GHATS, AND WESTERN, ranges of mountains along the eastern and western shores of the Indian peninsula. The word properly applies to the passes through the mountains, but from an early date was transferred by Europeans to the mountains themselves.
The Eastern Ghats run in fragmentary spurs and ranges parallel with the Madras coast. They begin in the Orissa district of Balasore, pass southwards through Cuttack and Puri, enter the Madras presidency in Ganjam, and sweep southwards. They run at a distance of 5o to 15o m. from the coast, except in Gan jam and Vizagapatam, where in places they almost abut on the Bay of Bengal. The rocks are granite, gneiss and mica slate, with clay slate, hornblende and primitive limestone overlying. The average elevation is about 1,500 ft., but several hills in Ganjam reach 4,000 to 5,000 ft. Their line is pierced by the Godavari, Kistna, Cauvery and other rivers.
The Western Ghats (Sahyadri in Sanskrit) start from the south of the Tapti valley and run south, meeting the Eastern Ghats at an angle near Cape Comorin. The range is uninterrupted except by a valley 25 m. across, known as the Palghat gap, through which runs the principal railway of the south of India. The length of the range is Boo m. from the Tapti to the Palghat gap, and south of this about zoo m. to the extreme south of the peninsula. In many parts there is only a narrow strip of coast between the hills and the sea. The average elevation is 3,00o ft., precipitous on the western side facing the sea, but more gradual on the east down to the plateaux. The highest peaks in the northern section are Kalsubai, 5,427 ft.; Harischandragarh, 4,691 ft.; and Maha baleshwar, where is the summer capital of the government of Bombay, 4,700 ft. South of Mahabaleshwar the elevation dimin ishes, but again increases, and attains its maximum towards Coorg, where the highest peaks vary from 5,500 to 7,000 ft., and where the main range joins the interior Nilgiri hills. South of the Palghat gap, the peaks of the Western Ghats rise as high as 8,000 ft. The rocks are mainly trap in the northern and gneiss in the southern section.