{"id":113696,"date":"2026-07-17T17:26:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T11:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=113696"},"modified":"2026-07-17T17:26:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T11:56:34","slug":"nohkalikai-falls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/nohkalikai-falls\/","title":{"rendered":"Nohkalikai Falls, Location, Formation, Geographical Features, Significance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Nohkalikai Falls <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is the <\/span><b>tallest plunge waterfall in India<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with a single vertical drop of about <\/span><b>340 metres (1,115 feet)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It is located near <\/span><b>Sohra (Cherrapunji) in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Unlike most major waterfalls in India, Nohkalikai is not formed by a major perennial river. Instead, it is primarily fed by rainwater draining from the surrounding plateau, making it one of India\u2019s finest examples of a <\/span><b>rainfall-dependent plunge waterfall.<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><b>Nohkalikai Falls Location<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nohkalikai Falls is located in the East <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/khasi-hills\/\" target=\"_blank\">Khasi Hills<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> district of Meghalaya, about 7 km from Sohra (Cherrapunji).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It lies on the southern edge of the Shillong (Meghalaya) Plateau, a part of the Khasi Hills.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The waterfall is situated within the Sohra-Mawsynram region, one of the wettest regions in the world due to intense <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/orographic-rainfall\/\" target=\"_blank\">orographic rainfall<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> during the southwest monsoon.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The escarpment over which the waterfall descends forms part of the southern margin of the Meghalaya Plateau overlooking the Bangladesh plains.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Nohkalikai Falls Formation<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nohkalikai Falls was formed due to the tectonic uplift of the Shillong Plateau, which created a steep southern escarpment. Rainwater received over the plateau flows as surface runoff towards this escarpment and falls almost vertically over a resistant rock face, forming a plunge waterfall. Unlike most major waterfalls in India, Nohkalikai is not fed by a major perennial river. Consequently, its discharge depends largely on the intensity of the southwest monsoon and declines significantly during the dry season.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Nohkalikai Falls Geographical Features<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It has a single vertical drop of <\/span><b>about 340 metres<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, making it the <\/span><b>tallest plunge waterfall in India.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a plunge waterfall, where water falls almost vertically in a single uninterrupted drop.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A deep emerald-green plunge pool is formed at the base of the waterfall.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The waterfall is rain-fed, resulting in a substantial increase in discharge during the southwest monsoon and a marked reduction during the dry season.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The surrounding landscape consists of steep cliffs, rocky outcrops, grassy plateaus and patches of subtropical forest characteristic of the Khasi Hills.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Nohkalikai Falls Significance<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nohkalikai Falls is an important example of a rainfall-dependent plunge waterfall, illustrating the influence of orographic rainfall on landform development in the Meghalaya Plateau.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is closely associated with the Sohra-Mawsynram region, making it significant for understanding the distribution of monsoon rainfall in India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The waterfall derives its name from the Khasi phrase \u201cNoh Ka Likai\u201d, meaning \u201cthe Leap of Ka Likai\u201d, based on a well-known Khasi folk legend.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Owing to its exceptional height and distinctive geomorphological characteristics, it is one of the most prominent waterfalls of Northeast India.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read about Nohkalikai Falls in Meghalaya, its location, formation, geographical features, significance, and why it is India\u2019s tallest plunge waterfall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":113514,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[786],"tags":[8758],"class_list":["post-113696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-general-studies","tag-nohkalikai-falls","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113696"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113697,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113696\/revisions\/113697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}