Consider the following pairs:
| Famous place | River | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Pandharpur | Chandrabhaga |
| 2. | Tiruchirappalli | Cauvery |
| 3. | Hampi | Malaprabha |
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only
Pandharpur stands on the Chandrabhaga, the local name of the Bhima, and Tiruchirappalli on the Cauvery (Kaveri). Hampi, the ruins of Vijayanagara, lies on the Tungabhadra, not the Malaprabha, so pair 3 is wrong.
- ✓ 1. The Solapur district administration notes that the Chandrabhaga (Bhima) flows through Pandharpur, home of the Vitthal (Vithoba) temple and the annual wari pilgrimage.
- ✓ 2. Tiruchirappalli, the old Chola stronghold with the Srirangam temple on a river island, lies on the banks of the Kaveri.
- ✗ 3. Vijayanagara (Hampi) was built in the natural basin of the Tungabhadra; the Malaprabha flows past Aihole, Pattadakal and Badami's region further north-west.
Remember · Pandharpur — Bhima (Chandrabhaga); Tiruchirappalli/Srirangam — Kaveri; Hampi — Tungabhadra; Aihole–Pattadakal — Malaprabha.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part II, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- Solapur District Administration: Pandharpur ↗ “The Chandrabhaga (Bhima) river flows through the City. Large number of devotees from all over Maharashtra and surrounding States gather at Pandharpur”
- Tiruchirappalli District Administration: History ↗ “Situated on the banks of river Kaveri, Tiruchirappalli, the fourth largest city in the state was a citadel of the Early Cholas”
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part II, Chapter 3 “The most striking feature about the location of Vijayanagara is the natural basin formed by the river Tungabhadra which flows in a north-easterly direction.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·