Bharathapuzha River

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Bharathapuzha River (Nila)
Labelled map of Bharathapuzha
Origin	Annamalai hills
Mouth	Arabian Sea
Basin countries	India
Length	209 km (130 mi)
Source elevation	2,461 m
Avg. discharge	161 m³/s
Basin area	6,186 km² (2,420 mi²)

The Bharathapuzha River , also known as Nila, is a river in India in the state of Kerala. At 209 km, it is the second-longest river in Kerala after the Periyar River.

1 Course
2 Irrigation projects
3 Cultural Significance
4 Tributaries
5 See also
6 Notes
7 External links
8 References

[edit] Course

The headwaters of main tributary of Bharathapuzha originates in the Aana malai hills in the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu , and flows westward through Palakkad,Thrissur and Malappuram districts of Kerala, with many tributaries joining it, including the Tirur River. For the first 40 km or so, the Bharathapuzha follows an almost northerly course till Pollachi.At Parli both Kannadipuzha and Kalpathipuza merges and start to flow as Barathapuzha and follows a westerly course until it empties into the Arabian Sea at Ponnani.

The Old Railroad Bridge over Bharathapuzha River, built by the British in 1867 which goes to disuse with the construction of new bridges.

The river is not navigable along most of its course except the small stretch where it joins the sea. With a watershed of 6,186 km², Bharathapuzha basin is the largest among all the river basins in Kerala. A little more than two-thirds of this area (4400 km²) is within Kerala and the remaining area (1786 km²) is in Tamil Nadu. Though Bharathapuzha has a large basin, the water flow is relatively less compared to other long rivers in Kerala because a large portion of the basin is located in the comparatively drier regions (Tamil Nadu and Palakkad Gap). The construction of number of dams after the independence has also reduced the river flow. In fact in the summer months there is almost no flow in most part of the river.

The Bharathapuzha is the lifeline of many cities and villages, including Palakkad,Parli,Killikkurussimangalam, Ottappalam, Shoranur, Pattambi, Thrithala, Thiruvegappura, Kudallur, Pallipuram and Kumbidi. The village of Parudur, including the town of Pallipuram, stands on the confluence of this river and the River Tootha or, simply, Thuthapuzha.

[edit] Irrigation projects

The Bharathapuzha is extensively dammed and there are six reservoirs along the course of the river, and two more are under construction. Malampuzha dam is the largest among the reservoirs built across Bharathapuzha and its tributaries. Other dams in the Bharathapuzha basin are: Walayar dam, Mangalam dam, Pothundi dam, Meenkara dam and Chuliyar dam. Most of these reservoirs serve the purpose of irrigation only. A total area of 773 km² is irrigated by these irrigation projects. Two more dams , Kanjirapuzha dam and Chittur dam are under construction. The construction of these two dams will increase the area irrigated by another 542 km².

[edit] Cultural Significance

Kerala Kalamandalam a centre of excellence in Kerala's Performing Arts is located on the banks of the Bharathapuzha. Many of Kerala's popular Malayalam writers were born along its banks, namely M. T. Vasudevan Nair, M. Govindan, V. K. N. etc. Ivor madhom,on the banks of Bharathapuzha near Thiruvilwamala is a sacred funeral place for the Hindus. The local legend says that those cremated on the banks of the Bharathapuzha achieve salvation.^[1] It is also one of the important places in the state where the sons pay homage to their late fathers by conducting a Pithru Tharpanam ritual on the Karkidaka Vavu day.^[2] Some of the famous persons cremated here include literary personalities like O V Vijayan and V. K. N.