Vasishta Nadi, named after the Hindu sage Vasishtha, originates from Salem district, flows through Attur

Attur

Attur is a town, municipality and capital of Attur Taluk in the Salem district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.-Etymology:The name of the town derives from the word "Aaru", meaning "River" and "Oor", meaning "Town/City/village" - Vasishta Nadi...

, Pattuthurai

Pattuthurai

Pattuthurai/Pattudurai is a village in Tamil Nadu state in India. It is located in the Talavasal mandal of the Salem district. It is very nearby to Thalaivasal which is one of the biggest panchayat unions in the Attur taluk.- Geography :...

, Thalaivasal

Thalaivasal

Thalaivasal is a village, block headquarter and State Assembly Seat in Salem district, Tamil Nadu - India.-Etymology:In Tamil the word Thalai means Head and Vasal means entrance...

, Aragalur

Aragalur

Aragalur is a village in Salem district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is about 6 km from Thalaivasal and 70 km from Salem.-Etymology:...

, Sitheri and Cuddalore

Cuddalore

Cuddalore is a fast growing industrial city and headquarter of Cuddalore district in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India. Located south of Pondicherry on the coast of Bay of Bengal, Cuddalore has a large number of industries which employ a great deal of the city's population.Cuddalore is known...

 district. This river flows in Tiruchirapalli

Tiruchirapalli

Tiruchirappalli ) , also called Tiruchi or Trichy , is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli District. It is the fourth largest municipal corporation in Tamil Nadu and also the fourth largest urban agglomeration in the state...

 and joins Sweata Nadi

Sweata Nadi

Sweata Nadi carries the drainages of Pachaimalai and Kolli Hills. It joins with Vasishta Nadi to form Vellar river and flows in to the Bay of Bengal....

 before flowing into the Bay of Bengal

Bay of Bengal

The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...

. Dams on the river are located at Attur

Attur

Attur is a town, municipality and capital of Attur Taluk in the Salem district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.-Etymology:The name of the town derives from the word "Aaru", meaning "River" and "Oor", meaning "Town/City/village" - Vasishta Nadi...

 and Periyeri. Check dams

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

 are constructed at Attur, Thalivasal and Periyeri/Aragalur

Aragalur

Aragalur is a village in Salem district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is about 6 km from Thalaivasal and 70 km from Salem.-Etymology:...

.

Like many seasonal rivers in Tamil Nadu, soil erosion is a major concern for many parts of this river due to legal/illegal extensive sand mining for concrete

Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

.

The Vellar system consists of the Vasishta Nadi and Sweata Nadi

Sweata Nadi

Sweata Nadi carries the drainages of Pachaimalai and Kolli Hills. It joins with Vasishta Nadi to form Vellar river and flows in to the Bay of Bengal....

, which drain two parallel valleys running east and west in Attur taluk, former carrying off the drainage of Kalrayan Hills

Kalrayan Hills

The Kalrayan Hills are a major range of hills situated in the Eastern Ghats of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Along with the Pachaimalai, Javadi, and Shevaroy hills, they separate the Kaveri River basin to the south from the Palar River basin to the north...

 and the latter carrying the Kolli Hills

Kolli Hills

Kolli Hills or Kolli Malai is a small mountain range located in central Tamil Nadu in Namakkal district of India. The mountains are about 1000 to 1300 m in height and cover an area of approximately 280 km². The Kolli Hills has 72 hair pin bends to reach the top of the hills...

 and Pachamalais.

There are 12 Siva temples located on villages through which this river flows. These include the panchaboodhas (Five Classical Elements or Tattva

Tattva

Tattva is a Sanskrit word meaning 'thatness', 'principle', 'reality' or 'truth'. According to various Indian schools of philosophy, a tattva is an element or aspect of reality conceived as an aspect of deity. Although the number of tattvas varies depending on the philosophical school, together they...

): Belur Sri Thanthondreeswarar

Thanthondreeswarar Temple (Belur, Salem)

Sri Thanthondreeswarar Temple or Sri Thanthondrieswarar Temple is at Belur in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.The temple was built by the Cholas kingdom in the 12th century AD. The main deity is Lord Thanthondreeswarar and the female deity is Goddess Dharmasamvarthini.Thanthondreeswarar Temple is...

(தான்தோன்றீஸ்வரர்) (land), Ethapoor Sambavamoortheswarar (water), Attur Kottai Kayanirmeshwarar (Fire), Aragalur Kamanadeshwarar (Air) & Koogayur Swarnapurieswarar (Sky).