Veerangal Odai
A LIFELINE THROUGH TIME
Veerangal Odai: A Lifeline Through Time narrates the ecological and cultural history of the Pallikaranai watershed through the journey of Veerangal Odai, a stream that once served as the lifeline of these thousand-year-old settlements and shaped the interconnected network of eris and wetlands that sustained agrarian life across the region. The canal nurtured agricultural landscapes, wetlands, biodiversity, and human settlements, giving rise to a thriving socio-ecological system rooted in water and land. By juxtaposing the landscapes of 1965 and 2025, the artwork reveals the profound transformations brought about by rapid urbanisation. The flowing blue line acts as a visual and narrative thread, connecting memories of a landscape shaped by water to its present condition, where the once vibrant Veerangal Odai has been reduced to an encroached and constricted drainage channel buried beneath roads, buildings, and waste. The artwork reflects on the costs of development and calls attention to the urgent need to reclaim and restore the waterscapes that once defined the identity and resilience of the region.
