Mekedatu

Mekedatu
Mekedatu,
Location	Mekedatu, Ramanagara District Karnataka, India
Coordinates	12°15′29″N 77°26′55″E / 12.25818°N 77.44866°E / 12.25818; 77.44866
Watercourse	Cauvery River

Mekedatu is a location along Kaveri in the border of Chamarajanagar and Ramanagara Districts.^[1] From this point, about 3.5 kilometers downstream, the river Kaveri flows through a deep and narrow gorge. Mekedatu means 'goat's leap' in Kannada. The name comes from an event which is believed to have been witnessed by herdsmen in that area a long time ago. It is said that a goat being chased by a tiger made a desperate attempt to save its life by leaping from one side of the gorge and managed to cross over the raging river below, whereas the tiger did not attempt to replicate this feat, and abandoned the chase. The point where the goat leapt has widened since then from erosion caused by the river Cauvery. It is about 110 km from Bengaluru via Kanakapura.^[2] There is also some mythological significance to this place (both Sangama and Mekedatu). In one version, the goat (meke) that is believed to have leapt across the Kaveri was Shiva in disguise. On both rocky precipices of the gorge, one can find strange holes, whose shapes resemble goats' hooves, though several times larger. It is believed that only divine goats could have marked their 'footprints' in such hard rocks.

At Mekedaatu, the Kaveri runs through a deep, narrow ravine of hard granite rock. The river, which is more than 150 meters wide at the confluence (at Sangama) flows through the hardly 10-meter-wide gorge at Mekedatu.^[3] It is said that a goat could leap over it, giving the falls the name Goat's Leap.^[4] Upstream on the Kaveri is the well known Shivanasamudra Falls with its hydro-electric power station, which was set up in 1902.