After staying for two months in Trichy, I wanted to explore the city and the nearby places as much as possible before my fellowship program got over. I asked people in Trichy (my hostel mates, the people in my office, the random strangers I sometimes get into conversations with during my bus travel, my relatives and friends who reside in Trichy) to suggest me some places where they think I should go and not miss out. Most of the answers were, “this temple, that temple”, and only one person told me to visit “Mukkombu/Upper Anaicut dam”. I asked that person why no one suggested this place before and he told me that there is nothing much to see there and it’s boring. I still kept asking people around for suggestions, but this time I also asked them, “why not Mukkombu? How is that place to visit?”, I got two common replies.
“It’s not so awesome. I prefer temples” and “I have not been there”.
Later, like all other people, I was going to look for reviews on google about the dam, and I read about it. The dam had quite a lot of interesting facts that made me want to visit that place so bad. I stopped reading and was not bothered to read the reviews too. I just wanted to go check that place out and explore it on my own.
So, one Saturday morning, in the month of March, I took a bus and reached the place around 12:30 PM. So, here are the things that I experienced and loved there and are the reasons why I think it is an awesome place to visit when you are in Trichy.
1) The sceneryThe dam is built at the location where the Cauvery River leaves its tributary, named River Kollidam. There is something about the shimmering blue water that flows in between the lush green lands. After having lived in the city for two months, it was a treat to my city-bred eyes. In those two months I did not see much water bodies and this was something I needed to see.
View from the top of the dam
View of the dam
The place is also filled with a lot of migratory birds, flying around in swarms, hunting for fishes which will definitely be a beautiful site for any nature lover would love to see.
Flocks of cranes were a common sight to see from the dam.
Birds everywhere!
2) The historyThe dam is about 685-meters long and was built by Sir Arthur Cotton during the 19th century. General Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton, was a British general and irrigation engineer. He landed this soil at the age of nineteen as a young military engineer. He drew his inspiration from the world’s fourth oldest working dam, the Kallanai dam (Grand Anicut) over the Cauvery river, which is believed to have been built by the Chola king, Karikala Cholan during the 2nd century. This dam basically is a replica of the centuries-old Grand Anicut dam.
Sir Arthur Cotton - The British general who constructed the dam in 1836
The Mukkombu Dam is a regulator which splits water coming from Mettur into Kollidam and Cauvery rivers. Thus, it got the name ‘Mukkombu’ which means ‘three branches’ in Tamil. It was built on an intention by Sir Arthur Cotton to provide an endless supply of water for the villages around the place to utilize it for irrigation purposes.
Water flowing through the shutters of the dam
3) A Perfect picnic spotApart from the waters, scenery and other things, there are lots of trees, benches to sit on and shady spaces around the dam where I saw a huge crowd of people sitting in circles, enjoying their lunch.
People sitting under the trees
It's lunch time here
There are a lot of shops where one can buy hot steaming ground nuts for snacks or some cool ice cream and much more. The choice is yours. It will also be an ideal spot to take school children for trips. The place is surprisingly large enough, it actually could hold a lot of people, without making it look over-crowded.
School children buying snacks
A good spot for a school trip
4) ParkWhen I say it has a park, it actually has a full-fledged park. There is almost everything that the children would want to go and play on. The government has made it on both the sides of the dam, which will be one of the main attractions for the children visiting the place.
The park in Mukkombu dam. Credits: Trichy News
5) FishingMukkombu serves as an ideal spot for fishing as the water level is not so deep and also because of the availability of varieties of an abundant number of fishes. If you are a resident of Trichy, one can also buy fresh fish to take home and have an amazing dinner. People catch fishes and sell it on spot for cheaper prices. I met a woman who was selling some fish and she told me she’s never gone back home without selling all the fishes and it never took so long for her to sell them all as people usually buy them in bulk and go.
A woman catches fishes from the river and sells them fresh
6) For photographsWhether you like photography to capture nature, scenery, etc, or if you like to get captured in a photograph, this could be your perfect place. Many people were found clicking pictures. The captivating scenery behind will definitely help one get an amazing click. After all, who doesn’t like a good photograph?
A photographer trying to get his best click of the dam
7) The atmosphereSurprisingly when I went there, I didn’t feel much heat. When I was in Trichy or when I went to any other place around Trichy, the weather is always so hot, be it morning or evening or night. If it is 38 degrees outside in the city, it feels like 42 degrees. In Mukkombu, the breeze, the trees, the shade the dam offered, all together made my visit so peaceful. I was there in the afternoon time when the temperature was 39 degrees. I neither felt the heat nor did I got exhausted. You can consider visiting this place during the peak of summer too.
The dam
8) The locationThe dam is located 18 km away from the Trichy city. It is not too far from the city. Many buses that go to Karur via Mukkombu make it accessible to the visitors.
9) PriceIt’s very light on the pockets. When you take a government bus, it will cost a person around 20 bucks. The ticket price was also just Rs. 10, Rs. 20 for the camera and you are sorted.
10) Something for everybodyAs I have stated earlier, there are quite a number of things that one can do here. Children, photographers, families, couples, nature-lover, history buffs or whoever you may be, there is
something for everybody.
Something for everybody indeed
