Kallanai
Also called: Grand Anicut · Topic: Water Resources of India: Availability, Use and Conservation · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 1 "The Story of Indian Farming"; Class 9, Ch 2 "Shaping of the Earth's Surface"
Meaning
Kallanai, also called the Grand Anicut, is an ancient stone dam across the Kaveri river. The Chola king Karikala built it about 1,800 years ago. It is a diversion structure: it does not store a big reservoir but turns river water into channels that lead to fields. It is one of the world's oldest diversion structures still in use, and a symbol of early Indian water engineering.
Example
Kallanai stands on the Kaveri near Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. It still sends water across the Kaveri delta to irrigate its paddy fields.
Don't confuse with
- Mullaperiyar dam: this is an 1895 masonry dam on the Periyar in Kerala, run by Tamil Nadu. Kallanai is far older and stands on the Kaveri.
Related concepts
- Ancient hydraulic structures of India
- Traditional water harvesting systems
- Guls and kuls
- Inundation channels
- Khadin
- Johad
- Taanka
- Kund
- Ahar-pyne
- Eri