Vani Vilasa Sagara

A view across the dam.

Mari Kanive (Kannada: ಮಾರಿ ಕಣಿವೆ) is a dam near Hiriyur Taluk, Chitradurga District, in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the oldest dam in the state.

The dam was built by the Mysore Maharajas pre-independence across the river Vedavathi. The dam is an exquisite piece of architecture, an engineering marvel for that time, and provides water to lots of surrounding cities, towns and villages, which are largely dry lands of the Deccan area of Central Karnataka.

Significance

This dam is the source of domestic water for Hiriyur and Chitradurga. It irrigates more than 100 km² of land in Hiriyur and Challakere taluks through right and left bank canals. This place is 160 km from Bangalore on the NH-4 highway and 40 km from Chitradurga. For the construction of this dam royals of mysore had to pledge royal jewellery due to shortage of money,that is why it was named as "vanivilasa sagara".vanivilasa was the name of youngest daughter of the then maharaja of mysore.mari kanive is the oldest and biggest man made reservoir in asia.This dam is higher than KRS dam of Mysore.

History

The dam was constructed by a team led by an Engineer called 'Tara Chand Dalal' at the order of his Highness the Maharaja of Mysore Sri Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV.

Tourism

The dam has been a tourist attraction for many years, but has been apparently neglected as a prime tourist destination. Recently, though, the development work undertaken by the forest department to restore the nearby forest cover, and the 'panchavati' gardens - a garden of medicinal plants with the old Indian cultural theme has improved the tourist figures, making it a popular weekend picnic spot. The 'panchavati' garden has medicinal plants lined up representing cultural themes - the 'Rashis', 'Sapta swaras', 'Nava grahas' and many more. The tourists who visit Chitradurga and Hosdurga often visit Mari kanive on the way. The historic maarikaamba temple here also attracts many tourists. The place is around 20 km drive from Hiriyur on a deviation from NH4 (Bangalore - Mumbai National Highway).