Kerala Tourism Photos – Bharathapuzha

Bharathapuzha known as river Nila and Bharathapuzha means river of Bharata. Bharathapuzha is in kerala which is a state of Kerala. Bharathapuzha has a length of 209km and it is the second-longest river in Kerala. The first is for the Periyar river. Bharathapuzha’s another name ‘Nila’ indicates the culture.

Bharathapuzha originates from Anaimalai hills and flows to Western ghats through palakkad gap. Many tributaries from thrissur and malappuram districts of kerala  join to form  the river Bharathapuzha. On the beginning of river bharathapuzha, it has northern  course till pollachi near Coimbatore. It follows 40 km and reaches Parli, then  kannadipuzha and kalpathippuzha join them. On the other hand western couse flows towards Lakshadweep sea at ponnani. later at Myanmar , gayathripuzha also merges with the river. Finally the Thootha river merges with the river bharathapuzha at pallippuram. Since the Thootha river is completely filled with water,when combined together  the nila  flowa thicker than  before. The bharathapuzha basin is the largest basin among other all rivers in kerala. It has total area about 6186 km² . Around 4400 km²is surrounded within the kerala. Remaining 1786 km² is  in tamil Nadu. As Bharathapuzha has a largest basin,the flow of water is relatively less on compared to other rivers in kerala. After the independence,  the construction of dams reduces the flow of water . During the summer months, generally there is no  flow of water in most of the river parts. Many cities and villages keep their life into Bharathapuzha.

The  well known personality Thunjatthu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan( father of Malayalam language) called nila as “sokanasini”. the river flows through places such as kodumbu-thiruvalathur, palakkad,  parli-kottayi, mankara-perigottukurissi, lakkidi- thiruvilamala, killikurissimangalam, ottappalam, shoranur, cheruthuruthi, chelakkara , patambi, thrithala, thiruvegappura, kudallur, pallipuram and kumbidi . Bharathapuzha river faces many challenges for its survival. Due to the growth of tall trees and grasses in the river can causes many disturbances. Now a days sand mining creates main villan around the people. Illegal sand mining mafias creates disputes between  the politicians and bureaucrats. All tributaries of bharathapuzha  has 11 reservoirs along the river.

Malampuzha dam is the largest  among the reservoirs built across Bharathapuzha. The other dams are walayar dam, mangalam dam, pothundi dam, meenkara dam, chulliyar dam, thirumoorthy, aliyar, upper aliyar, chitturpuzha regulator and kanhirappuzha dam. All reservoirs are mainly used for only irrigational purposes. All irrigational projects include a total area of 773 km². The main irrigational projects  is  construction of dams in  Chittur in Attappadi hills. And the other project is the regulator cum bridge at Thrithala built on the Velliyankallu bridge. The regulator cum bridge  connects two villages at pallippuram and Thrithala. The main feature of the regulator is the distribution of  drinking water. Cultural significance of bharathapuzha  is clearely visible from the keralites. On the banks of river side many cultural artforms are originated . Art forms such as Kathakali, koodiyattam and ottamthullal is performed at cheruthuruty in the thrissur district. Also the birth place of famous Malayalam poet and founder of ottamthulal art form,Kunchan nambiar is on the banks of river Nila.