Rivers, Lakes and Seas

Acchoda Sarovara is a divine lake in Kubera's realm where five gandharva maidens came each spring to worship Gaurīdevī.

Ākāśagaṅgā is the Gaṅgā of svarga, the holy river of the devas, where Yudhishṭhira cast off his human body.

The Gaṇḍakī is a sacred river of Bhārata, made by Brahmā from the drops on his cheeks, and the birthplace of Śālagrāma stones, the forms of Bhagavān Vishṇu.

The Gaṅgā-Sarayū Saṅgama is the holy meeting of the Sarayū of Ayodhyā with the Gaṅgā, passed by Rāma and Lakshmaṇa with Viśvāmitra.

Gaṅgā is the holy river that flows from the foot of Nārāyaṇa, falls on Meru, is received by Bhagavān Śiva, and comes to Bhārata through Bhagīratha's tapas.

The Godāvarī, also called Gautamī, is the great sacred river of the south, brought from the Gaṅgā through the tapas of Gautama.

The Gomatī is a river of Kosala that Rāma, Sītā and Lakshmaṇa crossed on their journey from Ayodhyā toward the Gaṅgā at the start of their exile.

The Hiraṇvatī is the river on whose bank the Pāṇḍava army made its war camp before the Kurukshetra war.

The Kauśikī is a holy river that arose through the tapas of Viśvāmitra, and the Purāṇas also say it is Satyavatī, wife of Ṛcīka, turned into a river.

Lauhitya is the sea of the east where Agni told Arjuna to return the bow Gāṇḍīva, and Arjuna cast it into the water for Varuṇa.

Mānasa Sarovara is the holy lake in the high Himālaya, the birthplace of the Sarayū, where Rāma bathed and where Nārada meditated for a thousand years.

The Mandākinī is the sacred river of the Citrakūṭa forests, where Rāma, Sītā and Lakshmaṇa made their leaf hut during the exile.

The Narmadā is one of the most sacred rivers of Bhārata-varsha, whose mere darśana purifies, flowing from Amarakaṇṭaka west to the ocean.

Pañcappa is a sacred lake in Daṇḍakāraṇya, near Agastya's āśrama, where twelve divine women were held captive until Rāma set them free.

The Payoshṇī, also called Pūrṇā or Paishṭhī, is a sacred river of the Deccan named in the Mahābhārata's tīrtha-yātrā.

The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa names sixteen rivers as the sixteen abodes of the Śaṃsya agni, one of the sacred fires of the yajña.

The Sarayū is the most sacred river of Ayodhyā, flowing from Mānasa lake, where Rāma and the city of Sāketa entered svarga at Gopratāra.

The Saugandika Lake on Gandhamādana is Kubera's lake of divine lotuses, guarded by yakshas, where Bhīma fought for Draupadī's flowers.

The Tamasā (modern Tonse) is the sacred river on the southern edge of Ayodhyā's kshetra, with the āśramas of four ṛshis on its banks.

Tṛṇabindu Sarovara is the lake in Kāmyakavana, named for the ṛshi Tṛṇabindu, where the Pāṇḍavas lived in the last part of their exile.

The Vaitaraṇī is the river at the edge of Yama's realm, and also a sacred tīrtha river of Kaliṅga in present-day Odisha.

The Vipāśā is the river that cut the ropes with which Vasishṭha Maharshi had bound himself, and so got its name, "freed from bonds".

The Vitastā (the Jhelum) is the sacred river of Kashmir that rose when Sudarśana Cakra drained the valley and Bhagavān Śiva slew the daitya Jalodbhava.

The Yamunā is the holy river of Vraja, flowing past Mathurā, Gokula and Vṛndāvana, where Bhagavān Kṛshṇa crossed as a child and tamed Kālīya.

Pampā Sarovara is the holy lake near Ṛshyamūka mountain where Rāma grieved for Sītā and where Sugrīva's land lay ahead.

Pañcāpsaras, the Lake of Five Apsarasas, is a holy lake in the Daṇḍakāraṇya near the āśrama of the tapasvin Māṇḍakarṇi.