Sacred river · Maharashtra · Karnataka · Telangana · Andhra Pradesh
Krishna (कृष्णा)
कृष्णा
Presiding goddess: Goddess Krishnaveni
Origin
Mahabaleshwar, Western Ghats, Maharashtra (1,337 m)
Mouth
Bay of Bengal (Krishna Delta near Hamsaladeevi, Andhra Pradesh)
Length
1,400 km
Best pilgrim season
Krishna Pushkaram every 12 years; Maha Shivaratri at Srisailam
Sacred ghats
Major tirthas on this river
Legend & origin story
Born from the kamandalu of Brahma at the source of five sister-streams — Krishna, Koyna, Venna, Savitri, Gayatri — which all rise at Mahabaleshwar from the symbolic mouth of a stone cow (gomukh). Krishna herself is held to be a partial avatara of Vishnu’s shyama form, which is why her banks host more Vishnu kshetras than Shiva.
Spiritual significance
Krishna Pushkaram every 12 years (next 2028) draws millions to Vijayawada and Amaravati. The river encircles Srisailam (one of 12 Jyotirlingas AND 18 Shakti Peethas — the only such double sthala) and a bath at Patalganga is held to grant kaivalya. The Mahabharata’s Bhishma rates her among the rivers that confer immediate punya merely by remembrance.