Godāvarī

Dakṣiṇa Gaṅgā, the Ganges of the South · Tryambakeśvar to the Bay of Bengal

The Godāvarī, the longest river of peninsular India, rises near Tryambakeśvar in Maharashtra and flows east through Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to the Bay of Bengal. She is called Dakṣiṇa Gaṅgā and Gautamī.

Holy places on her banks include Nāsik and Tryambakeśvar (Kumbh), Bhadrācalam with its famous Rāma temple, and Rājamahendravaram (Rajahmundry). Every twelve years, when Jupiter enters Leo, the Godāvarī Puṣkaram is celebrated with ritual bathing along the river — another festival timed by Jupiter.

Tradition says the sage Gautama, wrongly blamed for the death of a cow, prayed to Śiva to bring the Gaṅgā to his hermitage on Brahmagiri. The river that came down was the Godāvarī — the river that “gives (dā) the cow (go)” its life back, in one popular explanation of the name.

Maharashtra to Andhra Pradesh · Godāvarī Puṣkaram · Bhadrācalam · Jupiter in Leo

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