The Brahmani is a major
seasonal river in the
Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
state of eastern
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. The Brahmani is formed by the confluence of the
Sankh and
South Koel rivers, and flows through the districts of
Sundargarh,
Deogarh,
Angul,
Dhenkanal,
Cuttack,
Jajapur and
Kendrapara
Kendrapara is a Town and a municipality in the Kendrapara district of the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of Kendrapara district.
Geography
Kendrapara is located at . It has an average elevation of . It is surrounded by Bhadrak, ...
. Together with the river
Baitarani, it forms a large delta before emptying into the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line betwee ...
at Dhamra. It is the second widest river in
Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
after
Mahanadi .
Sources
The Brahmani is formed by the confluence of the rivers South Koel and Sankh near the major industrial town of
Rourkela at 22 15'N and 84 47' E. The Sankh has its origins near the
Jharkhand
Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...
-
Chhattisgarh border, not far from the
Netarhat Plateau. The South Koel too arises in Jharkhand, near
Lohardaga, on the other side of a watershed that also gives rise to the
Damodar River. Both of these sources are in the
Chota Nagpur Plateau. The site of the Brahmani's origin is mythologically reputed to be the place where Sage
Parashara fell in love with the fisherman's daughter,
Satyavati who later gave birth to
Ved Vyasa
Krishna Dvaipayana ( sa, कृष्णद्वैपायन, Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana), better known as Vyasa (; sa, व्यासः, Vyāsaḥ, compiler) or Vedavyasa (वेदव्यासः, ''Veda-vyāsaḥ'', "the one who cl ...
, the compiler of the
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...
. The place is thus called Ved Vyasa.
After assuming the name of Brahmani, the river crosses the Tamra and Jharbera forests, skirting along
National Highway 23. It then passes the town of
Bonaigarh in
Sundargarh district
Sundargarh District is a district in the northwestern part of Odisha state in eastern India.
Sundargarh district is bounded by Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh in the west, Jashpur district of Chhattisgarh in the North-West, Simdega district o ...
before being dammed at Rengali in
Anugul district. A large reservoir of the same name is created as a consequence. It then flows through the towns of
Talcher
Talcher is one of the 4 sub-divisions of Angul district in the Indian state of Odisha.
History
During the British Raj Talcher was the capital of Talcher State, one of the princely states of the Eastern States Agency.Malleson, G. B.: ''An his ...
and
Dhenkanal before splitting up into two streams. The main stream flows by the town of
Jajpur Road beyond which it is crossed by
National Highway 16
Route 16, or Highway 16, can refer to:
International
* Asian Highway 16
* European route E16
* European route E016
Australia
- Thompsons Road (Victoria)
- South Australia
Canada
;Parts of the Trans-Canada Highway:
*Yellowhead H ...
and the
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
-
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
mainline of
East Coast Railway
The East Coast Railway (abbreviated ECoR) is one of the 19 railway zones of Indian Railways. It came into existence on 1 April 2003. The headquarters of the zone are at Bhubaneswar, Odisha
History
Consequent upon the parliament's approval, Ea ...
. The branch stream called Kimiria receives the waters of the
Birupa (a distributary of the
Mahanadi, Kelua and Genguti before re joining the main stream at Indupur. It then flows crisscrossing through
Pattamundai. The river then receives the Kharsuan, on its left bank before merging with the Baitarani, a major river, to form the
Dhamra estuary. A distributary called Maipara branches off here to join the Bay of Bengal a short distance away while the main stream proceeds northward for a few km more before ultimately meeting the sea near
Chandbali at
Palmyras Point. The Brahmani delta is the site of the
Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary, famous for its estuarine
crocodiles.
Length and catchment
At about long, the Brahmani is the second longest river in Odisha after the
Mahanadi. However, if its constituent rivers are included its length extends to about , of which are in Odisha. It has a catchment area of about in Odisha alone.
Irrigation projects
Apart from the
Rengali dam mentioned above, there also exists a
barrage shortly before
Talcher
Talcher is one of the 4 sub-divisions of Angul district in the Indian state of Odisha.
History
During the British Raj Talcher was the capital of Talcher State, one of the princely states of the Eastern States Agency.Malleson, G. B.: ''An his ...
called Samal Barrage. The Jokadia and the Jenapur
anicuts are the other irrigation projects on the river. Near its
mouth, the river is also crossed by the Odisha Coast Canal that takes water from it.
[ :File:Mahanadi.jpg]
References
{{Authority control
Rivers of Odisha
Tributaries of the Mahanadi River
Rivers of India