Beas

The river of the Kullu and Kangra valleys, and the only one of the five that both rises and largely runs inside Himachal. It begins at Beas Kund below Rohtang and leaves the state near Mirthal.

Its classical importance is out of proportion to its size: as the Hyphasis it is the river at which Alexander's army refused to go further in 326 BCE, and his general Coenus raised twelve altars on its bank. The Sanskrit Vipasha, 'the unfettered', comes from the story of the sage Vasishtha, who threw himself in bound and was released by the water.