Thamirabarani River

Coordinates: 8°38′29″N 78°07′38″E / 8.641316°N 78.127298°E / 8.641316; 78.127298
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

For other uses, see Thamirabharani (disambiguation).

Thamirabarani
Tamraparni, Porunai
Pothigai hills
 • coordinates8°36′07″N 77°15′51″E / 8.601962°N 77.264131°E / 8.601962; 77.264131
Srivaikundam[1]
 • average32 m3/s (1,100 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • left
Pachaiyar

The Thamirabarani or Tamraparni or Porunai is a

perennial river in Tamil Nadu
. This river flows towards north direction initially. However, it changes to east direction later.

Etymology

Thamirabarani river

From the Tamilakam era, the area of the Tamraparni river, in

Sri Lankan Tamil people for God in Tamil, which they often repeated as they lifted up their hands and faces towards Heaven".[13]

History

Thamirabarani river in dawn

Its many name derivations of Tan Porunai include Tampraparani, Tamirabarni, Tamiravaruni. Tan Porunai nathi finds mention by classical Tamil poets in ancient

holy river in Sanskrit literature Puranas, Mahabharata and Ramayana, the river was famed in the Early Pandyan Kingdom for its pearl and conch fisheries and trade.[14] The movement of people, including the faithful, trade merchants and toddy tapers from Tamraparni river to northwestern Sri Lanka led to the shared appellation of the name for the closely connected region. One important historical document on the river is the treatise Tamraparni Mahatmyam. It has many ancient temples along its banks. A hamlet known as Appankoil
is located on the northern side of the river.

In the

Mahābhārata (3:88) the river is mentioned as "Listen, O son of Kunti, I shall now describe Tamraparni. In that asylum the gods had undergone penances impelled by the desire of obtaining salvation".[15]

A Miami-based Beta Analytic Testing Laboratory published a report on 2021 which claimed that the Tamirabharani civilization along the banks of the river dates back to 3,200 years.[16]

Hydrology

Paanatheertham waterfalls

Origin

The Thamirabarani River originates from the peak of the

Pothigai hills on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats at an elevation of 1,725 metres (5,659 ft) above sea-level. The river is joined by its headwater tributaries Peyar, Ullar, Pambar before it flows into the Karaiyar Dam reservoir, where it meets Karaiyar. The river forms the Paanatheertham waterfalls, 40 metres (130 ft) high, as it enters the Kariyar reservoir.[17] Servalar joins the Thamirabarani before it enters into the Papanasam lower reservoir, which was built for the Papanasam Hydroelectric station.[18] The river descends down the mountains near Papanasam, where it forms the Kalyanatheertham falls and Agasthiar falls.[19][20]

Course and tributaries

The river flows on the plains eastwards from Papanasam. The first tributary to join Thamirabarani in the plains is the Manimuthar River, which originating from Manjolai hills and joins Thamirabarani near Aladiyoor village. The towns Ambasamudram and Kallidaikurichi are located respectively on the left and right banks of Thamiraparani, after which the river meets the tributary Gadananathi River at Tiruppudaimaruthur. Before the Gadananathi's entry into the Thamirabarani, the Gadananathi River is joined by the rivers Kallar, Karunaiyar and Veeranathi or Varahanathi which joins the river Gadananathi about 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi) north-east of Kila Ambur.

The Gadananathi is fed by the

Thoothukkudi district.[citation needed
]

List of major tributaries
Tributaries Length Origin Joins at Length of course of Thamirabarani Dams on the River
Koraiyar Mundanthurai reserve forests Karaiyar Dam 6 kilometres (4 mi) Karaiyar Dam
Servalar River Mundanthurai reserve forests Papanasam Reservoir 22 kilometres (14 mi)
Manimuthar River 9 kilometres (6 mi) Manjolai hills Aladiyoor 36 kilometres (22 mi) Manimuthar Dam
Gadananathi River Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve Tiruppudaimaruthur 43 kilometres (27 mi) Gadananathi River Dam
Pachaiyar River 32 kilometres (20 mi) Kalakkadu reserve forests Tharuvai 61 kilometres (38 mi)
Chittar River 80 kilometres (50 mi) Kutralam Hills Sivalaperi 73 kilometres (45 mi)
Ramanathi River Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve
Kizha ambur
 22 kilometres (14 mi) Ramanathi River Dam

Drain

Map showing the river

The river drains into

northeast monsoon. In 1992, there was an unexpected flood in Thamirabarani, which claimed hundreds of lives as the dam water was let out so massively and suddenly that the river and its channels could not bear the excess water inflow. It flooded again in 2015[21] with water entering the Kurukuthurai Murugan Temple.[22]

Irrigation

The many

reservoirs on the Thamirabarani river, along with those on the Manimuthar River, provide a large proportion of the water for irrigation and power generation for Tirunelveli district. It is fed by both the monsoons – the south west and the north-eastern and is seen in full spate twice a year if the monsoons do not fail. The Gadananathi River has 6 anicuts and a reservoir of 9,970,000 cubic metres (8,080 acre⋅ft), and irrigates 38.87 square kilometres (15.01 sq mi) of wetlands. The Ramanadhi has 7 anicuts, a reservoir of 4,300,000 cubic metres (3,500 acre⋅ft), and irrigates 20.23 square kilometres (7.81 sq mi) of wetlands. Pachaiyar River has 12 anicuts and irrigates 61.51 square kilometres (23.75 sq mi) of wet and dry lands.[citation needed
]

The important irrigation channels branching off from both the banks of the river Thamirabarani are, South Kodaimelalagian channel, North Kodaimelalagian channel (Kodaimelalagian anicut), Nathiyunni channel (Nathiyunni anicut), Kannadian channel (Kannadian anicut), Kodagan channel (Ariyanayagipuram anicut), Palayam (Palavur anicut) channel, Tirunelveli channel (Suthamalli anicut), Marudur Melakkal, Marudur Keelakkal (Marudur anicut), South Main Channel and North Main Channel (Srivaikundam anicut). Of these the first seven anicuts were constructed during the period of ancient and medieval rulers and the last anicut namely the Srivaikundam anaicut was constructed and completed by the British in 1869.[23]

List of dams across Thamirabarani river:

  1. Kodaimelaalagain anicut, 1,281.67 hectares (3,167.1 acres)
  2. Nathiyunni anicut, 1,049.37 hectares (2,593.0 acres)
  3. Kannadian anicut, 2,266.69 hectares (5,601.1 acres)
  4. Ariyanayagipuram anicut, 4,767.30 hectares (11,780.3 acres)
  5. Palavur anicut, 3,557.26 hectares (8,790.2 acres)
  6. Suthamalli anicut, 2,559.69 hectares (6,325.1 acres)
  7. Marudur anicut, 7,175.64 hectares (17,731.4 acres)

List of channels:

  1. South Kodaimelalagain channel
  2. North Kodaimelalagain channel
  3. Nathiyunni channel
  4. Kannadian channel
  5. Kodagan channel
  6. Palayam channel
  7. Tirunelveli channel
  8. Marudur Melakkal

Pollution and exploitation

  • Mixing of sewage, paper mill and industrial effluents, dumping etc. into the river is a worrying aspect.[citation needed]
  • Sand mining in this river was banned in 2010 but it still continues illegally.[citation needed]
  • Illegal encroachments of its banks is also a growing concern.
  • Pepsi and other Cola companies bottling facility plants were thought to be exploiting the river water, however a court ruling in April 2018 dismissed the allegations and allowed the companies to extract excess water as per the original agreements they have signed.[citation needed]
  • Many industries have come in the banks of the river in and around
    Srivaikuntam
    that injudicially use the river water and discharge untreated sewer.
  • Untreated sewer of towns like Ambasamudram, Tirunelveli, Papanasam etc. also reduce the water quality downstream.
  • Religious practices like letting your clothes along the river at Papanasam as an act to wash sins after a bath has also clogged up the river..
  • After the Sorimuthu Aiyanar Temple yearly festival upstream in the forests near Karayar dam the bacteria level in the river increases as thousands and thousands of people bathe at one go.[citation needed]

Fishes

Thamirabarani River is full of fishes and it is one of the

perennial rivers in Tamil Nadu
. Locals not involved in fishing resulting in the vast diversity of fishes in the river.

As water flows non-stop throughout the year, it is one of the most fish-rich river in the world where the river is dominated by more than 16 native Snakehead species. It is estimated that nearly 669 fish species found in the river.

Snakehead

Various types of snakehead fish species like

Channa diplogramma, Channa bleheri, Channa striata, Channa maculata, Channa punctata, Channa harcourtbutleri, Channa asiatica, Channa marulius found throughout the river. Snakeheads are considered as top level predators in Thamirabarani River. Northern Snakehead also found in small numbers on the starting part of river where top level predators like other snakeheads are missing. Thamirabarani River is the largest reservoir of Snakehead in the world with 17 types of Snakeheads present in this river. Snakehead fishes are locally called as Viraal in Tamil and all the species are consumed as food around the regions of Thamirabarani when they enter paddy fields.[citation needed
]

Catfish

Following

Aruvankulam area of Tirunelveli district. The most common catfish species found are Blue Catfish, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Mystus guli Catfish, Pangas Catfish, P. hodgarti, Goonch catfish, Pseudolaguvia. 13 species of Catfish species found throughout this river.[citation needed
]

Alligator Gar

Alligator Gar is not native to the river but caught sometimes. this was the result of releasing aquarium fish into the wild. on 2015, over 100 Juvenile alligator gar fishes caught and handed over to local authority. Because of the presence of huge number of native Snakehead fishes, the Alligator Gar invasion is not spreading and under control.[citation needed]

Eels

Eels found in this river mainly belongs to

Indian mottled eel (Anguilla b. bengalensis). 90 species of eel found in this river. the fish Macrognathus found in this river is mistakenly thought as eel because of its eel-like structure.[citation needed
]

Carp

Carp fishes found in large numbers throughout the river. Three type of carp fishes are

common carp. These three species of carp form 75% of carp fish population in Thamirabarani River.[citation needed
]

Loaches

Large number of species of sucker fishes found throughout the river. the most common one is

Horseface loach
.

Pangio loach, Schistura loach also common in this river and Schistura is mistakenly treated as snake or eel because of its snake-like appearance.[citation needed]

Others

Other fishes belong to genus

Salmophasia, Tor (Masheer), Xenentodon, are commonly found in this river.[citation needed
]

References

  1. ^ "Gauging Station - Data Summary". ORNL. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  2. ^ "Thamirabarani". isha.sadhguru.org. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  3. ^ Leelananda Prematilleka, Sudharshan Seneviatne - 1990: Perspectives in archaeology: "The names Tambapanni and Tamra- parni are in fact the Prakrit and Sanskrit rendering of Tamil Tan porunai"
  4. ^ Leelananda Prematilleka, Sudharshan Seneviatne - 1990: Perspectives in archaeology: "The names Tambapanni and Tamra- parni are in fact the Prakrit and Sanskrit rendering of Tamil Tan porunai"
  5. ISBN 9788175741898
    .
  6. ISBN 9788120601611
    .
  7. ^ K. Sivasubramaniam - 2009. Fisheries in Sri Lanka: anthropological and biological aspects, Volume 1. "It is considered most probable that the name was borrowed by the Greeks, from the Tamil 'Tamraparni' for which the Pali...to Ceylon, by the Tamil immigrants from Tinnelvely district through which ran the river called to this date, Tamaravarani"
  8. ISBN 9788120601611
    .
  9. ^ The Indian Geographical Journal, Volume 15, 1940 p345
  10. ^ K. Sivasubramaniam - 2009. Fisheries in Sri Lanka: anthropological and biological aspects, Volume 1. "It is considered most probable that the name was borrowed by the Greeks, from the Tamil 'Tamraparni' for which the Pali...to Ceylon, by the Tamil immigrants from Tinnelvely district through which ran the river called to this date, Tamaravarani"
  11. ^ Leelananda Prematilleka, Sudharshan Seneviatne - 1990: Perspectives in archaeology: "The names Tambapanni and Tamra- parni are in fact the Prakrit and Sanskrit rendering of Tamil Tan porunai"
  12. ISBN 81-206-0209-9
    . Retrieved 6 November 2009
  13. ^ Robert Knox. 1651. An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon in the East-Indies. - London. p167
  14. ^ "Rivers of Western Ghats - Origin of Tamiraparani". Centre for Ecological Sciences. Indian Institute of Science. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  15. ^ Mahabharata Online.
  16. ISSN 0971-751X
    . Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  17. ^ "Ambasamudram - Tourism". ambasamudram.net. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  18. ^ "Ambasamudram - Rivers". ambasamudram.net. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  19. ^ "Rivers of Tamil Nadu". discovertamilnadu.net. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  20. ^ "Tirunelveli - Places". Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation. Govt. of Tamil Nadu. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  21. ^ "Error -DailyThanthi".
  22. ^ "Flood in Thamirabarani River, Devotees Banned to Visit Kurukkuthurai Murugan Temple - Serials online SunTv VijayTv Polimer RajTv News". Archived from the original on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  23. ^ "Tirunelveli District Irrigation". Tirunelveli District Administration. Govt. of Tamil Nadu. Archived from the original on 8 September 2006. Retrieved 8 March 2012.

External links

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