River
Periyar River
244 km from source to mouth · India.
IndiaFlows into Vembanad
In numbers
Length
244km
Average flow
290m³/s
Basin
5,398km²
Drop
916m
from 916 m to 0 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
244 km of river and 21 stops on the way: 18 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmWestern Ghatsat 916 m
- 101 kmIdukki Reservoir39 km²
- 102 kmIdukki11,248 people
- 180 kmVenanbravadi Waterfalls
- 197 kmMartūru18,890 people
- 199 kmVadakkumbāgam11,727 people
- 203 kmChelamartam16,844 people
- 204 kmPerumpāvūr27,105 people
- 205 kmKizhakkumbāgam10,791 people
- 206 kmMarampilly23,272 people
- 209 kmTekkumbāgam10,798 people
- 210 kmVāzhakulam18,358 people
- 214 kmChowwara14,933 people
- 217 kmAlwaye23,703 people
- 218 kmAluva24,108 people
- 218 kmMarthanda Varma Bridge
- 223 kmChengamanād29,576 people
- 228 kmAlengād47,329 people
- 230 kmKarumālūr29,805 people
- 236 kmChendamangalam29,326 people
- 237 kmPuthenvelikara33,372 people
- 243 kmMoothakunnam27,458 people
- 244 kmVembanadat 0 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in India
At the mouth it carries 293 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 8.5 seconds. It drops from 916 m to 0 m, 3.8 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 5,398 km², about the size of TT. 2.9 million people live in it. Highest water: from July to August; lowest: from January to April. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (34% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- AlengādLargest city on its banks · 47,329 people
- Cochin International Airport (COK)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 11 km from the cityCar hire at COK airport (Kochi)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water20 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From December to FebruaryThe best months to visit
Periyar River, month by month
Highest water: from July to August
Lowest water: from January to April. Best months to visit: from December to February.
From about 43 m³/s in the lowest month to 920 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The basin
Periyar River: the basin in numbers
6,374 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 2.9millionpeople live in the basin
- 463/km²people per km²
- 745maverage altitude of the basin
- 2,465mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 23.6°Caverage air temperature
- 25%protected areas
- 2.0%covered by lakes
- 3.1km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 85% Forest
- 49% Cropland
- 13% Towns and cities
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Periyar River: what you find on the way
- 3WeirsKottaram Kadavu
- 1WaterfallsValara Waterfalls
- 3Boat rampsKadathu Kadavu
- 16Ferry piersKottayil Kovilakam Jetty, Paliyam Muziris Jetty, cp thuruth puthenvelikara ferry and 13 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.7 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Periyar River in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
1waterfall on the riverCascadyas
1lake on its wayLakeyas
3mountains at the sourcePeakyas
5islands off the mouthIslandyas
Waterfalls (1)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Venanbravadi Waterfallskm 165
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (1)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Idukki Reservoirkm 9239km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Mountains at the source (3)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Devar Mala11 km away
- Sivagiri Malai8.1 km away
- Devar Malai11 km away
Islands off the mouth (5)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- Willingdon Island28 km away
- Vypin10 km away
- Gundu Island24 km away0.0km²
- Pizhala18 km away
- Sathar Island0.4 km away
Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Periyar River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (1)
Also: Chalakudy River
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q2634049) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Cascadyas, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Islandyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
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