River, central India.
It rises in the Western Ghats and flows east across the Deccan Plateau, along the Maharashtra-Andhra Pradesh border. It crosses Andhra Pradesh state, and turns southeast for its last 200 mi (320 km) before reaching the Bay of Bengal . Its total length is about 910 mi (1,465 km). The development of an irrigation-canal system, linking its delta with that of the Krishna River to the southwest, has made the land one of the richest rice-growing areas of India. The Godavari, throughout its entire length, is sacred to the Hindus.