Vaigai River
Encyclopedia
The Vaigai is a river
in Madurai
, Tamil Nadu
state of southern India
. It originates in the Periyar Plateau of the Western Ghats
range, and flows northeast through the Kambam Valley, which lies between the Palni Hills
to the north and the Varushanad Hills to the south. The Vattaparai Falls
are located on this river. As it rounds the eastern corner of the Varushanad Hills, the river turns southeast, running through the region of Pandya Nadu. Madurai
, the largest city in the Pandya Nadu region and its ancient capital, lies on the Vaigai. The river empties into the Palk Strait
in Ramanathapuram
District.
The Vaigai is 258 kilometres (160.3 mi) long, with a drainage basin
7031 square kilometres (2,714.7 sq mi) large.
. From a very young age, she made up her mind to marry Lord Shiva
and none else. Her family was initially against this but eventually consented to her wish and arranged the wedding. Sundareswara (Siva), being an ascetic, came to the wedding without any family or relatives accompanying him. Disappointed at this, the Pandyan king angrily showed Siva the huge amount of food prepared for the bridegroom's relatives. Siva pointed to a friend he had brought with him saying 'He will consume all the food that you've made'. This friend was a Rakshasa named Kundodhara. After Kundodhara finished all the food that was prepared, He became very thirsty and started asking for water. All the wells and canals in Madurai were not sufficient to quench his thirst. Then, Siva asked Kundodhara to put his hand out and opened a small part of his hair lock and Ganga began to flow into his hand. After quenching his thirst, The rest of the waters began flowing in Madurai as the Vaigai river. Vaigai means 'put your hand out' in Tamil.
which is situated in Theni district
, whereas Kridhumaal joins Vaigai in Madurai.
Vaigai gets major feed from the Periyar Dam
in Kumuli, Kerala
. Water from the Periyar River in Kerala
is diverted into the Vaigai River in Tamil Nadu
via a tunnel through the Western Ghats
. As the Kerala government is refusing to increase the storage level of Mullaperiyar Dam
, due to dam-safety concerns, Vaigai river ends up dry very often. The water never reaches Madurai
, let alone flowing into places past Madurai.
of Ramnad. The dam was built by the British Army Engineering corps for the Travancore kingdom. The first dam was washed away by floods, and a second masonry dam was constructed in 1895.
"Greater than the mother bearing child/Greater than the child that is born/Every breath is Periyar/Every word is Periyar/In every place, in all the world/As far as Periyar water flows/Your name will stand-Pennycuick-your name/Though written on water, will always stand".
That is how Anthony Muthu Pillai (1863-1929) had paid tributes in Tamil to John Pennycuick, the engineer who had taken up the "audacious and unprecedented feat of...engineering" for transferring some water from the Periyar river in Travancore State to the Vaigai basin in Madras Presidency. This basin was described by Poet
and lyricist
Vairamuthu
, who hails from this area: "It is a different world. Another planet on the surface of the earth. Ignored by the clouds, cursed by nature and dry land, passed by the Gods with their eyes tightly shut..."
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
in Madurai
Madurai
Madurai is the third largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It served as the capital city of the Pandyan Kingdom. It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and is famous for its temples built by Pandyan and...
, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
state of southern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It originates in the Periyar Plateau of the Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
range, and flows northeast through the Kambam Valley, which lies between the Palni Hills
Palni Hills
The Palni Hills are a mountain range in Tamil Nadu state of South India. The Palni Hills are an eastward extension of the Western Ghats ranges, which run parallel to the west coast of India. The Palni Hills adjoin the high Anamalai range on the west, and extend east into the plains of Tamil Nadu,...
to the north and the Varushanad Hills to the south. The Vattaparai Falls
Vattaparai Falls
Vattaparai Falls are located at: , elevation , in the Keeriparai reserve forest near Bhoothapandi village on the Pazhayar River in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu state, South India. It is N of Nagercoil) and NW of Kanyakumari...
are located on this river. As it rounds the eastern corner of the Varushanad Hills, the river turns southeast, running through the region of Pandya Nadu. Madurai
Madurai
Madurai is the third largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It served as the capital city of the Pandyan Kingdom. It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and is famous for its temples built by Pandyan and...
, the largest city in the Pandya Nadu region and its ancient capital, lies on the Vaigai. The river empties into the Palk Strait
Palk Strait
Palk Strait is a strait between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Mannar district of the Northern Province of the island nation of Sri Lanka. It connects the Bay of Bengal in the northeast with the Palk Bay and thence with the Gulf of Mannar in the southwest. The strait is wide. Several...
in Ramanathapuram
Ramanathapuram
Ramanathapuram , also known as Ramnad, is a city and a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district.-Tourism:...
District.
The Vaigai is 258 kilometres (160.3 mi) long, with a drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
7031 square kilometres (2,714.7 sq mi) large.
Etymology and History
The following story is told about the birth of the river Vaigai. Meenakshi, the daughter of a Pandyan king, was an incarnation of ParvatiParvati
Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...
. From a very young age, she made up her mind to marry Lord Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and none else. Her family was initially against this but eventually consented to her wish and arranged the wedding. Sundareswara (Siva), being an ascetic, came to the wedding without any family or relatives accompanying him. Disappointed at this, the Pandyan king angrily showed Siva the huge amount of food prepared for the bridegroom's relatives. Siva pointed to a friend he had brought with him saying 'He will consume all the food that you've made'. This friend was a Rakshasa named Kundodhara. After Kundodhara finished all the food that was prepared, He became very thirsty and started asking for water. All the wells and canals in Madurai were not sufficient to quench his thirst. Then, Siva asked Kundodhara to put his hand out and opened a small part of his hair lock and Ganga began to flow into his hand. After quenching his thirst, The rest of the waters began flowing in Madurai as the Vaigai river. Vaigai means 'put your hand out' in Tamil.
Tributaries
The main tributaries of the river Vaigai are, the river Suruliyaru, the river Mullaiyaaru, the river Varaganadi, the river Manajalaru and river Kridhumaal. All these rivers, except Kridhumaal join with the great Vaigai river nearer to the places around the Vaigai DamVaigai Dam
Vaigai Dam is built across the Vaigai River near Andipatti, in the Theni district of Tamil Nadu, southern India. It provides water for irrigation for the Madurai district and the Dindigul district as well as drinking water to Madurai and Andipatti...
which is situated in Theni district
Theni District
Theni District is a district of Tamil Nadu state in South India. The city of Theni is the district headquarters. The district is divided into two natural divisions: The hilly areas constituted by parts of the three taluks Periyakulam, Uthamapalayam and Andipatti with thick vegetation and...
, whereas Kridhumaal joins Vaigai in Madurai.
Vaigai gets major feed from the Periyar Dam
Periyar River
Periyar is the longest river in the state of Kerala, India, with a length of 244 km. The Periyar is known as the lifeline of Kerala; it is one of the few perennial rivers in the region and provides drinking water for several major towns...
in Kumuli, Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
. Water from the Periyar River in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
is diverted into the Vaigai River in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
via a tunnel through the Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
. As the Kerala government is refusing to increase the storage level of Mullaperiyar Dam
Mullaperiyar Dam
Mullaiperiyaru Dam is a gravity dam made with lime stone and surkhi and the cunstruction technologies of 19th century on the Periyar River. It is located above mean sea level on the Cardamom Hills of Western Ghats in Thekkadi, Idukki District of Kerala, India...
, due to dam-safety concerns, Vaigai river ends up dry very often. The water never reaches Madurai
Madurai
Madurai is the third largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It served as the capital city of the Pandyan Kingdom. It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and is famous for its temples built by Pandyan and...
, let alone flowing into places past Madurai.
Dams
The Periyar Dam was built in 1895 by John Pennycuick, who implemented a plan proposed over a century earlier by Pradani Muthirulappa PillaiPradani Muthirulappa Pillai
Pradani Muthirulappa Pillai , son of Sundra Pandya Pillai, of the 18th century was a famous minister of Ramnad during the reign of Muthuramalinga Sethupathy...
of Ramnad. The dam was built by the British Army Engineering corps for the Travancore kingdom. The first dam was washed away by floods, and a second masonry dam was constructed in 1895.
"Greater than the mother bearing child/Greater than the child that is born/Every breath is Periyar/Every word is Periyar/In every place, in all the world/As far as Periyar water flows/Your name will stand-Pennycuick-your name/Though written on water, will always stand".
That is how Anthony Muthu Pillai (1863-1929) had paid tributes in Tamil to John Pennycuick, the engineer who had taken up the "audacious and unprecedented feat of...engineering" for transferring some water from the Periyar river in Travancore State to the Vaigai basin in Madras Presidency. This basin was described by Poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
Vairamuthu
Vairamuthu
Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R...
, who hails from this area: "It is a different world. Another planet on the surface of the earth. Ignored by the clouds, cursed by nature and dry land, passed by the Gods with their eyes tightly shut..."