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 Palani 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 mi) long, with a drainage
basin 7,031 square kilometres
(2,715 sq mi) large.
(2,715 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 Parvati. 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.
Tributaries:
The main tributaries of the river Vaigai are, the river
Suruliyaru, the river Mullaiyaaru, the river Varaganadi, the river Manjalaru
and river Kridhumaal. All these rivers, except Kridhumaal join with the great
Vaigai river nearer to the places around the Vaigai Dam 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. In summers, the Vaigai river ends up
dry very often. The water never reaches Madurai, let
alone flowing into places past Madurai.
Dams:
The Vaigai Dam is built across the river near Andipatti, in
the Theni district of Tamil Nadu.
It provides water for irrigation for the Madurai
district and the Dindigul
district as well as drinking water to Madurai and
Andipatti. Near the dam, the Government of Tamil Nadu has constructed an
Agricultural Research Station for researching the growing of a variety of
crops, including rice, sorghum, blackgram, cowpea and cotton. The Periyar Dam was
built in 1895 by John Pennycuick, who implemented a plan proposed over a
century earlier by Pradani Muthirulappa Pillai 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..."
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