Thavathiru Perur Adheenam Santhalinga Maruthachala Adigalar launched an awareness Ratha Yatra to protect the Noyyal river from Adiyogi in Isha. This river is the main water source of the Kongu region and it is essential to take action to protect it for future generations.
Coimbatore: Thavathiru Perur Adheenam Santhalinga Maruthachala Adigalar today (June 23) launched an awareness Ratha Yatra to protect the Noyyal river from Adiyogi in Isha. The river is the main source of water in the Kongu region.
A large number of spiritual leaders and sannyasis, including Madurai Atheenam, Thuzavoor Atheenam, Patharagudi Atheenam, Tiruppadaripuliyar Atheenam, and Kongu Mandal Jeer, took part in the ceremonies commemorating the start of the auspicious activity. The Akila Bharatiya Sannyasis Sangam organised the ceremony at Isha.
The Valli Kummi dance was performed by hundreds of villagers, followed by the Kolattam dance performed by students of Isha Samskriti.
"Noyyal River, a tributary of Kaveri River, originates at the foot of Velliangiri Hill known as South Kailash and merges with Kaveri in Karur district," said Perur Atheenam. Noyyal is a river that brings prosperity to four districts. Hundreds of years ago, 38 dams were built across the river, enriching the region with numerous ponds. However, the condition of Noyyal river is very bad now. The river is heavily polluted.”
"In order to restore it, Akila Bharatiya Sannyasi Sangam will hold a festival called 'Noyyal Peruvizha' in Perur from August 25 to August 31." Before that, we started a Ratha Yatra from Adiyogi in Isha today to raise awareness about this', he explained.
"There is not enough cleanliness awareness among the people," Madurai Atheenam stated. "The Noyyal Ratha Yatra will help to raise awareness and promote the culture of treating rivers as sacred," he stated.
The spiritual leaders also went to the several sacred places in Isha, such as Dhyanalinga, Linga Bhairavi, and Theerthakund. Speaking about his experience of these spaces Madurai Atheenam remarked, “Visiting Isha is a great virtue."
Swami Srimukha, Coordinator of Isha's Save Soil movement, said, “It is very necessary for farmers to switch to a tree-based farming system to increase the water supply of Noyyal river. There are about 12 lakh agricultural lands in the Noyal watershed area. If 100 trees are planted in one acre, 12 crore trees can be planted. We are planning to plant 12 lakh saplings this year and 2 crore saplings in the next 5 years in agricultural lands in the Noyyal watershed area through the Cauvery Calling Movement.”
The initiative comes against the backdrop of Thiru Shanmuga Sundaram, Pollachi MP. Various organizations including Isha's Cauvery Calling Movement; Velliangiri Uzhavan Farmer Producers Organization, Siruthuli; and Coimbatore Ponds Protection Movement are working in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu government.
The project's main goals are to maintain continuous water supply in the Noyyal River, to keep the river clean and free of sewage, and to prevent the accumulation of plastic waste. Implementation of this project in the Noyyal river, which travels for a distance of about 180 km, has been allotted to different NGOs for each specific km.
Accordingly, Isha has been assigned the first 4 km for Isha. It is noteworthy that before the start of this project, the Cauvery Calling Movement distributed free saplings and enabled the planting of 2 lakh trees by the farmers in the region.