The Brahmaputra river originates from which of the following glaciers?

A river's source is the specific glacier, spring, or lake from which its headwaters first emerge. Large Himalayan and Tibetan-plateau river systems often rise from glaciers that lie close to one another, but each river's source glacier is a distinct, well-documented hydrological fact -- proximity between peaks does not mean two rivers share a source.

The Brahmaputra, known as the Yarlung Tsangpo while it flows through Tibet, originates from the Chemayungdung Glacier in the Kailash Range near Lake Manasarovar. This is the source recorded in Indian geography textbooks and confirmed by the RSSB official answer key for this question (Patwar 2025, Shift 2, Paper DQ69, Q149), which marks Chemayungdung Glacier as the correct source.

• Gangotri Glacier is the source of the Bhagirathi river, which joins the Alaknanda at Devprayag to form the Ganga -- a separate drainage system from the Brahmaputra.

• Yamunotri Glacier is the source of the Yamuna river, which flows through Delhi and Agra before joining the Ganga at Prayagraj -- again part of the Ganga system, not the Brahmaputra.

• Mapchachungo Glacier is the source of the Ghaghara (Karnali) river, which flows through Nepal before joining the Ganga in India -- a third tributary of the Ganga system, distinct from the Brahmaputra.

Government examination sources (the RSSB official answer key) and state-board geography textbooks independently agree on Chemayungdung Glacier as the Brahmaputra's source, clearly distinguishing it from the neighbouring Himalayan and Tibetan glaciers that feed the Ganga-system rivers listed as distractors.