Difference Between Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats

西高止山脉和东高止山脉

India is a land of marvelous natural beauty and relief features that are very diverse. If you have hills and snow covered mountain peaks, you also get deserts. India has lots of rivers, plateaus, plains, beaches, deltas and deserts. It boasts of a large coastline along its western, southern, and eastern borders. While the central and eastern India has fertile Indo-Gangetic plains, the southern peninsula is composed of the Deccan plateau. This Deccan plateau has two hilly coastal ranges known as Western and Eastern Ghats. These are the only mountains people of south India have, and present a great topological feature. There are many differences in the composition of these two relief features that will be discussed in this article.

Though the word Ghat in Indian languages means a pass, Europeans erroneously named these hilly ranges as Western and Eastern Ghats. These hilly regions have small hillocks, but they also have some high mountains slopes going up to a height of around 9800 feet. These Ghats lie on the west and east of the central plateau and present a beautiful region full of diverse flora and fauna and nice weather conditions. Europeans and other foreigners are attracted to these regions as they remind them of their own climate. Sensing opportunity, many farm houses, hill resorts, and bungalows have come up in these regions that are always full of tourists.

Western Ghats start from Tapti Valley in the west and go up to the southern most tip of India known as Cape Camorin. These hills carry the monsoon along with them and cause heavy rainfall along the Ghats. Western Ghats meet Eastern Ghats at Nilgiri Hills. Both Western and Eastern Ghats run parallel to the coastal area of India. Both include several discontinuous and dissimilar hill masses.

Difference Between Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats • Western Ghats receive much more rainfall than Eastern Ghats • Because of this, one sees a greater diversity of flora and fauna in Western Ghats than Eastern Ghats • There is a greater variety in height along Western Ghats than Eastern Ghats • Western Ghats are more continuous than Eastern Ghats • Western Ghats face Arabian Sea and run along the Western plateau while Eastern Ghats face the Bay of Bengal and run along the eastern plateau • Anai Mudi is the highest peak in Western Ghats while the honor goes to Mahendragiri in Eastern Ghats