Journey Through Kaveri

-By Jayanthi Mahalingam

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• The Kaveri in Mythology
• The Kaveri in Kodagu
• Meet the Kodavas
• The first Tributary
• The Kaveri Enters Mysore
• An Ancient Dam
• Visweswaraya's Dream
• A Dream Fulfilled
• Mysore's Guardian Angel
• In Tipu's Domain
• The Great Temples
• The Shifting Sands
• Sand Covered Temples
• Shivasamudram
• The Goat's Leap
• The Kaveri in Tamil Nadu
• The Last Island
• An Outpouring of Music
• The Temple Trail
• Journey's End

Visweswaraya's Dream

More modern dams check the waters of the Kaveri at several points in the state. The most famous of these is the Kannambadi or Krishnarajasagara dam, built at the confluence of the Kaveri and her tributaries, Hemavathi and Lakshmanatirtha.
The dam was a single man's daring dream. Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya (he was later knighted by the British and awarded the Bharat Ratna after Independence) had vast experience in designing such mammoth projects. He was an engineer with the Bombay government for 25 years and returned to Mysore in 1909 as the state's chief engineer. He was already well-known for designing and installing automatic sluice gates in a dam near Khadakvasla near Pune in 1903. The gates opened automatically for discharging excess water and closed when the water level fell. Though he had patented the invention, Visvesvaraya refused to accept royalty for it. He had also introduced the block irrigation system for the proper distribution of water.

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Last updated on :11/3/2003