Bhakra Nangal Dam is Built on Which River?

A massive misconception is that this is one single dam. Actually, they are two completely separate dams located 13 kilometers apart on the exact same Sutlej river:

1. The Bhakra Dam: The main, absolutely massive, 226-meter-high concrete monster built in the steep gorge of Bilaspur (Himachal Pradesh). It is one of the highest gravity dams in the world.
2. The Nangal Dam: A much smaller, secondary dam built downstream in Punjab. Its job is simply to catch and control the massive, violent water released by the giant Bhakra dam and slowly feed it into the irrigation canals.

When you build a 226-meter high wall across a rushing river, the water violently backs up into the mountains, creating an artificial, man-made lake. The massive reservoir created behind the Bhakra Dam is famously named Gobind Sagar Lake (in honor of the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh).

This was the very first massive infrastructure project undertaken by India immediately after getting independence in 1947. It single-handedly brought the 'Green Revolution' to Punjab and Haryana by providing billions of liters of controlled irrigation water and massive hydroelectricity. When it was inaugurated in 1963, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru famously declared the Bhakra Nangal dam as the "New Temple of Resurgent India."