Peninsular Plateau (Deccan Plateau)

This physiographic division is the largest region of the Great Indian Plateau. The shape of this plateau is triangular. One of the sides of this triangle is marked by the line joining Kanya Kumari with Rajmahal Hills and this line passes through the Eastern Ghats.

The second arm is marked by the Satpura Range, Mahadeo Hills, Maikal Range and the Rajmahal Hills. The third arm is marked by the Sahyadris (Western Ghats). The area of this Penninsular Plateau is about 7 lakh square km and the height ranges from 500 to 1000 metres above sea level.

The Sahyadri Range forms the sharp edge of the Penninsular Plateau. Its long escarpments running parallel to the Arabian Sea coast are simply breath-taking. Due to its location on the western margin of the Penninsular Plateau, the Sahyadri Range is also called Western Ghats. The word ‘Ghat’ also means a step like mountain. Therefore, this English name of the Sahyadris is meaningful.

The height of the Sahyadris increases from north to south. Anaimudi peak (2695 m) situated in Kerala is the highest peak of southern India. Anaimudi is a sort of tri-junction of the Annamalai Range, the Cardamom Hills and the Palani Hills. Kodai Kanal is a beautiful hill resort situated on the Palani Hills.

Eastern Ghats running from southwest to northeast form the eastern edge of the Penninsular Plateau. This range is known as poorvadri also. The Eastern Ghats joins the Sahyadris at the Nilgiri Hills bordering Karnataka and Tamilnadu. Udagamandalam (Ooty) situated on the Nilgiris is the famous hill station of South India and lies in Tamil Nadu. Once it was the summer resort of the Governor of Madras Presidency. The Eastern Ghats are not continuous like the Sahyadris. Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Pennar and Kaveri rivers have dissected this range at many places.

The plateau region between the Sahyadris and the Eastern Ghats is known by numerous local names in different regions. Telangana which extends in Andhra Pradesh is the name of such a plateau. River Damodar flows through the Chhotanagpur Plateau. The valley of this river is famous for its huge coal deposits. Besides coal, this region is a store house of a number of other minerals.