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The Kaveri is a sacred river like the Ganga. Hence, it is called the Ganga of South India. It rises from the southern part of Mysore Plateau as a rocky mountain stream forming rapids, cataracts and waterfalls. Its drainage basin receives rainfall during the summer monsoon as well as during the retreating and winter monsoon. Only 20 km above Mysore, it has been dammed to form the Krishnasagar Reservoir. It passes through the islands of Srinagapatnam and Sivasamudram. The channel around the Sivasamudram makes a succession of rapids which were harnessed to develop hy del-power in 1902. Below the island, Kaveri River plunges through a succession of beautiful gorges with hair pin bends. This scenic landscape, known as the Hagenakal Fall, may be taken as the end of the plateau course of the river. There is however, another narrow gorge in the Nilgiri Hills to the east of Dodabetta Peak (2636 m) which is drained by the Bhavani and its tributary, the Moyar, which provides the site for the Mettur Dam. Draining the Coimbatore basin, the Kaveri enters the plains after its confluence with the Bhavani. A few kilometers above Tiruchirappalli, the river fans out forming a quadrant-delta in Thajavur District of Tamil Nadu.