Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Sothuparai Dam - Periyakulam

Sothuparai Dam is 9km from Periyakulam on the foot of Kodaikanal hills or the Western Ghats of Palani Range; helps enrich the entire area of Periyakulam and beyond by run  as a perennial river Varaganathi. The catchment of the dam is a combine of rain and small streams of Kodaikanal hills and the release of water from Berijam Lake, Kodaikanal.
Grand view – Sothuparai dam
Grand vista of the dam and misty Kodaikanal hills at rear
The Dam at its full storage capacity of 2.831.m.cum might be a wonder and thriller to watch it overflow via the high spillway, but I could only image the scene since the monsoon got postponed that year of 2009, left the reservoir at its base.  The road to the dam is enchant by the groves of mango on both sides leaving mangoes hang out of fence, at a height of hand’s touching and could pluck even from the moving car.
Sothuparai Dam - Front view
Front view of the dam taken from floor bridge
We first reached the top of the dam by the road on the hill beside and got a refreshing view of vast green on the mango groves and a patch of concrete at a distance which is obviously the Periyakulam town. The road extends beyond the check post – near the gateway above the dam, and along the reservoir the road leads to a small hamlet on the hills called Agamalai, which is restricted for private vehicles to enter.
Sothuparai Dam
Rear view on the dam from a distance elevation
But the guard at the check post somewhat allowed us to drive on road along the reservoir, knowing our interest on forest and though we couldn’t find any animals as it was dry everywhere we got a great sight of the  dam rear and views beyond. The guard told us the road exists only for a few km on Ghats and after that it’s only on horseback one could reach the hamlets on the hills.
Sothuparai dam - close to bottom
Close to bottom of the dam
The name Sothuparai is a combine to two Tamil words meaning ‘food and rock, and it is said to derive from the habit of people here who once used to take food on the rock boulders along the flow of river Varaganathi. The water released from the dam through an irrigation canal runs like a stream among the rocks and boulders during our visit since there isn’t enough water in dam… the water runs like a stream is distillated for drinking purpose of Periyakulam on its way.
Irrigation canal
Water flows from the dam via irrigation canal
Sothuparai is the second highest dam in Tamil Nadu, following the Sholayar  Dam of Valparai which comes first, and for more details on the dam check the photo below I captured on the board of information kept there. The dam has a small tunnel and irrigation canal and only during the heavy inflow the shutter seems to open large… and interestingly the care takers of the dam has left a  fishing hook above the canal to catch fish.
Board of information
The dam is isolated from tourist or the general public; it has a small simple garden with beautiful lampposts and a floor bridge to cross the dam, to get a complete front view of the dam. The time we checked the dam, a log had took refrain on top of the spillway, which is supposed to be washed away during the flood and it decided to stay there. It may need another overflowing season to come down.
Bouganvilla flowers
A small garden in front of the dam

11 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

i hope you get rain, too! those blooms are beautiful. dams are impressive structures to hold back so much power.

Linda said...

A fascinating post equipped with great photos. I hope you will get some rain.

ashok said...

heard abt this dam...seen it in movies..never had a chance to see it...nice snaps Jeevan

George said...

This is a very impressive dam, and I'm glad the guard let you do a little more exploring than what is usually permitted. The garden is beautiful.

eden said...

Beautiful photos. Thank you for taking us there.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Very nice dam, Jeevan. Thanks for sharing it with us. It is really BIG... Glad you had a chance to check it out... Your photos are great. Love that garden picture too.
Betsy

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Interesting pictures and a good post. Thanks for sharing.

Simran said...

A great post! Thanks for sharing :)
That's a cute garden ..
Loved all the pics!

P.S.- Sorry fr making so late comments..lil busy with my studies.
Hope you are doing well :)

My Best wishes to you...
You are blessed with multi-talent!
Keep flourishing it!

Rajesh said...

Wonderfully informative with excellent images. It is very huge.

Vetirmagal said...

This is so very good to read about. I am not even aware of this wonderful place near Kodai. As a tourist when we visit , we get to see what is shown to us,and we hesitate to venture on our own.

Thanks Jeevan for the lovely narration and the photographs. I like your pages where you describe places you visit.

venkatesh said...

Excellent Article.Kudo's to your interest towards this dam