The Tamas rises in a tank at Tamakund in the Kaimur Range at an elevation of. It flows through the fertile districts of Satna and Rewa. At the edge of the Purwa plateau, the Tamas and its tributaries form many waterfalls. The river receives the Belan in UP and joins the Ganges at Sirsa, about downstream of the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna. The total length of the river is. It has a total drainage area of. The Tamas River while descending through the Rewa Plateau and draining northwards makes a vertical fall of 70m known as Purwa Falls. Some of the more notable waterfalls on the tributaries of the Tamasriver, as they come down from the Rewa Plateau, are: Chachai Falls on the Beehar River, a tributary of the Tamas, the Keoti Falls on the Mahana River, a tributary of the Tamas, and Odda Falls on the Odda River, a tributary of the Belah River, which is itself a tributary of the Tamsa, Actually Tamasa River described in Valmiki Ramayana is a seasonal rivulet, originates somewhere in Barabanki and flows through Ayodhya district to Darban lake in Tanda tehsil in Ambedkar Nagar. This river is left side to Ganga and Gomti. Thus has no relation to Reva or Madhya Pradesh.
Significance
This river has also got importance in Hinduism. As this is the river on which Rama spent his first night during the 14 years of forest exile. When Rama left Ayodhya people followed him and were not ready to return to their homes. In the evening Rama, Lakshmana and Sita and all the people reached the banks of the Tamas. Rama and everyone agreed to spend the night at the banks of the Tamaas river and continue the journey next morning. Rama left people sleeping and continued the journey further.) The Ashrama of sage Valmiki was at the banks of Tamaas river. When Sita was exiled by Rama, she left Ayodhya and came to the banks of Tamas river some 15 km away from the city, where she met Valmiki. He requested Sita to live in his ashrama situated at the bank of the Tamas river. Here Sita spent all her remaining life, and here her twin sons Lava and Kusha received education and trained in military skills under the tutelage of Valmiki. Also on the banks of river Tamas was the ashram of Bharadwaj, mentioned in the Valmiki Ramayana; it is here that on seeing the plight a bird couple, Valmiki created his first verse, shloka.
