Ghaghara River

Ghaghara River is a Ganga River tributary. This river originates in the Tibetan Plateau near Lake Mansarovar. After passing through the Himalayas in Nepal, it joins the Sharda River in India at Brahma Ghat. After a 970-kilometer journey through Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, it enters the Ganges below Chapra.

 

At an elevation of 4800 metres, the Ghaghara River originates in the Mapchachungo glaciers near Mansarovar Lake. The catchment area of the Ghaghara River is 127,950 km2. It is distributed across India and Nepal, with about 55 percent in Nepal and 45 percent in India.

 

The Gogra, Ghaghara, or Ghagra River is also known as the Nepali Kauriala, Manchu, or Karnali. However, the river's literal meaning is "Turquoise River" and it is a trans-boundary perennial river that originates on the Tibetan plateau. It flows through Nepal's Himalayas and into India's Sharda River at Brahmaghat. They join to form the Ghaghara River, a major Ganges left bank tributary.

 

It is Nepal's longest river, measuring 507 kilometres in length. The Ghaghara River is 1,080 kilometres long from its mouth in Bihar to its confluence with the Ganges at Revelganj. It is the Ganges' largest tributary by volume and the Ganges' second-longest tributary by length after the Yamuna.

 

The Sarayu River, also known as Lower Ghaghara, is mentioned in the Ramayana. Ayodhya is located on the right bank of the river. The battle between Amin Khan Aitigin and Tughral Tughan Khan took place in the Ghaghara.

 

The river begins on the southern slopes of the Himalayas in Tibet, in the Mapchachungo glaciers, at an elevation of about 3962 metres. The river flows south through Nepal as the Karnali River, passing through one of Nepal's most desolate and unexplored regions. The Seti River, which drains the western part of the catchment and joins the Karnali River in Doti north of Dundras Hill, is a 202-kilometer-long stream that feeds this river. The Bheri River, which runs for 264 kilometres through the eastern part of the Catchment and converges with the Karnali River near Kuineghat in Surkhet, is another feeder stream.

 

As it travels south through the Siwalik Hills, it splits into two branches, the Geruva on the left bank and the Kauralia on the right bank near Chisapani, before rejoining south of the Indian border and forming the Ghaghra proper. The Rapti and the Little Gandak are two other tributaries that originate in Nepal. The Sarayu River in India is another important tributary of Ghaghara. This tributary is known for having Ayodhya (King Dasarath's Kingdom's capital) on its banks. It flows southeast through Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, eventually joining the Ganga near Chapra after a 1080-kilometer journey. Before it converges, it carries more water than the Ganga. Sarayu River is said to be identical to or a tributary of the modern Ghaghara River.

 

The Chhoti Gandak is a groundwater-fed meandering river that originates near Dhesopool in Uttar Pradesh's Maharajganj district. It connects Ghaghara near Guthani in Bihar's Siwan district over a distance of about 250 kilometres. Between 26°00' and 27°20' N latitude and 83°30' to 84°15' E longitude is the Chhoti Gandak River Basin. Khekhra, Hirna, Jethan, Maun, Duhari, Kanchi, and Koilar rivers join from the right bank; Khanua river joins from the left bank. Rain controls the discharge of the Chhoti Gandak, which is high during the monsoon season and low during the summers. Flooding has been observed in the downstream part of the Chhoti Gandak River Basin whenever precipitation is high in the catchment areas. Upland terrace surface, river valley terrace surface, current-day river channel with narrow flood plains, natural levee, and point-bar deposits can all be found in the region. All of these geomorphic features are depositional in nature, made up of various ages of alluvium.

 

The Seti and the Bheri are the Karnali's main tributaries.

 

There are 3,252 glaciers and 2,323 lakes in the Nepal Himalaya, which are 3,500 metres above sea level. These glaciers cover approximately 5,323 km2 and have a potential ice reserve of 481 km3. There are 1,361 glaciers and 907 lakes in the Karnali River basin, with glaciers covering 1,740.22 km2 and an estimated ice reserve of 127.72 km3.

 

Ambedkarnagar, Peoria, Azamghar, Basti, Barabanki, Ballia, Bahraich, Gonda, Faizabad, and Gorakhpur Districts in India are among the administrative districts in the Ghaghara catchment. The Ghaghara River runs through Uttar Pradesh's Sant Kabirnagar, Lakhimpur, Kheri, and Sitapur districts, as well as Bihar's Siwan district.

 

Akabarpur, Bahraich, Ayodhya Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Barabanki, Dohrighat, Basti, Deoria, Gonda, Khaililabad, Siddharthnagar, Sitapur, Saint Kabirnagar, and Tanda in Uttar Pradesh, and Chapra, Deoria, Siwan, Saran, and Sonepur in Bihar are important towns along the Ghaghara River

 

Along the Ghaghara River, several national parks have been built. The Karnali Basin's protected area accounts for nearly 14% of the basin's total area. The Basin area contains four of Nepal's nine national parks, one of the country's three wildlife reserves, the only hunting reserve, and two of the country's six buffer zones. The Basin and its influence area account for roughly 27% of the total Protected Area, 63 percent of the National Park, 25% of the Buffer Zone, 100% of the Hunting Reserve, and 31% of the Wildlife Reserve. Shey Phoksundo National Park in Dopa was established in 1984 and is located in Northwestern Nepal's trans-Himalayan region.

 

The dense forests, which are primarily made up of blue pine, spruce, poplar, cypress, fir, and birch, are home to the rare snow leopard and blue sheep, as well as numerous bird species such as the Impeyan pheasant, blood pheasant, cheer pheasant, red and yellow billed cough, rave, jungle crow, and snow partridge. It is regarded as a Buddhist religious site.

 

Rara National Park and Royal Bardia Wildlife Park are two other parks along the river's banks. Bardia National Park, on the southern slopes of the Sivalik Hills, is the largest and most undisturbed protected area in the Karnali River basin, covering 968 km2 (374 sq mi). The Babai River runs through it on the south, and the Girwa River, a tributary of the Karnali, runs through it on the west. Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary is another protected area (Uttar Pradesh).

The Gangetic river dolphin, or Platanista gangetica, has its upper range in the Karnali basin. On the Indian subcontinent, these are the largest freshwater mammals. They are classified as a vulnerable species. The upstream range limit allows these dolphins to survive. The Ghaghara River is home to Nepal's last potentially viable Ganges River dolphin population.

 

One of the most popular activities on the river Ghaghara is white water rafting. Water cascades down these canyons in a series of raging rapids. It's so intense that only low and medium water can handle it. It is regarded as one of the best rafting rivers in the world, as well as one of the top three rivers in the world.

 

The Sarayu (Kumaoni:Sarjy) is a river in Uttarakhand, India, that originates on a ridge south of the Nanda Kot mountain. It flows through the towns of Kapkot, Bageshwar, and Seraghat before emptying into the Sharda River at Pancheshwar, Nepal. In Sitapur District, Uttar Pradesh, India, the Sharda river (also known as the Kali river) flows into the Ghaghara river.

 

Sarayu is another name for Lower Ghaghara in India. Especially as it passes through Ayodhya, the birthplace of the Hindu god Rama. The river is mentioned several times in the Ramayana, an ancient Indian epic.