Make the pairs of chief rivers of their place of origin - Rivers: (A) Yamuna (B) Krishna (C) Godavari (D) Mahanadi Place of origin: (1) Sihawa (2) Nasik (3) Mahabaleshwar (4) Yamunotri
- (a)A-(4), B-(2), C-(3), D-(1)
- (b)A-(4), B-(2), C-(1), D-(3)
- (c)A-(1), B-(2), C-(3), D-(4)
- (d)A-(4), B-(3), C-(2), D-(1)
Correct — D, A-(4), B-(3), C-(2), D-(1). The Yamuna rises from the Yamunotri glacier region in Uttarakhand, so A pairs with (4) Yamunotri. The Krishna rises at Mahabaleshwar in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra, so B pairs with (3) Mahabaleshwar. The Godavari rises at Trimbak near Nasik (Maharashtra), so C pairs with (2) Nasik. The Mahanadi rises near Sihawa in the hills of Chhattisgarh, so D pairs with (1) Sihawa. Only option (d) gets all four right.
- (a)A-(4), B-(2), C-(3), D-(1) — Yamuna-Yamunotri and Mahanadi-Sihawa are right, but it swaps the two Deccan rivers: it puts Krishna at Nasik and Godavari at Mahabaleshwar. In fact the Krishna rises at Mahabaleshwar and the Godavari near Nasik — reversed here, so the pairing is wrong.
- (b)A-(4), B-(2), C-(1), D-(3) — Only Yamuna-Yamunotri is correct. It wrongly sends Krishna to Nasik, Godavari to Sihawa and Mahanadi to Mahabaleshwar — three mismatched pairs.
- (c)A-(1), B-(2), C-(3), D-(4) — This is just the trivial 1-2-3-4 straight mapping (Yamuna-Sihawa, Krishna-Nasik, Godavari-Mahabaleshwar, Mahanadi-Yamunotri) and every pair is wrong.
River source (origin) matching is a staple of Indian geography. Four sources here: Yamunotri (Uttarakhand, Himalaya) is the source of the Yamuna; Mahabaleshwar (Maharashtra, Western Ghats) is the source of the Krishna; Trimbak near Nasik (Maharashtra) is the source of the Godavari — the 'Dakshina Ganga'; and the hills near Sihawa (Dhamtari district, Chhattisgarh) are the source of the Mahanadi.
The trap is the two peninsular rivers, Krishna and Godavari, whose sources lie close together in the Western Ghats/Maharashtra. Remember: Krishna = Mahabaleshwar, Godavari = near Nasik (Trimbakeshwar). Once those two are fixed, Yamuna-Yamunotri and Mahanadi-Sihawa are the easy anchors.
- Yamuna originates from the Yamunotri glacier area, Uttarakhand.
- Krishna originates at Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra (Western Ghats).
- Godavari originates at Trimbak near Nasik, Maharashtra — the longest peninsular river.
- Mahanadi originates near Sihawa in Chhattisgarh and drains into the Bay of Bengal.
The correct matching (option d): A-4, B-3, C-2, D-1.
- Swapping Krishna and Godavari sources — Krishna = Mahabaleshwar, Godavari = near Nasik
- Assuming a straight 1-2-3-4 mapping without checking each pair
UPSC/UPPSC frequently set 'match the river with its source/tributary/state' pairing items and single-river origin questions.
At which one of the following places do two important rivers of India originate; while one of them flows towards north and merges with another important river flowing towards Bay of Bengal, the other one flows towards Arabian Sea?
- (a) Amarkantak
- (b) Badrinath
- (c) Mahabaleshwar
- (d) Nasik
Answer(a) Amarkantak (source of the Son and the Narmada)
Same concept — identifying a river's place of origin; its very options (Mahabaleshwar, Nasik) are the source-places tested in this UPPSC pair item.
Which one among the following rivers originates at Amarkantak?
- (a) Damodar
- (b) Mahanadi
- (c) Narmada
- (d) Tapi
Answer(c) Narmada
Same concept — matching a river to its source; the store's own solution notes the Mahanadi rises at Sihawa, exactly the D-(1) pair here.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Godavari, longest of the peninsular rivers, originates near which town in Maharashtra?
- (a)Mahabaleshwar
- (b)Trimbak (Nasik)
- (c)Amarkantak
- (d)Sihawa
Answer(b) Trimbak (Nasik) — the Godavari rises at Trimbakeshwar in the Western Ghats.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which river originates at Mahabaleshwar in the Western Ghats?
- (a)Godavari
- (b)Kaveri
- (c)Krishna
- (d)Tapi
Answer(c) Krishna — it rises at Mahabaleshwar and flows to the Bay of Bengal.