India- The Brahmaputra River

      The Brahmaputra River

• The Brahmaputra is one of the largest rivers in the world.
• It is the 9^th largest river in the world by discharge of volume and 15^th longest river in the world.
• The river has a male name Brahmaputra which means “Son of Brahma” in Sanskrit.
• Tributaries of Brahmaputra River:
  1. Left side tributaries: Lhasa River, Nyang River, Parlung Zangbo River, Lohit River, Dhansiri River, Kolong River. 
  2. Right side tributaries: Kamengm River, Manas River, Beki River, Raidak River, Jaldhaka River, Teesta River Subansiri River. 
• Different names of Brahmaputra Rivers are:
  1. In Tibet-Yarlung Tsango River
  2. In China– Yarlung Zangbo
  3. In Arunachal Pradesh-Dihang or Siang
  4. In West Bengal and Bangladesh- The Padma
  5. In Assam– Luit Dilao   
• This is a trans-boundary river which flows through the countries of China/Tibet, India, and Bangladesh.
• Most of the part of this
• It originates from the Chemayundung Glacier of the Kailash range near Mansarovar Lake in northern side of Himalaya in Burang country of Tibet at an elevation of 5,200 meter It covers slopes of the Himalayas about 97 km Southeast of lake of Mansarovar in South-western Tibet
• The Brahmaputra River is 3,848 km long and its drainage area is 712,035 km square according to new finding by Liu Shaochuang a researcher in institute of remote sensing applications with expeditions and satellite imagery from CAS.
• A new Dhola-Sadiya Bridge is constructed over the Lohit River a majore tributary of Brahmaputra River from dhola in south to Sadiya in North.
• The Bogibeel rail- cum Road Bridge in north-eastern Indian state of Assam between Dhemaji district and Dibrugarh district is the longest railway bridge of India constructed over the Brahmaputra River.
• In 2016, Majuli is the first island to be made a district in India with an area of 880 square km and the world’s smallest river island in Guwahati.
• The religious village of Hajo in Guwahati is situated on the banks of Brahmaputra River. This is an ancient Pilgrimage centre for Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim. Guwahati Planetarium is located on MG road.
• The battle of Saraighat was a naval battle fought here in 1671 between Mughal Empire and the Ahom Kingdom. Now Saraighat is in Guwahati, Assam India.   
• The first combined rail and road bridge across the river was opened to traffic in April in 1962 at Saraighat.
• Dibru Saikhowa National Park located on the bank of the Brahmaputra River.
• In the mid of the Assam valley, Kaziranga National Park is located on the south bank of the river.
• Orange National Park is located on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River.
• Sundarban delta is a major mangrove area in the delta formed by the confluence of the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal.
• The Manas River is a major tributary of Brahmaputra river which passes through the heart of Manas National Park. It is declared a sanctuary on 1 October 1928 with an area of 360 square km.
• Aswanklanta Temple Sri is an ancient Hindu Temple located on the Banks of the Brahmaputra River in North Guwahati and it was built by Ahom Kin Shiva Singha in 1720.
• Umananda Devaloi is a shiva temple located at Umananda Island also known as Peacock Island in middle of Brahmaputra River. Umananda Island is the smallest inhabited riverine island in the world. 
• The Brahmaputra River from Tibet to Assam, it is called the Red River because the soil area is rich in iron content.
• Arunachal Pradesh in North-eastern state where it first flows in India and enters the boundary of India.
• The longest and largest tributary of Brahmaputra is Subansiri is the right northern bank tributary.

Course  

The river runs for nearly 1100 km in eastern direction between range of Himalayas to south and the Kailash range in north. Throughout its upper course the river is known as Tsangpo which means “Purifier” in Tibet. After passing Pi in Tibet the river turns suddenly to the north and northeast and cuts courses through a succession of great narrow gorges between mountainous massifs of Gyala peri and Namcha Barwa in series of rapids and cascades thereafter the river turns south and south west and flows through deep gorge or The Grand Canyon of the T-sangpo across the eastern extremity of the Himalayas with Canyon walls that extend upward for 5,000 meter. During stretch of the river take U- turn and enters northern Arunachal Pradesh state in north-eastern India where it is known as the Siang/ Dihang river and turns south and make a very rapid descent from its original height in Tibet and enters the state of Assam and became very wide as 20 km in parts of Assam. It flows for about 35 km west of the town of Sadiya and is joined by Dibang River and Lohit River at the head of Assam valley. As the river following braided 700 meter course through valley. It receives several rapidly rushing Himalayan streams including Subansiri, Kameng, Bhareli, Dhanseri, Manas, Chamamati, Saralbhanga and Sankosh rivers. The main tributary to the south are Burhi Dihing, the Disang, the Dikhu and the Kopili. Between Districts of Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur the river divides into two channels the northern Kherkutia channel and the southern Brahmaputra Channel. The two channels again join about 100 km downstream forming the Majuli Island which is the largest river island in the world. The Brahmaputra cuts through the rocks of the Shillong Plateau and is at its narrowest a 1 km bank to bank. The Brahmaputra enters the plains of Bangladesh after turning south around the Garo hills below Dhuburi in India here it joins the Ganga river and forms the Ganga- Brahmaputra delta which is not only the largest delta in India but it is the world’s largest delta and empties into the Bay of Bengal. The Ganga- Brahmaputra system has the third greatest average discharge of the world’s river- roughly 30,770 m per second.