Pashia Copyright © 2010 Cauvery River in Southern India Cauvery is a sacred river of southern India, rising on Brahmagiri Hill in the Western Ghats in Coorg district of Karnataka state, flowing in a south-easterly direction for 475 mi (765 km) through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states across the Deccan Plateau, and descending the Eastern Ghats in a series of great falls. Before emptying into the Bay of Bengal south of Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, it breaks into a large number of distributaries forming a wide delta. Known as "Daksina Ganga" (Ganges of the South), it is celebrated for its scenery and sanctity, and its entire course is considered holy ground.