The Eastern Ghats are an ancient, discontinuous mountain chain defining India's eastern landscape

Nature · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: While the Western Ghats dominate India's climate, their eastern counterpart is a far older, fragmented range. Stretching along the Bay of Bengal, these mountains hold secrets from the archeozoic era, housing unique species like the Gower's shieldtail snake and serving as a vital, though often overlooked, geological and ecological corridor.

The Eastern Ghats form the eastern edge of the Deccan plateau, running parallel to the Bay of Bengal. Unlike the continuous, high-altitude Western Ghats, this range is a discontinuous chain of mountains and hills. It serves as a major watershed for India, with rivers such as the Godavari, Krishna, Mahanadi, and Kaveri cutting across the range to reach the sea. Because the Deccan plateau is higher on the west, these rivers originate in the Western Ghats before flowing eastward through the Eastern Ghats.

Geologically, the Eastern Ghats are significantly older than the Western Ghats. They began forming during the archeozoic era through the collision of crustal rocks and were further shaped by metamorphism during the mid-Proterozoic era. The range is composed of ancient rock types, including charnockite, granite, and khondalite. Its structure features multiple thrusts and strike-slip faults, with the Eparchaean Unconformity of the Tirumala Hills representing a major period of erosion and non-deposition.

Ecologically, the region is a repository of biodiversity, hosting nine distinct forest types ranging from evergreen to thorn forests. It is home to endemic species such as the skink Sepsophis punctatus and the recently described Gower's shieldtail snake (Rhinophis goweri). While the range has a lesser influence on India's monsoon patterns compared to the Western Ghats, orography studies confirm it still plays a role in bringing rainfall to the eastern coastal plains, sustaining a complex variety of flora and fauna.

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