The peninsular plateau is a tableland composed of the old crystalline, igneous and metamorphic rocks. It was formed due to the breaking and drifting of the Gondwanaland and thus making it a part of the oldest landmass.

This plateau consists of two broad divisions:

Central highlands

Deccan plateau.

I. The part of Peninsular plateau lying to the north of the Narmada river covering a major area of the Malwa plateau is known as the Central Highlands.

II . The Vindhyan range is bounded by the central Highlands on the south and the Aravalis on the northwest.

III . The further westward extension gradually merges with the sandy and rocky desert of Rajasthan.

The f low of rivers draining this region, namely the Chambal , the Sind, the Betwa and Ken is from southwest to northeast , thus indicating the slope .

The central Highlands are wider in the west but narrower in the east .

Eastward extention: 1 . Bundelkhand

2 . Baghelkhand

3 . The Chotanagpur plateau drained by

Damodar river .

The Deccan P lateau i s a tr iangu lar

landmass that l i e s to the south of the r iver

Narmada .

Northern Deccan : 1 . Satpura Range f lanks .

Eastern Deccan : 1 . The Mahadev

2 . The Kaimur h i l l s

3 . Ma ika l range

i . It extends over e ight Ind i an states and encompasses a w ide range o f hab i tats , cover ing most o f centra l and southern Ind i a .

i i . It i s l ocated between three mounta in ranges: the Western Ghats fo rm i ts western boundary, and the Eastern Ghats i t s eastern boundary.

An extension of the plateau is also visible in the northeast- locally known as the Meghalaya, Karbi-Anglong Plateau and North cacher hills. It is separated by a fault from the Chotanagpur Plateau. Three prominent hills ranges from the west to east are the Garo, the Khasi and the Jaintia hills.

i . W e s t e rn Gh a t s l i e pa r e l l e l t o t h e w e s t e rn c o a s t

i i . T h e y a r e c on t inu ou s a nd c a n b e c r o s s e d th r ou gh p a s s e s on ly .

i i i . We s t e rn Gh a t s a r e h i gh e r th a n Ea s t e rn Gh a t s .

i v . Th e a v e r a g e e l e v a t i on i s 9 00 – 1 6 00 mt s .

T h e E a s t e r n G h a t s s t r e t c h f r o m t h e M a h a n a d i

v a l l e y t o t h e N i l g i r i s i n t h e S o u t h

T h e E a s t e r n G h a t s a r e d i s c o n t i n u o u s a n d i r r e g u l a r

a n d d i s s e c t e d b y r i v e r s d r a i n i n g i n t o t h e B a y o f

B e n g a l .

A. Anai Mudi – 2695mts [Western Ghats.]

B. Doda Beta – 2637mts [Western Ghats.]

C. Mahendragiri – 1501mts [Eastern Ghats.]

Shevroy hills

Javadi Hills

These are located in Southeast of Eastern Ghats.

Kodaikanal

Ooty [Udagamandalam]