How Ancient Kings Split a River & Fed Millions

Permaculture instructor Andrew Millison journeys to South India to film the ancient water management system of the Cholla Dynasty in the Cauvery River Delta. We visit multiple structures within the state of Tamil Nadu including the Kallanai Dam, the Ranganathaswamy Temple, and numerous smaller check dams which split the Cauvery River into a vast delta which is the rice-basket of South India. This ancient design when seen as a whole actually creates the largest inland water body in the entire country of India.

Digital Map Animation:

Thanks Shubo Biswas of GreenGood Labs for the technical collaboration:

Steve Borgia's absolutely epic hotel in the Cauvery Delta:

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Andrew Millison’s links:

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[rocknrollajohnnyquid]

Andrew Millison single handedly showcasing Indias excellent techniques so the world can benefit. Salute brother.

[tam-nl]

As a Tamilian, I would like to thank you very very much Mr. Andrew Millison for documenting our Ancient Tamil kings water management system.
Great job🎉

[islandsunset]

Ander Millison is teaching Indians more about ancient Indian agricultural practices than any other desi source. And he makes it so interesting. I just can't get enough of this series.

[Pike]

Finally a king who thought about the welfare of his people rather than building palaces and forts for himself. I think it is in their culture, when I was there I saw many temples, great reservoirs, lakes but almost no palaces. These king's lived for their people.

[krishnakumar-nowg]

Sir Arthur Cotton, a British general and engineer, was amazed to see the water irrigation of the Cholas and the world's oldest dams, and until his death he continued to implement the irrigation scheme throughout South This irrigation management of the Tamils ​​has not been implemented in any other country yet. The water management of the Tamils ​​is rivers, lakes, ponds, ponds, streams, canals, fields, and only the remaining water goes to the sea, so the three-way cultivation has been going on for thousands of years. History tells us that Tamils ​​are the first civilized people in the world....Tamil language has songs rich in literature more than 4000 years old.... Im proud to be a Tamilan.... Great work Andrew millison🎉

[karunamayiholisticinc]

You make me miss India. I was in Thanjavur last year winter. I forgot everything and said to my parents, I wish I could live on a farm here. The place is simply sacred. I loved greenery and sight of cows was filling me with so much happiness

[iamnothing]

For everyone here, This was built 2000 years ago and oldest functioning dam till now. The literature and lifestyle of Tamil is so rich when I read the grammer everything was done perfect. Currently reading Thirumandhiram and Thiruvasagam and was baffled by the ideas. Current generation is nothing compared to the older one.

[LittleKi]

I don't know how this isn't part of our basic education and understanding of world history. Great job as usual, Andrew.

[downbntout]

The Great Pyramids are fascinating, but they just sit there in the desert. This water infrastructure is useful, and i am impressed. Thank you all for posting this information

[SujalSakpal-dxlt]

Chola Empire was one of the longest living Empire and Greatest Empire Bharat ever seen. Love from Pune

[dnapolren]

Right now in Canada.. my family hails from this region.. it's a village called Vazhuthur.. I did my post graduation in Srirangam (Island town).. the water flow engineering saved the island from a flooding in 2005-2006.. the precipitation that year was unprecedented upstream of the river.. thanks for bringing these pictures..

[Antoinecalligrapher]

The real beauty of it is that it did not harm the ecology of the Kaveri river. Today dam building is all about blocking the narrowest choke point you can find on a river valley, and creating the biggest stagnating reservoir, and then digging unnatural canals to distribute the water. This system uses innumerable small dams, which is more laborious to build and maintain, but had the least ecological harm.
The location is also important. To not split the flow upstream is important. Doing this in upstream areas would weaken the flow to downstream areas, but doing this just as the river is about to enter the sea is critical.

[rsridhar]

Proud of my தமிழ் Tamizh ancestors... Wow! While most of the facts on the outstanding water management system that the great Cholas built over generations is well known, the way the presentation has been made so very lucidly for a lay person with some technical details, and most of all, awesome visuals, makes this video presentation superb. Hope to see many more. Happy I stumbled upon this channel to subscribe immediately.

[tinykali]

California needs to adopt this way of water management right away ❤

[carolewarner]

My god... Can you imagine if we did something like this way up on the Mississippi?! Not only would it spread the waters out over the entire watershed, but it would probably save New Orleans, particularly if they stopped trying to control it so tightly all the way down there and allowed the re-silting of the delta to extend the marshy wetlands back further out into the Gulf. Of course there's so much shipping that takes place in the Mississippi...maybe this would simply be impossible, but I would think that a site specific plan could still make some branching possible. It's mind blowing just to think about it!

[santhoshrider]

2:40 Thats not exaggeration. That's because of the linguistic difference between English and Tamil usage of words. In Tamil language, அணைக்கட்டு/Anaikkattu (Anaicut an English word's origin is from Tamil only) which literally means "embracing structure"
This word அணைக்கட்டு technically means any structure that stops the river flow. In English, its more specifically called Dam. Tamil being one of the oldest languages of thw world has vocabularies that could have many meanings.

[Kenn_Adams]

I live just 15 mins bike ride from Kallanai. We frequently bisit this place at weekends. It has become a weekend getaway destination for us locals and a popular destination for tourists who wants to just get a glimpse of this masterpiece of engineering marvel. Thank you Andrew for visiting Tiruchirappalli.

[Zer-]

Tiruchirapalli (the city where Kallanai is located) is my birth town.

My family moved to the States when I was very young and I've lived there for 15+ years.

I had the opportunity to move back here to my home town (as my visa expired). I now have the privilege of living and working here, in my birth town.

I make it a point to visit this dam at least once a month to just marvel at the architectural feat. It is a testament to what our people are capable of if we put our minds on it! I'm so proud to be able to work and live in my birth town again. வாழ்க தமிழ்!

[janm]

These mad genius ancient people never cease to amaze me.

Also, Steve. Borgia's brief history is presented in a very entertaining way I can't stop smiling while imagining what Indians did back then.

[italianlifestyle]

Great men of the past built impressive and lasting things that nowadays not many are able to do..