Kaveri

Course of the Kaveri

Template: Infobox River / Obsolete

The Kaveri ( Kannada: ಕಾವೇರಿ Cauvery, Tamil: காவிரி Kāviri; formerly anglicised Cauvery, rare Kavery ) is a river in southern India. It rises west of Madikeri in Karnataka in the Western Ghats and flows in mostly an easterly or south-east through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu on the Coromandel coast, where it flows into the Bay of Bengal to 60 kilometers in a broad delta. Larger towns on its banks are Erode, Tiruchirappalli, Thanjavur, Kumbakonam and Karaikal.

The Kaveri is considered the Hindus as sacred and therefore is also known as Dakshina Ganga ( "Ganges of the South" ) referred. Its source is an important pilgrimage ( Talakaveri ). It forms several large river islands, three of which also are of particular religious significance: Srirangapatna and Shivanasamudram in Karnataka and Srirangam in Tamil Nadu.

The Kaveri is the dry season only partially navigable, but plays an important role in the irrigated agriculture and for power generation. For these purposes, it is dammed several times. The largest reservoirs are the Krishnarajasagara reservoir near Mysore in Karnataka and the Stanley Reservoir at Mettur in Tamil Nadu. The latter is also used for inland fishing.

Nature Reserves

• Ranganathittu bird sanctuary on the Cauvery at Srirangapatna: ua Storks (colored storks ), ibises ( Schwarzkopfibisse ), spoonbills, cormorants, herons, Hinduseeschwalben (Sterna aurantia ), kingfishers, marsh crocodiles.