Kaveri River

Background:
The Kaveri river is the smallest of the five major rivers of the Indian peninsula, the others being the Mahanadi, Godavari, Narmada, and Krishna. However, it forms perhaps the most important watershed of the South.Known as "Dakshin Ganga" (the Ganges of the South), it serves as a lifeline to the people of Southern Karnataka, and the Cauvery basin of Tamil Nadu.

Legendry Saga:
According to mythology, There was a childless king named Kaverna and Brahma gifted him a beautiful girl Kaveri. She was married to Agastya muni on the condition that he would never leave her alone. One day, Agastya muni began teaching his disciples a difficult lesson in philosophy. Assuming that something unfortunate had happened to him and not wanting to live alone she jumped into a tank. But she did not die. She became a river, flowed up the Brahmagiri Mountain and reappeared as a spring
The Journey:
The River Kaveri flows through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Its source is a spring in the Brahmagiri Mountains in Mysore at a height of 1320 metres above sea level. The Kaveri is not the same throughput its length of 765 kilometres. As the Kaveri flows down the Brahmagiri mountain and enters the plain, two small rivers, the Kanaka and the Gajoti, join it.They meey at the town of Bahamandalam till here it is a small river. two more rivers, Hemavati and Lakshman Theertham join it, that it becomes a large river, broad and deep. It is here that the water of the three rivers is collected in the Krishnaraj Sagar reservoir, on the banks of which is laid one of the most beautiful gardens of Mysore - Brindavan.


In Spotlight- 'Flood of the Eighteenth'
This river runs through some of the richest south Indian lands, watering the fields and blessing the people on its course.The people of Tamil Nadu celebrate the flood in the in a special way with a festival. This festival is called the 'Flood of the Eighteenth'. On the eighteenth day of the month of Aadi (July-August), people come to worship the river. They light special lamps and express their gratitude by throwing offerings of fruits, sweetmeats and flowers. It is a day of rejoicing for the people as they thank the river goddess for her blessings and prosperity.


Battle of Water:
The Kaveri river is the locus of a water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. That dispute is complicated by political issues of resentment and one-up-manship between the people of the two states. The past two decades have seen increasing friction between the two states.

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