River Course
After the river leaves the Kodagu hills and flows onto the Deccan plateau, it forms two islands, Srirangapatna and Shivanasamudra. At Sivanasamudra the river drops 320 ft (98 m), forming the famous Shivanasamudra Falls known separately as Gagana Chukki and Bhara Chukki. Asia's first hydroelectric plant (built in 1902) was on the left falls and supplied power to the city of Bangalore.
In its course through Karnataka, the channel is interrupted by twelve "anicuts" (dams) for the purpose of irrigation. From the anicut at Madadkatte, an artificial channel is diverted at a distance of 72 miles (116 km), irrigating an area of 10,000 acres (4,000 ha), and ultimately bringing its water supply to the town of Mandya.
Three kilometers away from Srirangapatna, the Kaveri is the basis for the Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary. Near Srirangapatna is also an aqueduct, the Bangara Doddi Nala, which was constructed in the 17th century by the Wodeyar maharaja of Mysore, Ranadhira Kantirava, in memory of his favorite consort. It is said to be the only aqueduct where the water from a river, dammed upstream, is carried by the aqueduct over the very same river few miles downstream. This aqueduct also served as a motorable bridge until 1964.
In addition to providing many ancient and modern canals with water from the river for irrigation purposes, the Kaveri also serves as the main drinking water source for many towns and villages. The cities of Bangalore, Mandya and Mysore depend almost entirely on the Kaveri for their drinking water supply. In fact, the river is called Jeevanadhi which, in Kannada, means a river supporting life.
The river enters Tamil Nadu through the Dharmapuri district leading to the flat plains where it meanders. It drops into the Hogenakkal Falls just before it arrives in the town of Hogenakkal in Tamil Nadu. The three minor tributaries, Palar, Chennar and Thoppar enter into the Kaveri on her course, above Stanley Reservoir in Mettur, where the dam has been constructed. The Mettur Dam joins the Sita and Pala mountains beyond that valley through which the Kaveri flows, up to the Grand Anicut. The dam in Mettur impounds water not only for the improvement of irrigation but also to ensure the regular and sufficient supply of water to the important Hydro-Electric generating station at Mettur. The river further runs through the length Erode district where river Bhavani, which running through the breadth of the district, merges with it. The confluence of the rivers Kaveri, Bhavani and Akash Ganga (imaginary) is at the exact place of Bhavani Kooduthurai or Tiriveni Sangamam, Northern a part of Erode City.
While passing through Erode, two more tributaries merge. Thirumani Mutharu join it in a village called Kududurai in Namakkal District. Noyyal and Amaravathi join it in Karur district before it reaches Tiruchirapalli district. Here the river becomes wide, with a sandy bed, and flows in an easterly direction until it splits into two at upper Anicut about 14 kilometres west of Tiruchirappalli. The northern branch of the river is called the Kollidam while the southern branch retains the name Kaveri and then goes directly eastwards into Thanjavur District. These two rivers join again and form the Srirangam island which is a part of city of Tiruchirapalli.
Doddabetta (2,637m) is the highest point of the Kaveri basin.
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Famous quotes containing the word river:
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From river to river you comb the town
For a place to lay your family down.”
—Ogden Nash (1902–1971)
“At sundown, leaving the river road awhile for shortness, we went by way of Enfield, where we stopped for the night. This, like most of the localities bearing names on this road, was a place to name which, in the midst of the unnamed and unincorporated wilderness, was to make a distinction without a difference, it seemed to me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)