Nine Indian Cities from the Ganges to the Bay of Bengal

Varanasi sits on the Ganges and is regarded as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Pilgrims bathe at its riverside ghats and cremate the dead there, and the 2011 census counted 1,212,610 people in about 82 square kilometers.

Prayagraj, called Allahabad for most of the modern era, stands at the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Sarasvati. That site makes it a holy pilgrimage place and a host of the Kumbh Mela, and its 2020 municipal boundaries cover 365 square kilometers with 1,536,218 people at the 2011 census.

Patna was once called Pataliputra and was the capital of the ancient Magadha and Maurya empires. It is now the capital of Bihar on the banks of the Ganges, with 1,684,222 people in 250 square kilometers at the 2011 census.

Nashik lies on the Godavari about 165 kilometers northeast of Mumbai and is one of the four Kumbh Mela sites. It is also a center of grape growing and wine, and the 2011 census counted 1,486,053 people at an elevation of 602 meters.

Jaipur was founded in 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II and is known as the Pink City for the terracotta color of its walled center. It is the capital of Rajasthan, home to the Hawa Mahal and Amber Fort, and held 3,046,163 people in 2011.

Vadodara, also known as Baroda, stands on the Vishwamitri river in Gujarat. It was the capital of a princely state ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty, which left palaces such as the Laxmi Vilas Palace, and it has since become an industrial and petrochemical center of 1,670,806 people at the 2011 census.

Bhopal is the capital of Madhya Pradesh and is called the City of Lakes for the many natural and artificial lakes in and around it. It is remembered worldwide for the 1984 gas disaster, and it covers 463 square kilometers with 1,798,218 people.

Ranchi is the capital of Jharkhand, which was carved out of Bihar on 15 November 2000 after a movement for a separate tribal state centered on this city. It has also been chosen for India's Smart Cities Mission, and it held 1,073,427 people in 2011.

Visakhapatnam, often called Vizag, is the largest city in Andhra Pradesh, set between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. It has a major natural harbor and a large naval base and works in shipbuilding and steel, and the city area is 682 square kilometers with 1,728,128 people in 2011.