Vaigai River

Vaigai River (வைகை ஆறு)
River
Country	India
Source	Varusanadu Hills
- location	Tamil Nadu, India
Mouth
- location	Palk Strait, India
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Length	258 km (160 mi)
Discharge
- average	36 m3/s (1,271 cu ft/s)
Discharge elsewhere (average)
- Peranai	28.8 m3/s (1,017 cu ft/s)
Map of Vaigai river

The Vaigai (Tamil:வைகை) is a river in Madurai, Tamil Nadu state of southern India. It originates in Varusanadu hills, the Periyar Plateau of the Western Ghats range, and flows northeast through the Kambam Valley, which lies between the Palni Hills to the north and the Varushanad Hills to the south. The Vattaparai Falls are located on this river. As it rounds the eastern corner of the Varushanad Hills, the river turns southeast, running through the region of Pandya Nadu. Madurai, the largest city in the Pandya Nadu region and its ancient capital, lies on the Vaigai. The river empties into the Palk Strait in Ramanathapuram District.

The Vaigai is 258 kilometres (160 mi) long, with a drainage basin 7,031 square kilometres (2,715 sq mi) large.

Sangam literature (circa 300 B.C) has paid many tributes to Vaigai, extolling it as 'the river that brings water when one touches it', viz the etymology Vai (place your) + gai (hands) = place one's hands. The following story is told about the birth of the river Vaigai etc. Meenakshi, the daughter of a Pandyan king, was an incarnation of Parvati. From a very young age, she made up her mind to marry Lord Shiva and none else. Her family was initially against this but eventually consented to her wish and arranged the wedding. Sundareswara (Siva), being an ascetic, came to the wedding without any family or relatives accompanying him. Disappointed at this, the Pandyan king angrily showed Siva the huge amount of food prepared for the bridegroom's relatives. Siva pointed to a friend he had brought with him saying 'He will consume all the food that you've made'. This friend was a Rakshasa named Kundodhara. After Kundodhara finished all the food that was prepared, He became very thirsty and started asking for water. All the wells and canals in Madurai were not sufficient to quench his thirst. Then, Siva asked Kundodhara to put his hand out and opened a small part of his hair lock and Ganga began to flow into his hand. After quenching his thirst, The rest of the waters began flowing in Madurai as the Vaigai river. Vaigai means 'put your hand out' in Tamil.