Bangalore, April 24 (IANS) Like his birthplace Puttaparthi in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Mandya, 80 km from here, was a faceless place till eminent engineer-statesman Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya conceived building a dam across River Kaveri.

 
 The Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) dam, where the famous Brindavan Gardens is also located, turned Mandya into a land of sugar and rice, thanks to assured irrigation from the Visvesvaraya canal.
 
 Many of the millions of followers of Sathya Sai Baba, who passed away Sunday morning at Puttaparthi, believe he will be reborn as "Prema Sai" in Mandya.
 
 The KRS reservoir and the Brindavan Gardens, a must see for tourists Mysore, the city of palaces, are geographically in Mandya district.  Generally it is believed they are in Mysore because of the proximity, about 18 km from the Amba Vilas palace.
 
 Sir. M.V, as Visvesvaraya was popularly known, thought of the dam across Kaveri when he was the chief engineer of the state.
 
 It was completed in 1931.  Visvesvaraya was then the dewan of Mysore Kingdom.
 
 Besides becoming the land of sugar and rice and housing KRS reservoir, Brindavan Gardens, Mandya boasts of having Asia's first hydro-electric project set up at Shivasamudram in 1905.
 
 Shivanasumudram is a popular tourist attraction as Cauvery cascades down 75 metres in two picturesque waterfalls called 'Gagana Chukki and Bara Chukki' falls.
 
 Srirangapatna, from where Tippu Sultan ruled Mysore, is also in Mandya.
 
 There is a famous temple at Melukote and for birdlovers, Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary is the place to visit.