West Coast of India in the context of "Malabar Coast"

The Western Ghats, also known as the Sahyadri, is a mountain range that stretches 1,600 km (990 mi) along the western coast of the Indian peninsula. Covering an area of 160,000 km (62,000 sq mi), it traverses the Indian states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. The range forms an almost continuous chain of mountains along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, from the Tapti River to Swamithoppe in Kanyakumari district at the southern tip of the Indian peninsula. The Western Ghats meet with the Eastern Ghats at Nilgiris before continuing south.

Geologic evidence indicates that the mountains were formed during the break-up of the supercontinent of Gondwana. The mountains arose along the west coast of India somewhere in the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods when India separated from the African continent. The mountains can be roughly divided into three parts: the northern section with an elevation ranging from 900–1,500 m (3,000–4,900 ft), the middle section starting south of Goa with a lower elevation of less than 900 m (3,000 ft), and the southern section where the altitude rises again. The Western Ghats have several peaks that rise above 2,000 m (6,600 ft), with Anamudi (2,695 m (8,842 ft)) being the highest peak. The average elevation is around 1,200 m (3,900 ft).

The Konkan is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, bound by the river Daman Ganga at Damaon in the north, to Anjediva Island next to Karwar town in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan Plateau to the east. The hinterland east of the coast has numerous river valleys, riverine islands and the hilly slopes known as the Western Ghats; that lead up into the tablelands of the Deccan. The Konkan region has been recognised by name, since at least the time of Strabo, in the third century CE. It had a thriving mercantile port with Arab tradesmen from the 10th century onwards. The best-known islands of Konkan are Ilhas de Goa, the site of the Goa state's capital at Panjim; also, the Seven Islands of Bombay, on which lies Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra & the headquarters of Konkan Division.

With a land area of 3,287,263 km (1,269,219 sq mi) consisting of diverse ecosystems, India has many rivers systems and perennial streams. The rivers of India can be classified into four groups – Himalayan, Deccan, Coastal, and Inland drainage. The Himalayan rivers, mainly fed by glaciers and snow melt, arise from the Himalayas. The Deccan rivers system consists of rivers in Peninsular India, that drain into the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. There are numerous short coastal rivers, predominantly on the West coast. There are few inland rivers, which do not drain into sea.

Most of the rivers in India originate from the four major watersheds in India. The Himalayan watershed is the source of majority of the major river systems in India including the three longest rivers–the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Indus. These three river systems are fed by more than 5000 glaciers. The Aravalli range in the north-west serves the origin of few of the rivers such as the Chambal, the Banas and the Luni rivers.