Dams in ancient India
Water is recognized as an important resource without which life in earth cannot exist. According to ancient Indian texts, water is one among the basic five elements called ‘Pancabhutas’ with which the universe, the cosmic world comprises of; earth, light/heat, air and ether/space being the other four elements. Ancient people depended more on agriculture and they realized that water is an essential resource for their existence and subsequently they developed water harvesting methods in myriad forms for storing monsoon water for the dry months. They used the then available empirical knowledge and techniques for construction of water works.