The Hemavati is a river in southern India near

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

and an important

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery, the anglicized name) is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri river rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri range in the Western Ghats, Kodagu d ...

Origin and course

The source of the Hemavati River lies in the Western Ghats(Javali village) at an elevation of about . Located in

Mudigere Mudigere is a Town Panchayath and Taluk in Chikkamagaluru district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is 30 km from the district headquarters. Nearest airport is at Mangalore which is at a distance of . Mudigere is known for coffee and b ...

taluk of

Chikmagalur District Chikmagalur, officially Chikkamagaluru is an administrative district in the Malnad subregion of Karnataka, India. Coffee was first cultivated in India in Chikmagalur. The hills of Chikmagalur are parts of the Western Ghauts and the source of ...

in the state of

, it flows through

Hassan District Hassan is one of the 31 districts of Karnataka, India. The district headquarter is Hassan. It was carved out from Mysore district in the year 1866, during the Commissioner's Rule of Mysore (1831-81). Hassan District contains 8 taluks with t ...

where it is joined by its chief tributary the

Yagachi River The Yagachi River is a river in Karnataka, India., United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency It arises in the Western Ghats near the city of Chickmagaluru, flows through Belur Taluka, Hassan District, where it becomes a tributary ...

and then into

Mandya district Mandya District is an administrative district of Karnataka, India. The district is bordered on the south by Mysore and Chamarajangar districts, on the west by Hassan District, on the north by Tumkur District and on the east by Ramanagara ...

before joining the Kaveri near Krishnarajasagara. It is approximately 245 km long and has a drainage area of about 5,410 km².

Hemavati Dam and Reservoir

A dam across the Hemavati was completed in 1979 above Gorur in Hassan district and downstream from the Yagachi confluence. The dam is a

masonry dam Masonry dams are dams made out of masonrymainly stone and brick, sometimes joined with mortar. They are either the gravity or the arch-gravity type. The largest masonry dam in the World is Nagarjunasagar Dam , Andhra Pradesh & Telangana, in Indi ...

with a central spillway through 6 radial gates. It is 44.5 meters in height and 4692 meters long with an area of 9162 hectares. The reservoir has a live storage capacity of 35.7 TMC. The dam provides irrigation and drinking water not only for major portion of Hassan and Mandya districts, but also to far away regions of

Tumkur Tumkur, officially renamed as Tumakuru, is a city located in the southern part of Indian state of Karnataka. Tumkur is situated at a distance of northwest of Bangalore, the state capital along NH 48 and NH 73. It is the headquarters of the ...

district, that fall under Krishna River basin. The Shettihalli Rosary Church, which was submerged during the construction of the dam, can be seen only when the water level is low during the summer months. The church was constructed in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

architectural style by

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

in the 1860s. The church was abandoned in 1960 when the government decided to build the dam. When the water level is low coracles are used to go inside the church.

Footnotes

External links

National Water Development Agency - Netravati - Hemavati Link
Rivers of Karnataka Dams in Karnataka Rivers of India {{India-river-stub