The Godavari's journey

Chapter 2 of your book, Our Wondrous World, begins with a riddle about something that has no feet but travels very far, through fields and forests, from the mountains to the sea. The answer is: a river! And then the river starts to tell us its own story. It says: 'I am Godavari.'

The Godavari's journey begins high up in the Western Ghats, in the Brahmagiri Hills at Trimbakeshwar in Maharashtra. It starts out as a small stream. As it moves across the land, rainwater and other streams join it, making it wider and stronger.

The Godavari travels 1,465 kilometres before it joins the Bay of Bengal. It is the second longest river in India, after the Ganga.

When it reaches the sea, the Godavari spreads out into many small streams, which form a delta. There, its freshwater meets the salty sea. This place is called the Coringa Mangrove Forests, and it is where the Godavari's journey ends.