♦ River Cauvery emanates at Thalacauvery in the Kodagu hills of Karnataka and traverses over 700km before entering the Bay of Bengal in Tamil Nadu

♦ The river waters have not only irrigated the fields of both states but also nurtured their culture as temples, mutts and learning centres have been built on its banks. More than 50 temples — big and small — dot the river’s journey through Tamil Nadu. No other river in Tamil Nadu is so venerated as the Cauvery

♦ Thiruvarur, where the famous Carnatic musical composers of Saint Thiagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshithar and Sama Sastry, were born, is on the Cauvery banks

♦ The two regions have been fighting for their share of water since the days of the Chola kings and then through British rule

♦ According to the final award of the Cauvery water disputes tribunal, an annual allocation of 192 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of water has to be released to Tamil Nadu by Karnataka in a normal year