Cauvery

        Sometimes called `The Ganges of the South,' the Cauvery is one of India's great sacred rivers. From its source around 5,000 feet above sea level in the Western Ghats, near Madikeri in the state of Karnataka, it flows generally eastwards for around 500 miles, crossing the sub-continent and entering the Bay of Bengal a few hundred miles south of Chennai (Madras).

The Cauvery [Kaveri] River is one of the sacred rivers of India and from it's origin in the Brahmagiri Hills, of the Coorg region in Karnataka State, to it's entrance into the Bay of Bengal, south of Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, it is steeped in Dravidian history. Although the upper reaches have continuous annual flow the mid and lower sections are damned and bled for irrigation water.  The Shivasamudram Falls which are the second largest waterfalls in India are on the Cauvery River. 

The Cauvery River drainage basin originates in the Brahmagiri Range of the Western Ghats, Karnataka at an elevation of some 1,340 m. It is a small river some  765 km. [475 miles] long and has a drainage area of ~72,000 sq. km.