The Bhagirathi Hooghly River (Anglicized alternatively spelled Hoogli or Hugli) or the 'Bhāgirathi-Hooghly', called the Ganga or the Kati-Ganga in the Puranas, rises close to Giria, which is north of Baharampur and Palashi, in Murshidabad. The main course of the Ganges then flows into Bangladesh as the Padma. A man-made canal called the Farakka Feeder Canal connects the Ganges to the Bhagirathi to bring the abundant waters of the Himalayan river to the narrow river that rises in West Bengal. The river flows through the Rarh region, the lower deltaic districts of West Bengal, and eventually into the Bay of Bengal. The upper riparian zone of the river is called Bhagirathi while the lower riparian zone is called Hooghly. Major rivers that drain into the Bhagirathi-Hooghly include Mayurakshi, Jalangi , Ajay, Damodar, Rupnarayan and Haldi rivers other than the Ganges. Kalyani, Hugli (Chinsura or Chuchura), Bandel, Chandannagar, Srirampur, Barrackpur, Rishra, Uttarpara, Titagarh, Kamarhati, Agarpara, Baranagar and Kolkata are located on the banks of this river. Like the Ganges, the Hooghly is held sacred to Hindus. Course The vast majority of the water that flows into the Hooghly River is provided by the man-made Farakka Feeder Canal, rather than the natural source of the river at Giria. The Farakka Barrage is a dam that diverts water from the Ganges into the Farakka Feeder Canal near the town of Tildanga in Murshidabad district, located 40 km upstream from Giria. This supplies the Hooghly with water as per the agreement between India and Bangladesh. The feeder canal runs parallel to the Ganges, past Dhulian, until just above Jahangirpur where the canal ends and joins the Bhagirathi river. The Bhagirathi then flows south past Jiaganj Azimganj, Murshidabad, and Baharampur. South of Baharampur and north of Palashi it used to form the border between Bardhaman District and Nadia District, but while the border has remained the same the river is now often east or west of its former bed. The river then flows south past Katwa, Nabadwip, Kalna and Jirat. At Kalna it originally formed the border between Nadia District and Hooghly District, and then further south between Hooghly District and North 24 Parganas District. It flows past Halisahar, Chinsurah, Naihati, Bhatpara, Konnagar, Serampore, and Kamarhati. Then, just before entering the twin cities of Kolkata (Calcutta) and Howrah, it turns to the southwest. At Nurpur it enters an old channel of the Ganges, and turns