The Kallanai Dam was “[built] during the second century AD by Karikalan, a king of southern India's old Chola Dynasty” and “is also one of the oldest irrigation systems in the world that is still in use” (Agoramoorthy and Hsu, 2008). “The purpose of the dam was to divert the waters of the Kaveri across the fertile Thanjavur delta region for irrigation via canals. Since the English arrived in the eighteenth century, the Kallanai has been tampered with and other hydraulic structures have been added nearby. It is therefore difficult to extrapolate from the current situation into the past to understand the workings of the anicut” (Bijker, 2007). Approximate Year of Completion 200 AD.The exact location of the Kallanai is in the Trichy District. Construction details ...
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