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https://m.timesofindia.com/Quiet-flows-the-Kaveri/articleshow/10386681.cms
Quiet flows the Kaveri
By -
K S Ram
Mar 5, 2012, 00:00 IST
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Quiet flows the Kaveri
By -
K S Ram
Mar 5, 2012, 00:00 IST
Lifestyle
Quiet flows the Kaveri
Uma Ram and K S Ram are humbled by the indomitable spirit of the river
that has lived through the ups and downs of Karnataka’s history. As part
of life in a transferable job, we moved from our hometown Mysore to the
tribal-land of Bastar in Chhattisgarh. In response to an inner calling, we
chose to settle there. In the course of time, we built our humble dreamhouse in Bastar. When the house was ready, we wished to give it a name
that would keep the nostalgia of our Kannada roots alive. We did not
need to explore far. One name rang loud: Kaveri!
A charming damsel This, perhaps, is a measure of the spell of this river on
the people in Karnataka. You will hardly find any Kannadiga who views
this river as a mere water-body. Other rivers in the state are simply rivers;
Kaveri is special. It has a persona, a spirit.
There are a number of stories regarding the genesis of Kaveri. These
range from the usual fables (churning of the ocean and the broken
partnership between the gods and the demons) to the usual do-good
sages — Agastya in this case, who fetched an inexhaustible, ever-spilling
bowl full of water from the Himalayas to bless the dry state of Karnataka.
In all these stories, Kaveri is a charming damsel who transforms into a
river. A popular Kannada film song eulogises Kaveri as 'Kannada-kulanaari', 'Lady of the Kannada clan'. She is a foster-mother who is eternally
in the prime of her life. She has a divine charm, acknowledged far beyond
Karnataka. She is in the elite club of the seven sacred rivers of the subcontinent — alongside Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada and
Sindhu — that are invoked at every religious ceremony to sanctify the
water in the kalasha, or holy pitcher, meant for use in the ceremony.
Ganga of the south Kaveri is hailed as Dakshina Ganga, the Ganga of the
south. This is for reasons more than the obvious. Like the Ganga in the
Gangetic plains, Kaveri in the Deccan plateau has been a catalyst for the
growth of a distinct civilisation. Great dynasties (Chola, Chalukya,
Wodeyar and Tipu Sultan) have flourished, nourished by her waters.
Great centres of art and culture have risen on her banks: Mercara,
Srirangapatna, Mysore, Thiruchirapalli, Srirangam, Poompuhar.... It is
significant (but hardly surprising) that the Karnataka State Handicrafts
Emporium is named after Kaveri.
Some decades ago, we visited Karnataka on our annual vacation. The hot
news at that time was that thirsty Bangalore would soon be serviced by
water from Kaveri through a 100-km long pipeline.
Symbol of fertility Wherever we visited, we saw our hosts thrilled at the
prospect of receiving Kaveri water at home. They were not looking
forward to just water, they were excited about Kaveri coming to their
home, almost as though nectar was due soon to flow through the
municipal tap!
And why not? The small pond in Brahmagiri Hills in Coorg in western
Karnataka, where Kaveri springs forth, is named Tirtha. At the Kaveri
Sankramana every year, the river is worshipped in the ancient cult of
fertility and vegetation rites.
Women dress and install pumpkin or coconut — both traditionally strong
symbols of fertility — as goddess and offer to her the offerings relevant
to the Feminine Principle: vermilion, cloth, betel leaves, areca nuts,
bangles and a mangal-sutra. The water of the miracle fount on the
appointed day — the first day when the sun enters Tula rasi — is
reverentially sipped as tirtha, sacrament. In the year to follow, Kaveri will
bless her children by keeping the basin fertile, just as she has done year
after year for ages.
Kaveri’s connection, in fact, continues through the span of one’s life. The
deity of fertility grants birth; as a river, she enables a bountiful harvest to
sustain life, and finally, when a person dies, a handful of his ashes are let
into Kaveri at Pashchim Vahini near Srirangapatna to journey down to
wherever the river’s will may disperse it.
She flows within us Once, when standing on the ramparts of Tipu Sultan’s
fort in Srirangapatna, built on the banks of the Kaveri, we felt history
whispering by as the river meandered below. We felt humbled by the
river that had witnessed so much for so long: the rise and fall of kings, the
betrayal of trust, the ransacking of the fort, the creation and desecration
of holiness, the renewal of life just when all seemed lost!
A passing thought breezed by with the weight of an epic: and quiet flows
the Kaveri! Enfeebled by dams, but cheerful nonetheless, the river still
flowed like hope indefatigable. And then, for some strange reason, we
felt as though the river was flowing within our veins, as much as on the
earth below!
Could we have given our house any other name?
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