasham Barrage
• Jurala   Dam
• Pulichintala Dam

In Karnataka

• Almatti Dam
• Basava Sagar Dam
• Narayanpur Dam

In Maharashtra

• Dhom Dam
• Balakwadi Dam

There are many tributaries for river Krishna and among them few have great significance

• Ghataprabha
• Malaprabha
• Bhima
• Thungabadra
• Musi
• Venna
• Yerla
• Warna
• Dindi
• Paleru
• Dudhganga
• Koyna

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Legends state that the River Krishna is Lord Vishnu himself who turned into a river due to a curse on the Trimurti by Devi Savitri (Goddess Parvati). It is said that its tributaries Venna and Koyana are said to be Lord Siva and LordBrahma.  Krishna river is one of the disastrous rivers in the world, in that it causes heavy soil erosion during the monsoon season. It flows fast and furious often reaching depths of over 75feet. Basin size of the river in Karnataka state is 113,271 km2, Andhra Pradesh is 76,252 km2 and Maharashtra is 69,425km2. 

                Krishna Barage- Vijayawada

About 80% of the water in the basin is utilizable. Mullayanagiri peak in Karnataka is the highest point ( 1930m) of the Krishna basin. The delta of this river is one of the most fertile regions in India and was the home to ancient Satavahana and Ikshvaku Sun Dynasty kings.