Harvesting and Management of Monsoon Waters as "Keredharma" for Irrigation: Legends and Myths Surrounding the Process

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Abstract

Archaeological and Literary sources identified the innumerable details regarding the Harvesting and Management of Monsoon waters for irrigation in South India and specially in Karnataka. South Indian rivers were non-parennial. Most of them were dried up in summer. Hence, the people who were in the business of agriculture had to resort to harvesting monsoon waters in the form of tanks and reservoirs. Water management techniques are described in the Kaifiyats and other sources provides ample of details. The sources narrate the rituals and legends related to these tanks and reservoirs. The whole process was called 'Keredharma' and it was the basis of storage economy of South India. This was universally followed by all the Paleyagars of the Fragmented Polity. Thomas Munroe, an able East India Company administrator in South India, once wrote that it was difficult to find a suitable place for the construction of new tanks in South India, which applies to Karnataka region also. This is a tribute to the wisdom of the people who lived at the local levels and mobilized surplus for the Paleyapattus. This paper investigates these interesting aspect