The Kaveri delta begins 16 kilometres west of Tiruchirappalli, where the river Kaveri splits in two, the Kaveri and the Kollidam, to form the island of Srirangam. The photo story captures the neighbourhood which falls under the administration of Tiruchirappalli City Municipal Corporation and is navigating complex ecological, geographical, and governance problems. With a population of 2,74,000 people, important historical sites, and surrounding agricultural lands, Srirangam is home to the largest functioning temple in the world, the Sri Ranganathaswamy temple, which covers an area of 156 acres [1]. The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple is enclosed within seven concentric enclosures with courtyards on an island formed between the Kaveri and the Kollidam river.
Srirangam’s literature traces back to the 5th century CE when the island is said to have formed as a permanent seat for a Vishnu idol, catalysing the process of making the city sacred. The island was believed to be a replica of the cosmic world on land, a utopia with fertile soils, lush forests, and flowing rivers, protected from all sides on account of the river splitting into two, the Kaveri and the Kollidam [2]. With the Temple governing the city, Srirangam became the urban centre of socio-economic and political power, administrating large swathes of land and villages [3] [4].
The most important aspect of the temple town is its geography. It lends the neighbourhood a symbolic presence that transcends Tiruchirappalli’s own. The ethereal landscape has not only formed the identity of Srirangam as a town but also the people of the city. However, today the land is surrounded by dry and dead riverbeds amidst sweltering heat. The river bank of Kaveri is now confined to the ebbs and flows of multiple dams built across the delta, with Kollidam being solely reserved as a flooding river in case of an overflow or breach of the dam. Srirangam, originating from the word ‘arangam’ in Tamil, meaning an isle in the midst of a river, has ceased to be an island by definition.
Unlike the 2nd century CE Grand Anicut Dam (Kallanai), which was part of a larger ancient irrigation network, the construction and remodelling of dams along the Kaveri in the 19th and 20th centuries changed the terrain of and around the rivers. The Upper Anicut Dam, built by the British in 1836, completely restricted the flow of water to the Kollidam in order to meet the increasing requirement of water further east of the island. This practice resulted in Kollidam being dry throughout the year in the current age.
The construction of the largest dam on the river course, the Mettur Dam, was built in 1934 with the intention of generating hydroelectric power and providing a major source of irrigation in the State. Today the excessive exploitation of the river has exacerbated the water crisis, resulting in the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka disputing over water, with major implications for the everyday life of people.
Placing such a rigid structure as an intermediary between the natural resource and its consumer has created a shift in the narrative around water. While decentralised small-scale water management systems are directly associated with the landscape, modern-day droughts and the declining water level in the Kaveri are associated with the Tiruchirappalli City Corporation and its allied infrastructure. The city places the onus of the natural resource on government bureaucracy instead of acknowledging the changed ecology and natural landscape of the region.
Srirangam’s loss of its natural rivers not only changed the resident’s engagement with the land but also caused a disengagement of the larger society from its immediate landscape and context. Wooded forests were replaced with agricultural lands and empty rivers with borewells.
This further resulted in the displacement of people relying on the river. Professions relying on the river as their main income sources, such as indigenous farmers and cattle herders, were forced to move out of the island and seek alternate jobs.
Empty rivers increased the dependence on groundwater and the use of borewells which depleted water even further. Water wells situated within each individual house inside the enclosures have been rendered unusable and sacred rituals of the temple now involve drawing water from mechanised borewells near the dry riverbed instead of the actual river.
