The Yamuna is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about 4,500 m (14,800 ft) on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Lower Himalaya in Uttarakhand, it travels 1,376 kilometres (855 mi) and has a drainage system of 366,223 square kilometres (141,399 sq mi), 40.2% of the entire Ganges Basin. It merges with the Ganges at Triveni Sangam, Prayagraj, which is a site of the Kumbh Mela, a Hindu festival held every 12 years.
Vishram Ghat, on the Yamuna at Mathura in Uttar Pradesh
Banderpoonch peak, the source of Yamuna, as seen from Mussoorie
The Yamunotri temple on the river, dedicated to Goddess Yamuna
The Doab, United Provinces, 1908
A tributary, or an affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream, river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they flow, drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater, leading the water out into an ocean.
Nam Khan flows into the Mekong at Luang Prabang in Laos.
At Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, looking downstream, the Shenandoah River (bottom right) meets the Potomac River, which flows from bottom left to top right, making the Shenandoah a right tributary of the Potomac.
The Mekong is a trans-boundary river, originating in the Tibetan Plateau. Its upper tributary river systems (e.g. ngom chu [zh]) are restricted to narrow gorges, but the tributaries that feed its lower reaches (e.g. the Mun River) cover larger areas.