Kulams: Traditional Water System of Southern Tamil Nadu
Climate change is increasingly being acknowledged as a threat to towns and cities across India. As India reaches the milestone of 75 years of independence, it is inundated with developmental pressures accelerated by climate change. As the nation gears up for the future, it is necessary that we look back at our traditional knowledge systems to provide guidance. At the intersection of climate change and heritage management, the traditional knowledge systems of water heritage have a critical role to play in building climate resilience through a culture-nature perspective. This perspective aims to build confidence in local communities and water managers, by learning from past responses to changing climatic conditions that can aid in the conservation and adaptive strategies. The focus of this story is on the traditional kulam water network system along the Thamirabarani River in southern Tamil Nadu.
Thamirabarani River
What is a Kulam?
A kulam is a human-made water body that is linked by dams and canals to serve villages, towns, and cities in Southern Tamil Nadu. Developed over several centuries, there are many towns and villages that have names eponymous to the kulam. For example, Perunkulam (Perungulam), Sathankulam, and Karunkulam, among others are named after the town or village kulam. In Tamil Nadu, this type of water structure is known by different names, in Northern Tamil Nadu it is known as an Eri and as a Tank by the Public Works Department that maintains kulams.
Architecture of the kulam links the built and the unbuilt through stone stepped ghats that are located at regular intervals.
Emergence of the Thamirabarani Kulam traditional water network
Floods are a recurrent phenomenon in India but so are droughts, not only in different regions but also frequently in the same region (Das, Gupta, and Varma 2021). Tamil Nadu is one such region, especially the southern part of the state along the Thamirabarani River which has undergone several natural disasters in the past. As a climate-adaptive mechanism, kulam water structures were built along the north and south banks of the Thamirabarani River. The Pandya rulers (4th BCE – 14th CE) are credited for the creation of the extensive kulam water network that is in use even today.
Resilient communities and flood techniques evolved in the Thamirabarani region to tackle the recurring floods and droughts.
Geographical context
Located in Southern Tamil Nadu, the Thamirabarani River is a historically significant river which is mentioned in the Mahabharata (an epic in Indian literature) as well as referred to by Ptolemy as Solen in Greek literature (Caldwell, 1881). Starting from the Pothigai hills, many archaeological sites such as Sivagalai and Korkai and Dravidian temples are found along the course of the Thamirabarani River which also houses the traditional Thamirabarani kulam water network system.
Sacredness of the Thamirabarani river is evidenced by the numerous temples built along its course.
Cascading Heritage
The Thamirabarani kulam water network system was built utilising the natural geography of the course of the river that gradually slopes from the Western Ghats to the Gulf of Mannar in the east. The natural gradient allowed for a cascading water system that supplies water to the districts of Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi. The river flows through the rain shadow of the Western Ghats, which misses the dependable rainfall of the southwest monsoon. However, it receives more rainwater in short spells from the northeast monsoon, which is less dependable and often accompanied by storms and cyclones (Tirumalai 2003: 200). In such variable climatic conditions, the kulam water system allows for annual water storage which serves as a dependable source of water.
Flow of the Thamirabarani river from the Western Ghats to the Gulf of Mannar
Heritage and Community Use
The tangible heritage of a kulam is seen through the physical elements of the ghats (steps), anicuts (dams), stone madais (sluices), canals, and channels. The kulams are used by communities for irrigation, bathing, washing livestock, as well as serving as a home for aquatic life and various native and migratory birds. The water is stored in the kulam for almost a year which helps community life. For instance, in Perunkulam, 70 percent of the population is dependent on agriculture for subsistence, producing paddy and commercial crops such as cotton, plantain, and groundnut which are dependent on the traditional kulams (ATREE 2021) The intangible heritage of a kulam thrives on the living tradition of folklores, temple rituals along the ghats, and their daily use.
Culture - Nature memoir of a kulam
Equity and Water Conservation
The kulam is part of a larger network system that ensures equal distribution of water. The design of the water network helps in its maintenance efforts, since the chain of kulams has smaller kulams at the head/top and the largest one at the end of the chain. Each kulam is filled before the next lower one gets its supply. By doing this, it utilizes almost all the flood and flash flows from the rain and rivers to their full potential. Dams were built at a higher elevation than the river course and long canals connected them. The surplus from the higher source provided water for the lower kulam to the maximum, where a large kulam conserved as much water as was possible.
Expansive network of traditional water system along the Thamirabarani river
Wetland Conservation
The kulams receive water from the river as well as from the southwest and northeast monsoon allowing them to maintain three levels of water throughout the year, establishing it as a wetland. In the larger context of Tamil Nadu, the kulams or tanks play a vital role in irrigation as well as maintaining the local ecosystem where 26 percent of wetlands are tanks or ponds (Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority n.d.). The concept of wetlands is indigenous to the Thamirabarani region. Since the Pandya period, the land in every town or village has been categorised under Nirarambam (wetlands), Kadarambam (drylands), Thottam (garden lands), and Kadu (forests), among others. To this day, property lands are classified as Nanjai (wetlands) and Punjai (drylands) (Mohanakrishnan 2001). To an extent, this continuity of the traditional knowledge system has aided in the preservation of these wetlands, however, there is a need for more recognition and conservation efforts for long term sustainability.
Indigenous concept of wetland conservation
Disappearing Heritage
The kulams in the Thamirabarani region are in use even today, however, many built heritage elements of the water body are slowly disappearing due to lack of protection and conservation. For instance, Neerazhikkal (stone sluice) that indicated flood levels, have been replaced by metal sluices with no restoration efforts for the older heritage elements.
Neerazhikkal (stone sluice) that are slowly vanishing from kulams
Future of our pasts
Even though the Thamirabarani kulam water system site bears testimony for both cultural and natural heritage, the awareness and conservation efforts need to be strengthened to match a heritage site of such significance. Several conservation issues are observed including damaged stone ghats (steps), incongruous concrete paving in the ghats, presence of high tension overhead electric wires, and garbage accumulation among others.
As a first step, recognition and protection is necessary for the Thamirabarani kulam water network system as a cultural landscape which has the potential to serve as an opportunity for climate heritage research, education, and outreach for water managers, heritage professionals, climate scientists, policy makers and planners among others to understand past knowledge of climate impacts and solutions and develop strategies that integrate the culture-nature perspective. In this way, traditional knowledge can help to adapt to evolving environmental change and heritage sites can assist as a repository for fostering resilience to climate change.
Recognition and protection as Water Heritage sites
Bibliography (1/2)
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment [ATREE]. (2021). Wetland Management Plan. Tirunelveli, India: ATREE, Agasthyamalai Community Conservation Centre.
Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority [TNSWA]. (n.d.). “Wetlands”. Accessed 30 January 2022, Link
From the earliest period to its cession to the English Government in A.D.1801. Madras, India: E. Keys, the Government Press.
Das, S.K; Gupta, Ramesh Kumar; and Varma, Harish Kumar. (2007). “Flood and drought management through water resources development in India”. World Meteorological Organisation Bulletin 56(3): 179-188. Accessed 30 January 2022, link
Bibliography (2/2)
Mohanakrishnan, Angadu. (2001). History of Irrigation development in Tamil Nadu. New Delhi, India: Indian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India.
Caldwell, Robert (1881). A Political and General History of the District of Tinnevelly, in the Presidency of Madras
Das, S.K; Gupta, Ramesh Kumar; and Varma, Harish Kumar. (2007). “Flood and drought management through water resources development in India”. World Meteorological Organisation Bulletin 56(3): 179-188. Accessed 30 January 2022, link
Tirumalai, S. (2003). The Pandyan Townships Part – II, The Pandyan Townships, their Organisation and Functioning. Chennai, India: Department of Archaeology, Government of India
About Saranya Dharshini
Saranya is a Conservation Architect and water heritage advocate. For over a decade, Saranya has dedicated her research efforts and professional career to cultural heritage centred on the nexus of historic architecture, water heritage, and gender studies. Her professional experience includes conservation of medieval forts, Dravidian temples to ecclesiastical buildings anchored in community development and the culture-nature approach.
As part of WSF 2021, Saranya seeks to study the cultural landscape of the Thamirabarani region which is reliant and anchored on its association to the Kulam, one of the oldest traditional water systems in Tamil Nadu. (2022)
