Koyna
Koyna is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. Koyna Dam stands on this watercourse and is written up below. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Dams Recorded
- 1
- Coordinates
- 17.57°, 73.77°
About Koyna
The Koyna River (Marathi pronunciation: [koːj(ə)naː]) is a tributary of the Krishna River which originates in Mahableshwar, Satara district, western Maharashtra, India. It rises near Mahabaleshwar, a famous hill station in the Western Ghats. Unlike most of the other rivers in Maharashtra which flow in a East-West direction, the Koyna river flows in a North-South direction. The Koyna River is famous for the Koyna Dam and the Koyna Hydroelectric Project. Koyna Hydroelectric Project is the 2nd largest completed hydroelectric project in India. The reservoir – Shivasagar Lake, is a huge lake of 50 km in length.
Due to its electricity generating potential through Koyna Hydroelectric Project, Koyna river is known as the Lifeline of Maharashtra.
The river meets the Krishna River, which is one of the three largest rivers in southern India by Karad at Pritisangam.
The river is just about 100 meters in width and is slow-flowing. It is an olive shade of green during the dry months and a bluish-brown in the monsoon months attributed to much algae and aquatic plant life.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Koyna River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Koyna in Depth
Geography and history
Mahabaleshwar is the source of five rivers namely Krishna River, Koyna, Venna (Veni), Savitri, and Gayatri. The source is at the Panchaganga temple in old Mahabaleshwar. The legendary source of the river is a spout from the mouth of a statue of a cow in the ancient temple of Mahadev in Old Mahabaleshwar. Legend has it that Krishna is Lord Vishnu himself as a result of a curse on the trimurtis by Savitri. Also, its tributaries Venna and Koyana are said to be Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma themselves. An interesting thing to notice is that 4other rivers including Koyna come out from the cow's mouth apart from Krishna and they all travel some distance before merging into Krishna. The biggest river Krishna River that flows across Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Koyna River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Koyna: Key Facts
| Length | 130 km |
|---|---|
| Mouth | Krishna River |
Facts from Wikidata Q1134765 (CC0).
Koyna Dam
Koyna Dam
Rubble Concrete dam · Maharashtra, India
Koyna Dam is a rubble concrete dam on the Koyna in Maharashtra, India, standing 103 m (338 ft) high and completed in 1964. It carries an installed hydroelectric capacity of 1,960 MW. The structure impounds Shivaji Sagar Lake.
The Koyna Dam is one of the largest dams in Maharashtra, India. It is a rubble-concrete dam constructed on Koyna River which rises in Mahabaleshwar, a hillstation in Sahyadri ranges. It is located in Koyna Nagar, Satara district, in the Western Ghats on the state highway between Chiplun (44 KM) and Karad (58 KM).
Adapted from Wikipedia: Koyna Dam (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Dam type
- Rubble Concrete
- Structural height
- 103 m (338 ft)
- Installed capacity
- 1,960 MW
- Impounded river
- Koyna
- Reservoir
- Shivaji Sagar Lake
- Location
- Maharashtra, India
- Year completed
- 1964
- Height rank
- #48 of 115 indexed
- Output rank
- #36 of 102 indexed
- Coordinates
- 17.3995°, 73.7495°
Notable: Powers India's largest completed hydroelectric station (1,960 MW), known as the 'Lifeline of Maharashtra'.
Among the 115 dams indexed in YearMaps, Koyna Dam ranks #48 by structural height, behind Jinping-I Dam (305 m). By installed generating capacity it ranks #36, behind Three Gorges Dam (22,500 MW).
Nearest cities: Kolhapur (92 km), Sangli (106 km), Pune (126 km).
More about Koyna Dam
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Koyna: Quick Answers
- Where is Koyna?
- Koyna is located in India, at 17.5680° N, 73.7743° E.
- Are there dams on the Koyna?
- Yes. YearMaps records one dam on the Koyna: Koyna Dam.
- How tall is Koyna Dam?
- Koyna Dam is 103 metres (338 ft) high and was completed in 1964.