The Vrishabhavathi River is a minor river, a tributary of the

Arkavathy The Arkavati is an important mountain river in Karnataka, India, originating at Nandi Hills, India, Nandi Hills of Chikkaballapura district. It is a tributary of the Kaveri, which it joins at 34 km south of Kanakapura, Ramanagara District ...

, that flows through the south of the Indian city of

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. The river was once so pristine that the water from it was used for drinking and used by the famous Gali Anjaneya temple but is now highly polluted due to pollutants from industrial, agricultural and domestic sources.

Etymology

Vrishabhavathi is derived from the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

word ''Vrishabha'' which refers to a bull. The river is believed to originate at the feet of the monolithic Nandi statue at the Big Bull Temple in

Basavanagudi Basavanagudi is a residential and commercial locality in the Indian city of Bangalore. It is located in South Bangalore, along the borders of Jayanagar. The name "Basavanagudi" refers to the Bull Temple, which contains a monolith statue of the ...

, hence giving it the name ''Vrishabhavathi''.

Course

Basavanagudi Boulder Inscription Colour English

The origin of the river is near the Dakshinamukha Nandi Tirtha or the Kadu Malleshwara Temple in Malleswaram, and it flows through major areas like

Nayandahalli Nayandahalli is a locality in South Bangalore, India. It is located along the Mysore Road (SH-17). It is bordered by Banashankari, Rajarajeshwari Nagar and the Bangalore University campus (Jnanabharati). It is a major transport junction in Bang ...

Rajarajeshwari Nagar Rajarajeshwari Nagar, officially Rajarajeshwari Nagara is a residential neighborhood in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. It is located in the southwestern part of Bangalore along the Mysore Road, with Nagarbhavi and the Bangalore University to the n ...

and Kengeri. The river can be seen near the Mantri Mall Malleswaram,

Magadi Road Magadi is a Taluk headquarters located in Ramanagara district. The town is situated at a distance of 51 km from Bangalore. The founder of Bangalore, the great Kempegowda was a native of Kempapura, Magadi taluk. Magadi, having a rich cultur ...

and Mysore Road metro stations. The river culminates in a reservoir named after itself Vrishabhavathi Reservoir near Bidadi. It joins

Arkavathy River The Arkavati is an important mountain river in Karnataka, India, originating at Nandi Hills of Chikkaballapura district. It is a tributary of the Kaveri, which it joins at 34 km south of Kanakapura, Ramanagara District called Sangama in ...

near Kanakapura as a tributary. The river has a basin area of and passes through 96 out of the 198 wards in Bangalore. A smaller stream of the river originates near

Bugle Rock Bugle Rock () is a massive rock in the Basavanagudi area of South Bangalore, in the state of Karnataka. It is an abrupt rise above the ground of peninsular gneiss as the main rock formation and with an assessed age of about 3,000 million years. ...

, and joins the main river near Mysore Road.

Religious significance

There are several temples throughout the course of the river. Some of the well-known temples along the banks on the Vrishabhavathi are Dodda Ganesha and the Dodda Basava Temple, Gali Hanumantha Temple, Gavi Gangadhareshwara temple and the

Kadu Malleshwara Temple The Kadu Malleshwara Temple kn, ಕಾಡು ಮಲ್ಲೇಶ್ವರ is a 17th-century A.D. Hindu temple dedicated to the Shiva located in the Malleshwara locality of Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The word 'Kadu' means forests, here referrin ...

. The Gali Hanumantha Temple is over 600 years old, constructed in 1425 by Sri

Vyasaraya Vyāsatīrtha (. 1460 – 1539), also called ''Vyasaraja'' or ''Chandrikacharya'', was a Hindu philosopher, scholar, polemicist, commentator and poet belonging to the Madhwacharya's Dvaita order of Vedanta. As the patron saint of the Vija ...

of Channapattana who was a Rajaguru of

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hinduism, Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana an ...

. The temple was constructed on the confluence of two rivers – Vrishabhavathi and Paschimavahini. The Ishwara Temple at Kengeri dates back to 1050 AD.

Pollution and current concerns

The river is highly polluted due to pollutants from industrial, agricultural and domestic sources. It is said to be dark, smelly and frothy due to "untreated or badly treated domestic sewage that goes into the river." In 2005, the then

Chief Minister of Karnataka The chief minister of Karnataka, formerly known as the chief minister of Mysore, is the chief executive officer of the government of the Indian state of Karnataka. As per the Constitution of India, the governor of Karnataka is the state's ''de j ...

Dharam Singh Dharam Narayan Singh (25 December 1936 – 27 July 2017) was an Indian senior congress politician who served as the 17th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 28 May 2004 to 28 January 2006 and Member of the Lok Sabha from Bidar Lok Sabha constitue ...

proposed to remodel the river valley to include widening of the river, and adopt measures to prevent inundation.

References

Rivers of Karnataka Geography of Bangalore Rivers of India {{India-river-stub