Shivanasamudra
Encyclopedia
Shivanasamudra is a small town in the Mandya District of the state of Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It is situated on the banks of the river Kaveri and is the location of the first Hydro-electric Power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....

 in Asia, which was set up in the year 1902.

Waterfalls

The Shivanasamudra Falls is on the Kaveri River
Kaveri River
The Kaveri , also spelled Cauvery in English, is a large Indian river. The origin of the river is traditionally placed at Talakaveri, Kodagu in the Western Ghats in Karnataka, flows generally south and east through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and across the southern Deccan plateau through the...

 after the river has wound its way through the rocks and ravine
Ravine
A ravine is a landform narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streamcutting erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. A ravine is generally a fluvial slope landform of relatively steep sides, on the order of twenty to...

s of the Deccan Plateau
Deccan Plateau
The Deccan Plateau is a large plateau in India, making up the majority of the southern part of the country. It rises a hundred meters high in the north, rising further to more than a kilometers high in the south, forming a raised triangle nested within the familiar downward-pointing triangle of...

  and drops off to form waterfalls. The island town of Shivanasamudra
Shivanasamudra
Shivanasamudra is a small town in the Mandya District of the state of Karnataka, India. It is situated on the banks of the river Kaveri and is the location of the first Hydro-electric Power station in Asia, which was set up in the year 1902.-Waterfalls:The Shivanasamudra Falls is on the Kaveri...

 divides the river into twin waterfalls. This creates the fourth largest island in the rivers course. A group of ancient temples are located here and there likely was a village.

This is a segmented waterfall. Segmented waterfalls occur where the water flow is broken into two or more channels before dropping over a cliff, resulting in multiple side by side waterfalls. It has an average width of 849 meters, a height of 90 m, and an average volume of 934 cubic meters / sec. The maximum recorded volume is 18,887 cubic meters / sec.
It is a perennial waterfall. The time of best flow are the monsoon season of July to October.

A common misconception about these waterfalls are that the left segment is called Gaganachukki and the right segment is called Bharachukki. In reality the Bharachukki falls http://wikimapia.org/192518/Barachukki-waterfalls-Shivanasamudra-Sivasamudram are a few kilometers to the south-west of the Gaganachukki falls http://wikimapia.org/1284526/Gagganchucki-waterfalls. This is due to the Kaveri river itself splitting a few kilometers to the south into western and eastern branches http://wikimapia.org/5483146/Bridge-on-Kaveri-Branch-on-way-to-Bharachukki-There-is-also-a-low-lining-bridge. The western branch results in the twin waterfalls of Gaganachukki, whereas the eastern branch results in the Bharachukki falls. The Gaganachukki waterfalls are best viewed from the Shivanasamudra watch tower http://wikimapia.org/433206/Sivasamudram-watch-tower. Most of the pictures showing the twin waterfalls are taken from that location. There is another approach to the Gaganachukki falls from the Darga Hazrath Mardane Gaib http://wikimapia.org/330695/Darga-Hazrath-Mardane-Gaib-R. Despite warnings being posted, people climb down the rocks and attempt to view the waterfalls from behind/top, resulting in many fatal accidents. It is 139 km from the city of Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

.

Power generation

Asia's second hydro-electric power station after shimshapura, is located at the waterfall and is still functional. This station was commissioned by the Diwan of Mysore, Sir K. Seshadri Iyer
K. Seshadri Iyer
Sir Kumarapuram Seshadri Iyer KCIE , b. June 1, 1845 - d.September 13, 1901), or Sheshadri Aiyar was an advocate who served as the Dewan of Mysore from 1883 to 1901...

. The power generated here was initially used in Kolar Gold Fields
Kolar Gold Fields
Kolar Gold Fields is a town in Bangarpet Taluk, in the Kolar District of Karnataka state, India. It includes the township of the same name, viz. KGF, where reside mainly the families of the employees of BGML. To the east of KGF is a ridge of hills of which Dod Betta hill, 3195 feet above sea...

. Thus, Kolar Gold Fields
Kolar Gold Fields
Kolar Gold Fields is a town in Bangarpet Taluk, in the Kolar District of Karnataka state, India. It includes the township of the same name, viz. KGF, where reside mainly the families of the employees of BGML. To the east of KGF is a ridge of hills of which Dod Betta hill, 3195 feet above sea...

 became the first town in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

to get hydro electricity.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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