Kallanai (also known as the Grand Anicut) is an ancient

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

built by Karikala of

Chola dynasty The Chola dynasty () was a Tamil dynasty originating from Southern India. At its height, it ruled over the Chola Empire, an expansive maritime empire. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd cen ...

in 150 CE. It was built (in running water) across the

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery) is a Rivers of India, major river flowing across Southern India. It is the third largest river in the region after Godavari River, Godavari and Krishna River, Krishna. The catchment area of the Kaveri basin i ...

river flowing from

Tiruchirapalli District Tiruchirappalli District is List of districts of Tamil Nadu, one of the 38 districts, located along the Kaveri River, in Tamil Nadu, India. The headquarters of the district is the city of Tiruchirappalli. During the British Raj, the district wa ...

Thanjavur district Thanjavur District is one of the Districts of Tamil Nadu, 38 districts of the States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur (Tanjore) . The district is located in the delta of the Cauv ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The dam is located in Thanjavur district,https://tngis.tnega.org/generic_viewer/ 15 km from Tiruchirapalli and 45 km from

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of southern Indian religion, art ...

. It is the fourth oldest water-diversion or water-regulator structure in the world and the oldest in India that is still in use. Because of its spectacular architecture, it is one of the prime tourist spots in Tamil Nadu.

History

The dam was originally built by King Karikalan of the Chola Dynasty in . It is located on the river in

, exactly 14 km from the city of

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of T ...

and 45 km from the city of Thanjavur. The idea behind the construction of the dam was to divert the river to the delta districts thereby boosting irrigation. This dam was re-modeled by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

during the 19th century. In 1804, Captain Caldwell, a military engineer, was appointed by the British to make a study on the Kaveri river and promote irrigation for the delta region. He found that a large amount of water passed onto the Kollidam leaving behind a small volume for irrigation purposes. Caldwell initially proposed a solution by raising the dam and hence raised the dam stones to a height of , thus increasing the capacity of the dam. Following this, Major Sim proposed the idea of undersluices across the river with outlets leading to the Kollidam River (Coleroon) thus preventing formation of silt. The Lower Anaicut built by Sir Arthur Cotton in the 19th century across Coleroon, the major tributary of Cauvery is said to be a replicated structure of Kallanai.

Geography

The

river splits into two at a point west of Kallanai. The two rivers form the island of Srirangam before joining at Kallanai. The northern channel is called the Kollidam (Coleroon); the other retains the name Kaveri, and empties into the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

Poompuhar Poompuhar is a town in the Mayiladuthurai district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The town, also known as Puhar, is referred to as Kaveri Poompattinam in ancient Tamil literature. It was once a flourishing ancient port city known as ...

. On the seaward face of its delta are the seaports of

Nagapattinam Nagapattinam (''nākappaṭṭinam'', previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam district. The town came to prominence during the period of Medieval ...

and

Karaikal Karaikal (, , Help:IPA/French, /kaʁikal/) is a port city of the Indian States and territories of India, Union Territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is the administrative headquarters of the Karaikal district, Karaikal Di ...

Description

The purpose of the Kallanai was to divert the waters of the Kaveri across the fertile

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

region for irrigation via canals and to its northern delta branch Kollidam/Coleroon. Downstream of the barrage, the river Kaveri splits into four streams known as Kollidam Aru, Kaveri, Vennaru and Puthu Aru. However, the flood waters can be allowed, by opening the barrage/anaicut gates, to pass through the other three delta branches also to join the sea. It is constructed from unhewn stone spanning the Kaveri and is long, wide and high. The dam is still in excellent condition, and supplied a model to later engineers, including Sir Arthur Cotton's 19th-century dam across the Kollidam, the major distributary of the Kaveri. The area irrigated by the ancient irrigation network is about . By the early 20th century, the irrigated area had been increased to about one million acres (400,000 ha). The delta farmers of Tamil Nadu have demanded the Tamil Nadu government to honor

Karikala Chola Karikala (), often referred to as Karikala the Great, was a Tamil Emperor of the Early Cholas of the Chola dynasty who ruled ancient Tamilakam (Modern day Tamil Nadu in Southern India) from Uraiyur. He is credited with the construction of ...

n, who built this dam.

Gallery

File:Kallanai Name Inscription.jpg, Plaque bearing the dam's name File:Kallanai.jpg, Engineering wonder of Karikalan's period File:Fishing Kallanai.jpg, Fishing in the sluices, Kallanai dam, Thanjavur File:Kallanai 2.jpg, Another view, Kallanai dam File:Kallanai 3.jpg, Kallanai dam File:Water flowing out of grand anaicut.webm, Water being discharged from Kallanai in August 2018 witnessing beauty of kallanai in river Kauvery

References

Bibliography

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