Water, Rishi Agastya, and Cauvery River

“If we have water we can share it, if we share what we have we will not have” this is what farmers of Karnataka had been saying all these years. 

Water is the elixir of life. It is most essential for survival of life. According to Indian laws and law of nature, water is supposed to be common to all and to be shared in need. The problem is that there is scarcity of rainfall in the catchment areas of Kaveri basin. The Kaveri dispute between my state and the neighboring state of Tamilnadu is never ending, if the south-west monsoon (Mungaru Male) fails. Krishna Raja Sagara dam which was constructed in year 1911 by the world renowned engineer Sir. Mokshagundam Visvesvaraiah is the center of bother now with scarcity of water. The dam built across river Kaveri, the life giving river for the Mysore and Mandya districts. Apart from being the main source of water for irrigation in the most fertile Mysore and Mandya, the reservoir is the main source of drinking water for all of Mysore city and almost the whole of Bangalore. The water released from this dam then further flows down to Mettur dam in the Salem district of Tamilnadu and is an important source of water to agricultural lands in that part of the country.

According to a legend the entire living souls in the earth plane travelled north to be witness to the wedding of Shiva and Parvathi in Himalayas. This caused a bit of an imbalance on the earth with heavy load making it tilt towards the North. Observing this Shiva asked Agastya Muni to go down South to ensure that balance is restored. Agastya Muni was saddened by this order as this would mean that he would not be able to witness the wedding. Shiva understood his plight and told him that he would ensure that he got powers to view the wedding sitting in South. At the time there were no Rivers in the South it was Dandakarnya, the dry forest so Shiva released some Ganga water from his matted locks and gave it to Agastya Muni asking him to release it as soon as he goes there so that it will flow as a river. Agastya Muni collected in his Kamandalu (Water pot) set out towards South.

Agastya reached the southern parts of the country and sat on Brahmagiri with the waters in his Mamandalu to watch the wedding. He was so engrossed in watching the wedding rituals that he forgot to release the waters. Time passed the region was waterless and it reached a critical state. Ganesha on the advice of Narada Muni, took the form of a crow, went and sat on the Kamandala, thus toppling it and allowing the waters to flow hence the river is known as Kaveri, as it was enabled by a crow (Kaka). The place where the water was spilt by Ganesha has come to be known as the Thalakaveri and on the site is a thriving temple by the same name, near Bhagamandala in Kodagu district, Karnataka, India.

This river which emerges from Thalakaveri travels 765 kilometers to join Bay of Bengal at Poompuhar. The most unique factor is that river Kaveri on her way forms three big islands. These islands are the Shivanasamudra and Sirrangapatana in Karnataka and Srirangam in Tamilnadu and this river is fortunate to wash the feet of Sri Ranganathaswamy at all the three places. Adi Ranga at Srirangapatna, Madhya Ranga at Shivanasamudram and finally Antya Ranga at Srirangam. 

Every year if the monsoon rain fails there is water dispute. We, the people of India have to think of joining rivers with the money slashed in the Swiss bank or treasure in the vaults of the temple. After all what is the use of hoarding money and treasure if it is not serving the purpose of the society?? .....Am I right?

Courtesy: Sreeram Manoj Kumar, https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1855660121119806&id=100000275079859