The Vaigai is a river in the
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is 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 India ...
state of southern India; it passes through the towns of
Theni
Theni is a valley town situated in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu at the foothills of Western Ghats. It is the headquarters of the Theni district, located in a distance of 70km from Madurai. It is known for the large-scale trading of garlic, c ...
,
Dindigul
Dindigul, also spelt Thindukkal (), is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dindigul district. Dindigul is located southwest from the state capital, Chennai, away from Tiruchirappalli, away ...
and
Madurai
Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...
. It originates in
Varusanadu
Varusanadu is a village panchayat (code: 232202) in Theni district, Theni District of Tamil Nadu, which is located in the bank of Vaigai River. This village comes under Kadamalaigundu - Mayiladumparai Kadamalaigundu - Mayiladumparai Panchayat uni ...
Hills, the Periyar Plateau of the
Western Ghats range, and flows northeast through the
Kambam Valley, which lies between the
Palani Hills
The Palani Hills are a mountain range in the southern Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Palani Hills are an eastward extension of the Western Ghats ranges, which run parallel to the west coast of India. The Palani Hills adjoin the hi ...
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
Pandya Nadu or Pandi Nadu is a geographical region comprising the southern part of the present day state of Tamil Nadu. The region is bounded on its West by the Venad/ Ay Nadu, Northeast by the Chola Nadu and Northwest by the Kongu Nadu. It comp ...
. Madurai, the largest city in the Pandya Nadu region and its ancient capital, lies on the Vaigai. The river empties into the
Palk Bay
Palk Bay is a semi-enclosed shallow water body between the southeast coast of India and Sri Lanka, with a water depth maximum of 13 m. Palk Bay is located between 8° 50′ and 10° North latitudes and 78° 50′ and 80° 30′ East longitudes ...
near
Alagankulam
Alagankulam is a village situated on the east coast in the Ramanathapuram Taluk and district. The village is situated on the banks of the Vaigai River and is about away from the seashore. The village is located east of Ramanathapuram. The ...
, close to
Pamban Bridge
Pamban Bridge is a railway bridge that connects the town of Mandapam in mainland India with Rameswaram on Pamban Island. Opened on 24 February 1914, it was India's first sea bridge, and was the longest sea bridge in India until the opening of t ...
in
Ramanathapuram
Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a town and a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) in ...
District.
The Vaigai is long, with a
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 ...
large.
Vaigai Mention
Sangam literature
The Sangam literature (Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam'';) historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' (Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cāṉṟōr ceyyuḷ'') connotes ...
(circa 300 BCE to 300 CE
) has paid many tributes to Vaigai, extolling it as 'the river that brings water when one touches it', viz the etymology Vai (place your) + gai (hands) = place one's hands.
The following story is told about the birth of the river Vaigai etc. Meenakshi, the daughter of a Pandyan king, was an incarnation of
Parvati
Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...
. From a very young age, she made up her mind to marry Lord
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
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.
It was formerly called Kritamala, a sacred river where Vishnu appeared as
Matsya
Matsya ( sa, मत्स्य, lit. ''fish'') is the fish avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. Often described as the first of Vishnu's ten primary avatars, Matsya is described to have rescued the first man, Manu, from a great deluge. Matsya m ...
before
Satyavrata Manu who had spent his time offering penance there. The deity presiding over this temple visited
Lakshmi
Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...
-
Narayana
Narayana (Sanskrit: नारायण, IAST: ''Nārāyaṇa'') is one of the forms and names of Vishnu, who is in yogic slumber under the celestial waters, referring to the masculine principle. He is also known as Purushottama, and is co ...
at their wedding.
Tributaries
The main tributaries of the river Vaigai are, the river Suruliyaru, the river Mullaiyaaru, the river
Varaganadi, the
river Manjalaru,
river kottagudi and river Kridhumaal, Upparu river.
Vaigai Dam
The Vaigai Dam is built across the Vaigai River near Andipatti, in the Theni district of Tamil Nadu, southern India. Near the dam, the Government of Tamil Nadu has constructed an Agricultural Research Station for researching the growing of a ...
is the major dam in this river which is present in
Theni district.
Vaigai gets major feed from the
Periyar Dam
Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'F ...
in Kumili,
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
. Water from the Periyar River in Kerala is diverted into the Vaigai River in
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is 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 India ...
via a tunnel through the
Western Ghats. In summers, the Vaigai river ends up dry very often. The water never reaches
Madurai
Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...
, let alone flowing into places past Madurai.
Dams
![Vaigai River Illumination](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Vaigai_River_Illumination.jpg)
The Vaigai Dam is built across the river in
Periyakulam taluk, in the Theni district of Tamil Nadu. It provides water for irrigation for the
Madurai district
Madurai 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., National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Ag ...
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
''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...
,
blackgram
''Vigna mungo'', also known as black gram, urad bean, urid bean, mash kalai, uzhunnu parippu, ulundu paruppu, minapa pappu, uddu, or black matpe, is a bean grown in South Asia. Like its relative, the mung bean, it has been reclassified from th ...
,
cowpea
The cowpea (''Vigna unguiculata'') is an annual herbaceous legume from the genus ''Vigna''. Its tolerance for sandy soil and low rainfall have made it an important crop in the semiarid regions across Africa and Asia. It requires very few input ...
and cotton.
The
Periyar Dam
Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'F ...
was built in 1895 by John Pennycuick, who implemented a plan proposed over a century earlier by
Pradani Muthirulappa Pillai
Pradani Muthirulappa Pillai (or Muthu Irulappa Pillai), son of Sundra Pandya Pillai, of the 18th century was a minister of Ramnad during the reign of Muthuramalinga Sethupathy. As the king was a minor, just an infant, the pradani took over the ...
of Ramnad. The dam was built by the British Army Engineering corps for the
Travancore kingdom
The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...
. 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.
See also
*
Kaveri–Vaigai Link Canal
References
{{coord, 9, 21, N, 79, 00, E, display=title, region:IN_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki
Rivers of Tamil Nadu
Rivers of India
Geography of Madurai