उत्तरांचल

 

The Brahmaputra is one of the major rivers of Asia. In SansKrit, it means son of Brahma.

It originates from Mount Kailash in the Himalayan mountains in western Tibet, in China and flows 2900km into the sea in the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh. It is called Tsangpo in Tibet, Siang in Arunachal Pradesh and one of its main branches is called Jamuna in Bangladesh. Old Sanskrit call it Lauhitya and the people of the Brahmaputra valley call it Luit.

This river eventually meets the Ganges (called Padma in Bangladesh) and Meghna rivers to form the largest river delta in the world, most of which is in Bangladesh. It is one of the few rivers in the world that exhibit a tidal bore. Most Indian rivers bear the name of a female. But this one has a rare name of male. (Brahmaputra is a male name in India since Putra in SansKrit means 'son').

It is navigable for most of its length and the lower reaches are sacred to Hindus. The river is prone to catastrophic flooding in spring when the Himalayan snows melt.