From its source to the Eastern Ghats, the Godavari River flows through gentle, somewhat monotonous terrain, along the way receiving the Darna, Purna, Manjra, Pranhita, and Indravati rivers. Upon entering the Eastern Ghats region, however, the river flows between steep and precipitous banks, its width contracting until it flows through a deep cleft only 600 feet (180 metres) wide, known as the Gorge. On either side wooded hills rise almost vertically from the waters. Having passed through the Eastern Ghats, the river widens again, traversing wide plains, the low islands in its stream being used for tobacco growing. At this point the Godavari flows placidly. Just above the city of Rajahmundry, a dam was constructed on the river in 1948 to provide irrigation and hydroelectric power.

The upper reaches of the Godavari are dry in winter and spring, making it virtually useless for irrigation. At its mouths, however, the development of a navigable irrigation-canal system, linking its delta with that of the Krishna River to the southwest, has made the land one of the richest rice-growing areas of India. The Godavari, throughout its entire length, is sacred to the Hindus.