View source for Koyna River

{{Short description|River in India}}
{{for|river in [[Jharkhand]]|Koina River}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox river
| name               = Koyna
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<!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP -->
| image              = Koyna_River.jpg
| image_size         = 
| image_caption      = Koyna River
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<!---------------------- LOCATION -->
| subdivision_type1  = Country
| subdivision_name1  = [[India]]
| subdivision_type2  = State
| subdivision_name2  = [[Maharashtra]]
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<!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS -->
| length_km = 130
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<!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES -->
| source1            = Hunter's Point, near [[Mahabaleshwar]]
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| mouth              = [[Karad]], [[Krishna River]]
| mouth_location     = 
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| progression        = 
| river_system       = [[Krishna River]]
| basin_size         = 
| tributaries_left   = Kera, Wang
| tributaries_right  = Morna
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| extra              = Imponds [[Koyna Dam]], Flows thorough [[Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary]] (Tiger reserve)
}}

The '''Koyna River''' ([[Marathi language|Marathi]] pronunciation: [[Help:IPA/Marathi|[koːj(ə)naː]]]) is a tributary of the [[Krishna River]] which originates in Mahableshwar, Satara district, western [[Maharashtra]], [[India]]. It rises near [[Mahableshwar|Mahabaleshwar]], a famous hill station in the [[Western Ghats]]. Unlike most of the other rivers in Maharashtra which flow in a East-West direction, the Koyna river flows in a North-South direction. The Koyna River is famous for the [[Koyna Dam]] and the [[Koyna Hydroelectric Project]]. Koyna Hydroelectric Project is the 2nd largest completed [[hydroelectric]] project in India.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The five biggest hydroelectric power plants in India|url=https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/features/hydroelectric-power-plants-india/|access-date=2021-06-24|language=en-US}}</ref> The reservoir – [[Shivasagar]] Lake, is a huge lake of 50&nbsp;km in length.

Due to its electricity generating potential through [[Koyna Hydroelectric Project]], Koyna river is known as the Lifeline of Maharashtra.

The river meets the [[Krishna River]], which is one of the three largest rivers in southern India by [[Karad]] at [[Pritisangam]].

The river is just about 100 meters in width and is slow-flowing. It is an olive shade of green during the dry months and a bluish-brown in the [[monsoon]] months attributed to much [[algae]] and aquatic plant life. The impounded water of the Koyna Dam though has submerged a significant amount of [[Rain forest]] of the [[Western Ghats]], it has helped a lot to the surrounding forest by supplying water all round the year. Hence a wide biodiversity of plants and animals is observed in the evergreen forest surrounding the river.

== Geography and history ==
Mahabaleshwar  is the source of five rivers namely [[Krishna River]], Koyna, [[Venna River|Venna (Veni)]], [[Savitri River|Savitri]], and [[Gayatri River|Gayatri]]. The source is at the Panchaganga temple in old Mahabaleshwar. The legendary source of the river is a spout from the mouth of a statue of a cow in the ancient temple of [[Shiva|Mahadev]] in Old Mahabaleshwar. Legend has it that Krishna is Lord Vishnu himself as a result of a curse on the [[trimurti]]s by Savitri. Also, its tributaries Venna and Koyana are said to be Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma themselves. An interesting thing to notice is that 4other rivers including Koyna come out from the cow's mouth apart from Krishna and they all travel some distance before merging into Krishna. The biggest river [[Krishna River]] that flows across Maharashtra, [[Karnataka]] and [[Andhra Pradesh]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://agreenhotels.in/backwater-cabins-koyna-lake-resort/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801105546/https://agreenhotels.in/backwater-cabins-koyna-lake-resort/|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 August 2019|title=404|date=14 February 2019}}</ref>{{coord|17|18|N|74|10|E|display=title|region:IN_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki}}

== See also ==
{{portal|Environment|Ecology}}
* [[List of rivers of India]]
* [[List of major rivers of India|Rivers of India]]
* [[Koyna Hydroelectric Project]]
* [[Koyna Dam]]
* [[Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary]]
* [[List of power stations in India]]
* [[List of conventional hydroelectric power stations]]
* Other rivers originating at Mahabaleshwar (Panchganga) [[Gayatri River]], [[Krishna River]], [[Savitri River]] and [[Venna River]]

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage|Satara}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{Satara district topics}}
{{Hydrography of Maharashtra}}

[[Category:Rivers of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Tributaries of the Krishna River]]


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{{India-river-stub}}