After the Ganges and the Indus Rivers the Godavari River is a sacrosanct river in India. It originates in the western ghats near Trimbak in Nashik district of Maharashtra. It then flows in the east across the Deccan Plateau traversing through the states of Maharastra and Andhra Pradesh. It flows in a southeastern direction in order to evacuate in the Bay of Bengal through two mouths. The major tributaries of the Godavari are Indravati River, Manjira River, Bindusara River and Sabari River. It travels a distance of 1,465 km. before draining into the Bay of Bengal.

Below Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh, the river splits into two streams that widen into a large river delta, which provides an extensive navigable irrigation -canal system, the Dowleswaram Barrage which links, the Krishna River delta to the southwest. There is another dam on the Godavari just after the source of the river at Trimbakeshwar. In Nizamabad district of Andhra Pradesh, there is a multipurpose project on this sacred river called the Sriramsagar Project. The Godavari River has a drainage area of 313,000 sq. km. spread over in seven states, Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

The major towns on the bank of the Godavari are Basara, Adilabad, Nanded, Rajamundry, Trimbakeshwar, Nashik, Kopargaon and Paithan.

A sacred river of the Hindus, it has several pilgrim spots along its banks. The major ones are Trimbakeshwar, Nasik where one of the four Sinhastha Kumbh Mela is held, Paithan, Nanded, Pattiseema and Basar. After every twelve years, Pushkaram, a major bathing festival is held on the banks of the river. The development of an irrigation-canal system, linking its delta with that of the Krishna river to the southwest, has made the land one of the richest rice-growing areas of India.