The Vennar River or Vennaaru is a river and

distributary A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributar ...

of the

Kaveri River 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 dist ...

in the Kaveri delta. It flows through the

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...

Tiruvarur Thiruvarur () also spelt as Tiruvarur is a town and municipality in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Thiruvarur district and Thiruvarur taluk. The temple chariot of the Thyagaraja temple, weighing and mea ...

, and

Nagapattinam district Nagapattinam district is one of the 38 districts (a coastal district) of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. Nagapattinam district was carved out by bifurcating the erstwhile composite Thanjavur district on 19 October 1991. The town of Nagapatt ...

s of

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 ...

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 ...

Course

The river begins at the

Grand Anaicut Kallanai (also known as the Grand Anicut) is an ancient dam. It is built (in running water) across the Kaveri river flowing from Tiruchirapalli District to Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India. The dam located in Thanjavur district. Locate ...

at the eastern end of

Srirangam Island Srirangam Island is a river island in the city of Tiruchirappalli, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The island is formed by the Kaveri and Kollidam Rivers. Geography The Kaveri River diverges at the Upper Anaicut, a dam at the island's western ...

, where it branches off from the Kaveri. After diverging from the Kaveri, the Vennar flows east. Northwest of

Thennankudi Thennangudi is a medium-size village in Peravurani Taluk, Thanjavur district, 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 a ...

, at the Thenperambur dam, the Vennar splits into a northern and southern branch. The northern branch becomes the

Vettar River The Vettar River is a river in the Kaveri delta that flows through the Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, and Nagapattinam districts of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Course The Vettar is a distributary of the Vennar River, and begins northwest of Thennank ...

, while the southern branch continues east as the Vennar. The river flows to the north of

and Ammapettai before turning to the southeast towards

Needamangalam Needamangalam (Nidamangalam) formerly Yamunambalpuram, is a town panchayat in Thiruvarur district ( Composite Tanjore Dist) in the Cauvery Delta of Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Needamangalam was originally part of composite Tanjore District (Mad ...

. Northwest of Needamangalam, there is another dam across the river, and the river splits again, into three branches. The Pamaniyar and

Koraiyar River The Koraiyar River is a river in the Ambasamudram taluk of the Tirunelveli district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a right-bank tributary of the Thamirabarani River, which flows through Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts. It is form ...

s begin as the two southern branches created by this divergence, while the Vennar continues through the northern branch. After this divergence, the Vennar continues flowing southeast, and splits once again south of

Koradacheri Koradacheri is a panchayat town in Thiruvarur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It lies between the rivers Vettar and Vennar flowing at a distance of about 1.5 km. This is the Panchayat Town. Major income only from Agriculture ...

, with one branch initially flowing steadily southeast and later more to the south, while the other branch initially flows more steeply southeast and later flows steadily east. Both branches eventually rejoin in Nagapattinam district. After the convergence, the Vennar flows east again, before turning to the northeast and emptying into the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...

south of Velankanni.

History and Etymology

The name Vennaaru originates from the two words 'venmai' and 'aaru', which respectively mean white and river in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

.The etymology of Vennaaru represents venmai (white) + aaru (river) in

. Like other rivers in the Kaveri delta, the Vennar was important for transportation during the

Chola The Chola dynasty was a Tamils, Tamil thalassocratic Tamil Dynasties, empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated ...

period. One branch of the river was dug out and expanded by the Chola King Parantaka I.

Gallery

File:Vennaaru River1.jpg, Vennaaru River File:Paddy Fields around Vennaaru River.jpg, Paddy Fields around Vennaaru River

References

Rivers of Tamil Nadu Tributaries of the Kaveri River Rivers of India {{India-river-stub