About the Mandovi
The Mandovi (Mahadayi) is Goa's principal river and one of India's most beautiful short rivers — just 81 kilometres from its source in the Western Ghats of Karnataka to the Arabian Sea at Panaji, Goa's capital. The river flows through the heart of Goa's forest landscape, and Dudhsagar Falls — India's fifth-highest at 310 metres — is on the Mandovi system where the upper river crosses the Goa-Karnataka border. The river enters Goa through the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem National Park, Goa's ecological heart.
The Mahadayi water dispute between Karnataka and Goa is one of India's most bitter interstate river conflicts — Karnataka wants to divert Mahadayi water to the drought-prone Malaprabha basin, while Goa argues this will destroy the river's ecology and reduce the water reaching the Mandowi estuary. Panaji's famous waterfront on the Mandovi — with its bridges, ferries, casino boats, and the iconic Chapel of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception on the hill above — is one of India's most photographed riverside cityscapes. The 12th-century Tambdi Surla temple stands on a Mandowi tributary in the Goa forest.
Khandepar · Khazan