Shanthi Sagara, also called Sulekere, is the second largest built lake in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. It is located at Sulekere of

Channagiri Channagiri is a town in Davanagere district in the state of Karnataka, India. It is a taluk headquarters in Davanagere District from 1997. Before it was the part of Shivamogga District. Etymology During Ganga Possession in this place called ' ...

taluka of

Davanagere District Davanagere district is an administrative district of Karnataka state in India. It is the centre of Karnataka. The city of Davanagere is the district headquarters. It had a population of 1,643,494 of which 32.31% was urban as of 2011. This dist ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

state of India.

Importance

Shanti Sagara tank, created by an embankment with sluice outlets, built in 1128, the tank has a history of 800 years. It took three years to construct the massive tank. The tank, which has a water spread of , has a

circumference In geometry, the circumference (from Latin ''circumferens'', meaning "carrying around") is the perimeter of a circle or ellipse. That is, the circumference would be the arc length of the circle, as if it were opened up and straightened out to ...

of . It has a total

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

of . It

irrigate Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been develop ...

s of land and more than 170 villages are benefited by it. The tank receives the

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditio ...

of twenty square miles. All of the drainage pours into the

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

where it is built (the main stream bearing the name of Haridra, a tributary of the Tungabhadra). The

embankment Embankment may refer to: Geology and geography * A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea * Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railwa ...

is constructed between two hills, and embankment is of no great length; it is around , but it is of stupendous width (Max ,min ), height and strength, though not quite straight. The main road connecting between

and

Davanagere Davanagere is a city in the centre of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the seventh largest city in the state, and the administrative headquarters of eponymous Davangere district. Hitherto being a cotton hub and hence popularly known ...

pass through on this embankment. It has resisted successfully the floods of centuries, but owing to the great pressure of the volume of the water in tank. It has two

sluice Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...

s. That to the north is called the "Sidda", and that to the south the "Basava". Notwithstanding the damaged state of the sluices and the great force of the water when escaping through them, the embankment has always remained firm and uninjured, a satisfactory proof of the solidity of the structure. If required (as during drought) the tank can be fed by surplus water from

Bhadra Dam The Bhadra Dam or Lakkavalli Dam, which has created the Bhadra Reservoir, is located on the Bhadra River a tributary of Tungabhadra River. Bhadra Dam is located in the border of Bhadravathi, Karnataka, Bhadravathi and Tarikere, in the western ...

's right bank canal.

Etymology

The name is derived from "Sule"

courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress (lover), mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the Royal cour ...

and "kere" tank. Sulekere renamed to Shanthi Sagara, where "shanthi" is the first name of

princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

Shantava, who constructed this tank. "Sagara" means

Ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

, as this tank is one of biggest tanks in

, so the tank is compared to an ocean.

History

The construction of the tank is assigned to 11th or 12th century, and remains are pointed out, said have belonged to Svargavathi, the city was submerged, its king Vikrama raaya, who had no children, adopted the son of gowda of Billahalli. This youth received the name of Ragi raaya. But a daughter was subsequently born to the king in reward for his devotion to Shiva. She was called Shantava. The king's daughter, who, having formed a connection with some

divinity Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine

, built, as an expiatory act, the tank, which submerged the town of her father, who had cursed her as a prostitute. Hence the name "Sulekere". There is stone to be dated Shaka 1311, in the tank. History also has it that the Lt. General Sir

Richard Hieram Sankey Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Hieram Sankey (22 March 1829 – 11 November 1908) was an officer in the Royal (Madras) Engineers in the East India Company's army in British India, later transferring to the British Army after the Indian Rebellio ...

, Chief Engineer of Mysore state, once commented during 1856, that the region (where Sulekere once was) was not ideal for the construction of a tank, but was still built, all thanks to the engineering expertise of people of those times. It is indeed remarkable, he commented. Sulekere tank, round, which receives all the streams from the south, and from which Haridra issues to the north. The south and west are crossed by lines of hills, as it mentioned in

The Imperial Gazetteer of India ''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881. Sir William Wilson Hunter made the original plans of the book, starting in 1869.< ...

in 1903-4. On 22 September 1952 an adult

Eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

(

Anguilla bengalensis The mottled eel (''Anguilla bengalensis''), also known as the African mottled eel, the Indian longfin eel, the Indian mottled eel, the long-finned eel or the river eel, is a demersal, catadromous eel in the family Anguillidae.Tungabhadra dam, the

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

of the eel from sea to the upper reaches of the Tungabhadra is prevented, on 17 April 1955.

Drinking water

Drinking water is supplied from Shanthi Sagara to

Chitradurga Chitradurga is a city and the headquarters of Chitradurga district, which is located on the valley of the Vedavati river in the central part of the Indian state of Karnataka. Chitradurga is a place with historical significance which is locate ...

, Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWS&DB) has funded 80 crore to this project. Presently, Chitradurga city is getting 30 million litres of water a day from the Shanti Sagara Water Supply System. Off-late, there are fears of the lake completely drying up.

References

External links