River Noyyal has been the AKSHAYA PATRA of Coimbatore. Let us take a pledge to restore this marvelous river on this auspicious AKSHAYA TRITEEYA. We have done immense harm to our Mother Noyyal and as a consequence we are living in concrete wilderness. Our unsustainable economic gamble has left our ecology in shambles. The do gooders who are trying to restore the River Noyyal need all our support. It is high time that we take up the restoration work NOW.
River Noyyal has been the AKSHAYA PATRA of Coimbatore. Let us take a pledge to restore this marvelous river on this auspicious AKSHAYA TRITEEYA. We have done immense harm to our Mother Noyyal and as a consequence we are living in concrete wilderness. Our unsustainable economic gamble has left our ecology in shambles. The do gooders who are trying to restore the River Noyyal need all our support. It is high time that we take up the restoration work NOW.
RIVER NOYYAL IN MYTHOLOGY
Long ago the sacred serpent adorning the neck of Lord Shiva was unable to bear the fury of his cosmic dance and therefore spat venom all over the world. The Devas led by Lord Brahma approached Lord Shiva for help. Immediately Lord Shiva commandeered River Ganga to flow from heaven and cleanse the world. The river thus formed emerged from the Velligiri region of the Western Ghats and came to be known as Adhi Gangai, Shivanadhi and later Noyyal because of the soft sand on its banks. Noyyal also means ' small ' in ancient Tamil, very appropriate for a river which flows for just 160 kilometres plus in Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode and Karur districts in modern Tamilnadu before merging herself into the mighty River Cauvery at Noyyal village near Karur.
This cosmic dance of Shiva and the stillness of this posture adopted by him in order to make his Nagabharanam ( Divine Serpent ) comfortable is epitomized by the icon of Nataraja at Perur, where his matted hairlocks are found frozen on his shoulders. This is unlike the locks flying in the space above his shoulders. Thanks to Shiva's cosmic dance and divine concern, we have Mother Noyyal nourshing Coimbatore from time immemorial.
RIVER NOYYAL IN HISTORY, RELIGION, LITERATURE & COMMERCE
Our River Noyyal supported dense forests in the Western Ghats region and its many streams including Chinnar, Periyar and Kanchimanadhi merge at the Kooduthurai near Madhwarayapuram thereby to bring forth their combined flow as one single strong river. According to Tamil literature there existed a civilization on the banks of the Noyyal around 300 BC and unto the Sangam era. The progenitors of this ' River Noyyal Civilization ' settled down the banks of the river and involved themselves in agriculture, textiles, smithy and jewellery manufacture. Later they exported the same to the Roman Empire along with the spices of our country. Besides the prosperity ushered in by the bounties provided by River Noyyal, Roman gold gave additional wealth to the region. Roman merchants established a settlement at Vellalore and this became a part of the ' Roman Trade Route ' for centuries. Along with the waters of prosperity the River Noyyal has continued to carry fables like the story of Karikala and the ghost over the ages. In fact, it was Karikala Chola who built the Cholanthurai on the banks of the river near the Perur Patteeswarar Temple.
The waters of the River Noyyal flowed untamed into the River Cauvery for a long time. One day Aditya Chola ( 875 - 907 AD ) conquered Kongunad and thereafter the region became a part of the Chola Empire. The rulers travelled into the jungles in order to find out the origin of the river. They wanted to tame it in the interest of everyone. In order to harness the waters of the River Noyyal which were flooding the already brimming Cauvery at the time of the monsoons, they decked it with anicuts, lakes and connecting channels. This helped the region to increase its agricultural produce for water was available all round the year. The lakes held water and this increased groundwater. Running water had been made to walk, stand and then percolate underground.
A lot of Roman gold was taken away by Aditya Chola and it was later used to cover the shrine of Lord Nataraja at Chidambaram with golden tiles by his son and successor Parantaka Chola ( 907 - 955 AD ). Saint Vyasaraja of Vijayanagar had installed 732 icons of Lord Hanuman in our country. The Hanuman on the banks of River Noyyal was installed by him nearly 500 years ago.Thanks to the hydrological adornments, River Noyyal continued to serve the citizens as a calm river and this has been brought out in the ' Perur Puranam ' rendered by Kachiappa Munivar in the seventeenth century. He goes on to say that being chaste the river never breaches her embankments. Coimbatorean dance teacher Karunasagari has created a ' Noyyal Dance Drama ' and it is very popular.
Perur on the banks of River Noyyal is also the home to a number of community choultries and mutts like the Santhalinga Adigalar Mutt. The third day of the Tamil month of Adi occurs in the month of August every year. People celebrate Adi 18 by offering prayers to River Noyyal. Memorial services to elders are also done on this occasion.
The Thula or Aippasi Month in Tamil is a time when all the rivers of India come to wash their sins in the River Cauvery. Lord Vishnu had given the river an exalted status. Coimbatoreans used to bathe in the River Noyyal during the Thula month in order to rid themselves of the accumulated Karma. Rajalakshmi Raju Chettiar and her co sister Ranganayaki Ramaswamy used to have a very early morning bath in the River Noyyal, for she is the central tributary of the River Cauvery. Coimbatoreans used to bathe in our River Noyyal at the time of the Adhikamasam which used to occur once in few years.
Vanitha Mohan, the Managing Trustee of the green NGO Siruthuli and her team offer their prayers with flowers and arati to River Noyyal at the Chithiraichavadi check dam every year.
India has not only been a river valley civilization but also a forest based civilization. The wealth of the forests and the wealth of the rivers were harvested in a sustainable manner by ancient Indians and the well preserved River Noyyal basin had been an example. They understood that survival, growth and sustenance were based on revering Mother Nature.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE RIVER NOYYAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Originally Karikala Chola the Great was the first to harness a riverine system in Peninsular India. He constructed the ' Kallanai ' near Srirangam and this subsequently enabled the breaking up of Cauvery into a network of canals, rivulets, tanks and ponds.
Thanks to these developments the Chola country became rich, powerful and cultured.The eleventh century witnessed the construction of the Brihadeeswarar Temple by Raja Raja Chola ( 985 - 1014 AD ). The temple acted as a ' Bandaram ' or bank during the reign of the Cholas. It was able to hold over 100,000 sacks plus of paddy on its books at any given point of time.
The ' Eri System ' in Tamilnadu was quite evolved by this time. Typically a checkdam was constructed across a river and apart of the water was diverted to a tank ( lake ) through a canal. Once the tank got filled up, water was released through an outlet and it went on to fill one more neighbourhood tank. Thereafter the water was brought back to the river after filling up a number of tanks. Most of the canals also had outlets which supported wayside agricultural lands. The Chithirai Chavadi canal in Coimbatore and the adjoining water bodies or tanks are the results of such activities.
The concept of slowing down the flow of water was essential for the rivers were the only source of fresh water. Such networks were found to be very useful. Perhaps this has been allegorically represented on the matted locks of Shiva which demonstrate how the flow of River Ganga was being regulated on a continuous basis.
Evidence for using such methods have been in India for a long time. Details pertaining to water harvesting methods are found in the work of Chanakya - Arthashastra. The magnum opus of Chanakya indicates that people knew about rainfall regimes, soil types and irrigation techniques. It also mentioned that the rulers rendered help to the subjects in connection with the development of irrigation works. Checkdams built with stone rubble have been found in Baluchitan and Kutch. The Rajatarangini of Kalhana ( Kashmir ) describes a well maintained irrigation system. King Bhoja had constructed a 65,000 hectare tank and the same was fed by 365 streams and springs. Bengal's overflow system of irrigation worked well until the advent of the British.
A number of Asian countries were influenced by our practices. In fact they innovated and made them even better. New models were also created by them. One such model is at Bali in Indonesia. The Balinese Water Temples had merged religion and science. Temple committees and their rituals ensured that the terrace paddy cultivation areas were evenly cared for. They ensured that every farmer had his share of water. The Government had interfered with system by trying to bring a ' green revolution ', but it failed over time. Therefore they resorted back to the old system. Here farmers irrigate through a terrace system of faceted paddocks. A SUBAK is a democratic collective of farmers within an area who congregate around Balinese Water Temples. In 2012, the cultural landscape of Bali was granted World Heritage Status by the UNESCO in recognition of their unique integration with religion, science, culture, farming and ecology. It is interesting to note that the American anthropologist Stephen Lansing has studied this system for decades.
Thanks to the good work, River Noyyal enriched the region.
THE WESTERN GHATS, RIPARIAN FORESTS AND BIRD LIFE
The Western Ghats are known as the Sahyadris and they have given us all the peninsular rivers. There are bounties which have been offered by these mountains. The forests associated with River Noyyal are home to numerous species of birds and animals. Streams associated with the river had riparian forests which were home to trees and medicinal herbs. The forests acted as a water shed too. Birds spat the seeds of the fruits eaten by them and forests got propagated further . Chanaka talks about the types of forests in his Arthashastra. He states that forests were to be reserved to suit various purposes. The waters of the River Noyyal used to sweet because of the gooseberries that fell into the waters from the riparian forests on either sides !
Our elephants are a pride to our nation. The Nilgiris Biosphere in the south is part of the Western Ghats and it is one of the largest homes for the Asiatic Elephant. Aditya Chola had come into Kongunad in order to get elephants from this region for his army. The Chola Empire became a military power after the conquest of Kongunad.
THE RIVER NOYYAL BASIN OF THE YONDER ERA, CLIMATE & RAINFALL
Coimbatore and its environs were made up of paddy fields, forests, temples and the horse shoe shaped river valley had more then 30 rivulets. The annual rainfall had been about 605 mm and the climate is salubrious because of the Palakad gap. Maximum temperature ranges from 36 to 41 degrees centigrade, while the minimum hovers between 14 and 31 degrees.
The River Noyyal is about 160 plus kilometres long and the basin is about 25 kilometres wide. It overs an area which exceeds 3000 square kilometres. About 32 tanks used to be filled by the river with the aid of checkdams and canals.
RIVER NOYYAL TODAY
The river is polluted and the forests which had become farm lands are turning commercial very fast. Its under enormous stress. Debris, sewage, garbage, encroachments etc., are taking a toll on the river.Green NGOs like Siruthuli and Osai are trying their best to work on its preservation. In fact Siruthuli has constructed a new check dam at Nandankarai and it is capable of holding 100 million litres of water. A lot of work has been done by Siruthuli over the last 16 years. A NOYYAL YATRA was conducted by SIRUTHULI in the year 2005 in order to increase the concern for the river and initiate its restoration. About 100,000 people participated in the NOYYAL YATRA. Its high time that everyone got together and brought back the pristine glory of our DIVINE MOTHER - RIVER NOYYAL, the Lifeline of Coimbatore.
