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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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.
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| A small garden in front of the dam |
