Water is essential for life and access to clean drinking water is a necessity for good health. However, clean drinking water is not available everywhere, due to water scarcity and pollution of existing water resources. The pollution can be in the form of natural or anthropogenic activities. The quality of river water is influenced by various natural factors such as rainfall, temperature and weathering of rocks and anthropogenic activities which alter the hydrochemistry of river water.
Religion World will look at the rivers that call for immediate attention, because they have been polluted beyond repair. But the effort is to look at the river, its history, its use and how it was been brought to the state it is now. Our effort to write about these rivers is to enlighten the readers that they need attention and they can once again turn into lifeline for human race in their part. Today we bring, river flowing through Madurai, Vaigai River.
Vaigai River:
Vaigai River is the important River flowing in Madurai District which flows 240 kms from West to East . River Kundar is the another river flowing in this District from South to West. All the major water supply schemes has been formulated with Vaigai River as source.
Vaigai rises in the Varushanad Hills in west flows northeast through the Kambam and Varushanad valleys. Vaigai flows eastward into the Vaigai reservoir at Narasingapuram. Near Sholavandan it bends to the southeast, passing Madurai on its course to its mouth on Palk Strait. The Vaigai River rarely floods; its chief tributaries are the Siruliar, Theniar, Varaha Nadi, and Mangalar.
Madurai is the second largest city in Tamil Nadu, next to Chennai. This interesting city has a good atmosphere and is a popular place to visit. It is one of the oldest cities in India, over 2,500 years old. Madurai is situated on the banks of the Vaigai River.
Vaigai River is closely associated with the Chithirai festival of Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple at Madurai. On Chitra Pournami day Lord Kallazhagar (Vishnu), the elder brother of Goddess Meenakshi enters the Vaigai River. Legend has it that the festival is held to re-enact a puranic episode in which Lord Azhagar comes to the riverbank from his abode at Azagarmalai (30 kms from Madurai) to grant moksha to ‘Mandooka’ Rishi who was a great devotee of Vishnu, but was cursed earlier to turn into a frog.
Sangam literature, of around 300 BC, has great references to this Vaigai River. Vaigai means ‘the river that brings water when one touches it’.
Legend of Vaigai River
When Meenakshi married Lord Siva, a huge wedding feast was prepared, and Gundotharan ate up all the food. But he was still not satiated! The Lord then made Goddess Annapoorani supply Gundotharan with food. Four big pits of cooked rice appeared. Gundotharan ate up all the rice. But he was now thirsty, and although he drank up all the water that was available, he still continued to be thirsty. The Lord then commanded the river Ganges, which He bore in His matted locks, to descend to the earth as a river, to satisfy Gundotharan’s thirst.
The river then asked the Lord a boon. “If anyone bathes in the river, then his sins must disappear. Even if one touches the waters of the river, his sins must vanish,” Ganges said to the Lord. The Lord agreed, whereupon the Ganges gushed forth as the river Vaigai.
Gundotharan cupped his hands and drank the water and was no longer thirsty. Since the Vaigai came from the Lord’s head and since it is but the Ganges itself, Vaigai river is also called Siva Ganga, said Aaroor Sundararaman, in a discourse. It is also called Siva Gnana teertha.
Its descent to the earth was faster than wind, and so the river is also known as Vegavathi. If one bathes in the Ganges, it takes one second for one’s sins to be vanquished. But the moment one steps into the Vaigai, one’s sins disappear.
It is also called Kritamaala, for it runs around the city of Madurai like a garland (mala). It is like a garland for Goddess Meenakshi, who rules Madurai.
The Thiruvilayadal Puranam, in which the story of Vaigai is told, is divided into many sections. If one reads the story of Vaigai, narrated in the Thiruvilayadal Puranam, one’s sins are destroyed.
According to another legend, Kallazhagar arrived late for the marriage of his sister Meenakshi with Lord Sundareshwara. Taking note that the marriage has already taken place, he plunges into the river Vaigai and walks through to nearby Vandiyur. Adults and children join together in spraying water at Lord Kallazhagar as he walks towards the river bank of Vaigai in total disappointment.
Tributaries & Dams
The important tributaries of the river Vaigai are, the river Suruliyaru, the river Mullaiyaaru, the river Varaganadi, the river Manjalaru and river Kridhumaal. All these rivers, except Kridhumaal join with the great Vaigai river nearer to the places around the Vaigai Dam which is situated in Theni district, whereas Kridhumaal joins Vaigai in Madurai.
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 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, blackgram, cowpea and cotton.
The Periyar Dam was built in 1895 by John Pennycuick, who implemented a plan proposed over a century earlier by Pradani Muthirulappa Pillai of Ramnad. The dam was built by the British Army Engineering corps for the Travancore kingdom. The first dam was washed away by floods, and a second masonry dam was constructed in 1895.
Ecological significance
Vaigai river is an important river flowing in Madurai. All the major water supply schemes in Madurai district have been formulated with Vaigai river as a source. Illango Adigal has referred to the river Vaigai as a perennial river which brought all wealth to Madurai and happiness to all human beings in and around her.
The Vaigai river, which was known for its clean water until a few years ago is undergoing drastic changes when it comes to cleanliness. With the city is getting thickly populated the river is getting polluted to the maximum. And, there has been no remorse from the stakeholders of letting the sewage water into it. There are a lot of places in many areas where one can witness sewage water being let into the river.
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