After our tour of the Hoysala Village Resort as described here, we took some rest in our room and freshened up to prepare ourselves for a short tour of the closest sightseeing destinations near our resort. It was already 3 pm when we set out in a car from the hotel to visit these places.
It took about an hour for us to reach the Gorur Hemavathy Dam and Reservoir Project area. Our driver appeared more excited than us to see the dam. After leaving our car in the parking lot, we headed towards the gateway leading to the dam. At the entrance of the project area, was a sculpture of warrior fighting with a lion. Although we admired the sculpture’s beauty, we had no idea of its significance. It was only when we visited the fascinating ancient temples of Belur and Halebidu the next day that we learned about the meaning of the sculpture.
As we entered through the gates, we could see a long stretch of a wide pathway leading to the dam in the distance. By then, it had started drizzling but luckily, we had taken our raincoats with us and that saved our day. The wind was too strong there to use an umbrella.
In the distance, we could see the foaming white waters of the Hemavathy Dam. Let us learn a bit about the geography of this river and the history of the dam.
The Hemavathy River is a rain-fed river starting in the Western Ghats. It then flows through the Chikmagalur District of Karnataka to enter the Hassan District of the state. Here, the Yagachi River joins it. After that, the river continues to flow into the Mandya district to finally enter the Kaveri River near Krishnarajasagara. The river flows for about 245 km in total and drains an area of about 5,410 square km.
In 1979, the construction of a dam on this river was completed. The dam was built in Gorur in the Hassan District. It was built just downstream of where the Hemavathy River joined the Yagachi River. The 8502 hectares large Gorur Reservoir was created by the construction of this dam. The Hemavati Dam has a height of 58 m and a length of 4692 m.
As we approached the dam by walking towards it, we admired this human-made mega-structure. However, we also thought of the ill-effects of damming on the region’s wildlife and the displacement of locals. Standing there we realized that dams can be both a blessing and a curse.
Leaving the dam, our car cruised its way through the tree-lined roadway towards a destination that I was super-excited to see, the Shettihalli Rosary Church.
Read about it here.
1. Hassan Tour Day 1 Part 1: Exploring the Hoysala Village Resort
https://oishimaya.blogspot.com/2019/04/hassan-tour-day-1-part-1-exploring.html
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