The Hindu : BAGESHREE.S
Journey with the Cauvery and discover many interesting facts and legends.
As you travel, you get lessons in geography, animal and plant life, agriculture, history, culture, myths and much more
Taking a journey along the course of a river – through mountains, plains, gorges and finally into the ocean – is an exhilarating and educating experience. As you travel, you get lessons in geography, animal and plant life, agriculture, history, culture, myths and much more.
River’s route
Cauvery, published by Pratham Books as part of the Read India series, traces the route of the River Cauvery from its birth high up in the mountains of Kodagu all the way down to its final destination in the Bay of Bengal, covering 785 kilometres in all.
Every stretch of this journey throws up something new and curious. And these are presented in separate chapters.
The book begins with a popular myth about the birth of the Cauvery and moves on to introduce us to a range of things associated with the Cauvery – the birds in the island Ranganathittu, strange stories behind the sand dunes of Talakad, the battle between the brave Tipu Sultan and the British at Srirangapattana, the power generation unit at Shivasamudram and so on.
History and facts
The Cauvery has also been at the centre of a historic feud between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over water sharing.
This is one issue the book chooses not to delve into! All along the main text, the book gives us some interesting nuggets of information too. Did you, for instance, know that crocodiles swallow stones to help digestion, or that Hogenakal means “smoking stones”?
Cauvery has some interesting illustrations and photographs (by Clare Arni) alongside the text (by Oriole Henry). The duo travelled along the course of the river for four months from Kodagu in Karnataka to Poompuhar where the river meets the sea, to gather material for the book.
As you…More
