The Geography of the Puranas c11.s5.16

c11.s5.16

The upper Godāvarī basin above its confluence with the Mañjra is an open land on the Deccan plateau dotted with hills of moderate height. Its volume is also limited but the river is deeply entrenched in lava beds so that its banks are high and steep on both sides. The river in this part of its course has served as a zone of assimilation in which were located the capital cities of kingdoms occupying territories on both of its banks. Below Nander it receives its major tributaries from the north and gains considerable volume, developing an extensive flood-plain as it rolls down the plateau. By the time it crosses the spurs of the Nirmal and Satmala ranges and is joined by the Prānhitā it becomes a voluminous river, meandering through a wild terrain covered by thick forests which stretch right across the peninsula from the Sahyadri hills to Bastar and Mahendragiri.