Krishna River, formerly Kistna, river of south-central India. One of India’s longest rivers, it has a total course of about 800 miles (1,290 km).
The river rises in western Maharashtra state in the Western Ghats range near the town of Mahabaleshwar, not far from the coast of the Arabian Sea. It flows east to Wai and then in a generally southeasterly direction past Sangli to the border of Karnataka state. There the river turns east and flows in an irregular course across north-central Karnataka and then to the southeast and into southwestern Telangana state. It then veers southeast and then northeast, forming a portion of the border with Andhra Pradesh state. Turning east it flows into Andhra Pradesh to its delta head at Vijayawada, and from there flows southeast and then south until it enters the Bay of Bengal.
The Krishna has a large and highly fertile delta continuous with that of the Godavari River to the northeast. Although it is not navigable, the Krishna provides water for irrigation; a weir at Vijayawada controls the flow of water into a system of canals in the delta. Because it is fed by seasonal monsoon rains, the river’s flow undergoes great fluctuation during the year, limiting its usefulness for irrigation. The two largest tributaries are the Bhima (north) and the Tungabhadra (south). The latter has a dam at Hospet, completed in 1957, forming a reservoir and supplying hydroelectric power. Other hydroelectric installations along the river include those along the Telangana–Andhra Pradesh border at Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar.