water when one touches it'.

The river is mentioned in Sanskrit as 'Kritamala'. Satyavrata, a Pandya king, was a staunch devotee of Vishnu. Vishnu emerged from the 'Kritimala' river as a fish (Matsya avatar, one of the avatars of Vishnu) to teach the Vedas to the ruler. The Pandyas later adopted the fish as the ensign of their kingdom. In the Sanskrit texts, the river is also mentioned