PECHIPPARA DAM

[padmanabha]

Fourteen miles from Marthandam on the Thiruvananthapuram Kanyakumari highway along a typical countryside would take you to Pechipara one of the beautiful places of tourist attraction. The road cuts through several popular places like Thiruvattar, Thirunandikara, Thruparappu and Perinchani.

The mighty dam, a marvel of engineering skill, built across the Kodayar at Pechipara sustains a great irrigation scheme. The extensive reservoir at Pechipara which is in the heart of a region of forests is surrounded by forest clad hills with gentle slopes. This reservoir had made the arid land into a fertile region and was known for the Granary.
The construction of the dam commenced in 1896 and was completed in 1906. The material used is concrete in surkhi mortar with skin walls of rubble masonry. The dam is 1396 ft long and the total height is 306 ft.

It is interesting to note that the engineers who designed this dam followed it as an extension with suitable modification of the works wisely executed by old time engineers. The old Pandyan dam and the Pandyan kal were constructed in 900AD. I t is an eloquent testimony to the skill of the laborers on the Pandya rulers. Nagerkoil and the adjoining areas owe its fertility to the old Pandyan dam built across the Paralayar. The Pandyan channel cut across through solid rock for two miles is a marvelous work.

About 250 years ago Marthanda Varma took the initiative to build Puthen dam across the Paralayar. The irrigation started at the Puthen dam. The combined waters of the kodayar and paralayar were distributed through the Puthen channel and Pandyan kal. Theses channel have a number of subsidiary channels, with a siphon five feet in diameter, several bridges, an aqueduct and two tunnels.

The pechipara reservoir is a magnificent stretch of water. Terraced hills rise from its shores. All around the vast reservoir of rain water is the virgin forest land the home of many wild animals. The cruise over the placid waters is a thrilling experience.