Kaveri River

The Kaveri River (also spelt Cauvery or Kavery) is one of the great rivers of India and is considered sacred by the Hindus. The headwaters are in the Western Ghats range of Karnataka state, and flows through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu across the southern Deccan plateau, then the eastern lowlands, and finally empties into the Bay of Bengal. The river has supported irrigated agriculture for centuries, and the Kaveri has been the lifeblood of the ancient kingdoms and modern cities of South India. The source of the river is Talakaveri located in the Western Ghats about 5000 feet above sea level. Talakaveri is a pilgrimage set amidst Bramahagiri Hills in Kodagu. Thousands of piligrims flock to the temple at the source of the river especially on the specified day known as Tula sankramana when the river water has been said to gush out like a fountain at a predetermined time. It flows generally south and east for around 765 km, emptying into the Bay of Bengal through two principal mouths. Its basin is estimated to be 27,700 square miles, and it has many tributaries including Shimsa, Hemavati, Arkavathi, Kapila, Honnuhole, Lakshmana Tirtha, Kabini, Bhavani, Lokapavani, Noyyal and Amaravati.

Mythological Origin

The Kaveri may be called by devout Hindus as Dakshina Ganga, or the Ganges of the south, and the whole of its course is holy ground. According to the legend there was once born upon earth a girl named Vishnumaya or Lopamudra, the daughter of Brahma; but her divine father permitted her to be regarded as the child of a mortal, called Kavera-muni. In order to obtain beatitude for her adoptive father, she resolved to become a river whose waters should purify all sin. Hence it is said that even the holy Ganges resorts underground once in the year to the source of the Kaveri, to purge herself from the pollution contracted from the crowd of sinners who have bathed in her waters.

The Course of the River

After the river leaves the Kodagu hills, to flow on to the Deccan plateau, it has three islands, Srirangapatna and Shivanasamudra in Karnataka and Srirangam in Tamil Nadu. All the three islands have strong Vaishnavite presence, with sculptures of Lord Vishnu in a reclining posture on the legendary seven-headed Serpent as the celestial bed (Sheshashayana). These three temples are known as 'Adi Ranga', 'Madya Ranga' and 'Anthya Ranga'.

At Sivasamudra island the river drops 320 ft (98 m), forming famous falls known as Gagan chukki and Bara Chukki. India's first hydroelectric plant (built in 1902) was on the left falls and supplied power to the city of Bangalore. Bangalore when electrified in 1906, was the first city in Asia to be electrified and to have electric street lights.

Significance of Kaveri in Karnataka

In its course through Karnataka the channel is interrupted by twelve anicuts or dams for the purpose of irrigation. From the anicut at Madadkatte, an artificial channel is led to a distance of 72 miles, irrigating an area of 10,000 acres (40 km²), and ultimately bringing a water-supply into the town of Mysore. Near Srirangapatna, there is an ancient aqueduct, the Bangara Doddi Nala, which was constructed by the Wodeyar ruler Ranadhira Kantirva in memory of his favorite consort. It is said to be the only aqueduct where the water from the very same river, dammed upstream, is carried by the aqueduct over the very same river few miles downstream. This acqueduct also served as a motorable bridge till 1964. There are many ancient and modern canals from the river for irrigational purposes. It also serves as the main drinking water source for many towns and villages. The cities of Bangalore and Mysore depend almost entirely on Kaveri for their drinking water supply. Large dams were constructed across the river for irrigation at Krishna Raja Sagara in Karnataka and at Mettur in Tamil Nadu. Sharing the river water has been a major bone of contention between the farmers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for well over a century, and remains unresolved.

Significance of Kaveri in Tamil Nadu

After entering Tamil Nadu, the Kaveri forms the boundary between the Erode and Salem districts. The Bhavani River joins the Kaveri at the town of Bhavani, where the Sangameswara Temple, an important pilgrimage spot in southern India, was built at the confluence of the two rivers. The Amaravati River joins the cauvery at a place called Tirumukkudalur near Karur.Sweeping past the historic rock of Tiruchirapalli, it breaks at the island of Srirangam into two channels, which enclose between them the delta of Thanjavur (Tanjore), the garden of South India. The northern channel is called the Kollidam (Coleroon); the other preserves the name of Kaveri and empties into the Bay of Bengal at Poompuhar, a few hundred miles south of Chennai (Madras). On the seaward face of its delta are the seaports of Nagapattinam and Karikal. Irrigation works have been constructed in the delta for over 2000 years. The most ancient surviving irrigation work is the Grand Anicut or Kallanai, a massive dam of unhewn stone, 328 meters (1080 feet) long and 20 meters (60 feet) wide, across the stream of the Kaveri proper. It is attributed to the Chola king Karikalan, and is supposed to date back to the 2nd century. The dam is still in excellent repair, and supplied a model to later engineers. The area irrigated by the ancient system was 69,000 acres (280 km²), which by the early 20th century had been increased to about 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km²). The chief 19th century work is the anicut across the Kollidam 2250 ft. long, constructed by Sir Arthur Cotton between 1836 and 1838.

Points of interest

Srirangapatna
Shivanasamudra
Krishna Raja Sagara
Hogenakal Falls (meaning "smoking rock"): The spray of the river hitting the rocks is so fine that it appears like smoke
Mekedaatu (Goat's Leap)
Tiruchirapalli (Trichy)
Srirangam
Karur
Thambaravarini

External link

cauvery.com

Rivers of India Karnataka Tamil Nadu