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Veeranam Lake (Veeranarayanapuram Lake) is located SSW in Cuddalore district in the
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
of
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
in
South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...
1 km (0.62 mi) from Kattumannarkoil. It is located from
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. It is one of the water reservoirs from where water is supplied to
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
city. The lake has a capacity to store about 1,465 mcft of water(1.46 TMC). Though the level in the Veeranam lake has dipped to 323 million cubic feet (mcft), the same amount of 180 mld (million litres a day) was being drawn for city supply.


History

Veeranam Lake was built in the 10th century during the time of
Greater Cholas Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 *Greater Bank Greater Bank ...
(907–955 CE) and is a long dam in northern Tamil Nadu. It was built by
Rajaditya Rajaditya Chola (''fl.'' mid-10th century AD) was a Chola prince, son of king Parantaka I (r. 907–955) and a Chera/Kerala princess ( the Ko Kizhan AdigalNarayanan, M. G. S. ''Perumāḷs of Kerala.'' Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 96- ...
Chola with his soldiers during leisure times, when they had camped at Thirumunaipadi for a war against Pallava kings. He named it after his father
Parantaka I Parantaka Chola I (Tamil : பராந்தக சோழன் I) (873 CE–955 CE) was a Chola emperor who ruled for forty-eight years, annexing Pandya by defeating Rajasimhan II. The best part of his reign was marked by increasing success ...
Chola, who had the title "Veeranarayanan". The lake was originally named as Veeranarayana Mangalam lake, and was about 20 km long and 7 km wide then. The lake gets water from Kollidam via Vadavaru River. The lake remains dry for the major part of the year. Water released from the Mettur dam through Kollidam and
Lower Anicut The Lower Anaicut or Anaikkarai is a dam and bridge built on the Kollidam (the northern tributary of Kaveri River) in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was built in 1902 by the colonial administration of the Madras Presidency for irrigating ...
would also bring in sufficient inflow into the Veeranam Lake. The lake received sufficient inflow in April enabling supply to the city for three months. With heavy rain in Western Ghats, the lake almost got its storage capacity as it received inflow from the Cauvery tributaries of
Bhavani Bhavānī (also known as Bhāvya, Tulajā, Turajā, Tvarita, Aṃbā, Jagadambā and Aṃbē) is manifestation of Adi Shakti (Durga). Bhavani translates to "giver of life", meaning the power of nature or the source of creative energy. She is co ...
and Amaravathi.


The Veeranam Project

The Veeranam project, to supply water to Chennai, was conceived in 1967 by the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu,
C. N. Annadurai Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 1909 – 3 February 1969), popularly known as Anna also known as Arignar Anna or Perarignar Anna (''Anna, the scholar'' or ''Elder Brother''), was an Indian Tamil politician who served as the fo ...
, and executed under his successor, M. Karunanidhi. The project's completion in 2004 by the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalitha. It was impossible to use any water from the lake since it had run dry, and the face-saving proposal adopted by the authorities was to dig 45 deep borewells around the area and pump the resulting water to Chennai via the pipeline. The length of the lake is 14 km and this may have been the largest lake in Tamil Nadu until the building of the Bhavanisagar Dam in 1955. The credit goes to ancient people who have done this job with ordinary hand made tools.


In literature

The opening chapter of the book
Ponniyin Selvan ''Ponniyin Selvan'' () is a historical fiction novel by Indian author Kalki Krishnamurthy, written in Tamil. It was first serialized in the weekly editions of ''Kalki'', a Tamil magazine, from 29 October 1950 to 16 May 1954 and later integrat ...
is set on the banks of the Veera Narayana Lake.
Kalki Krishnamurthy , birth_name = Ramasamy Aiyer Krishnamurthy , birth_date = , birth_place = Puthamangalam, near Manalmedu , death_date = , death_place = Chennai, India , occupation = journalist, critic and writer , nationality = Indian , education = H ...
gives an elaborate description of the features of the lake and the way multiple rivers flow into the lake. Kalki added Chola princess Kundavi used to come for refreshment at the banks of Veeranam lake during spring season. He also makes a reference to the fact, that
Ramanujacharya Ramanuja (Middle Tamil: Rāmāṉujam; Classical Sanskrit: Rāmanuja; 1017 CE – 1137 CE; ; ), also known as Ramanujacharya, was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and a social reformer. He is noted to be one of the most important exponents o ...
decided on the number of 64 Peetas - ''74 simhasanathipathigal'' based on the number of 74 openings in the lake.


Notes

{{Cuddalore district Reservoirs in Tamil Nadu Cuddalore district