Engineering legend Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was honoured by Google on his 157th birthday with its 'Doodle' as India celebrates Engineers' Day on Saturday (September 15) as a tribute to the Bharat Ratna.

The Google Doodle comes days after Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu spoke about the civil engineer and said that history lessons should focus on "historical figures and social reformers" like him, and not British rulers who "looted" the nation and "our mind".

The vice president also spoke about search engine Google and said that despite technology making rapid inroads into the education sector, it cannot replace 'gurus' or teachers. He said that children, who often find solutions to their queries on Google, should also apply their mind as "Google can never replace guru".

The dams we see today across India is due to the prolific engineer, M Visvesvaraya, who is known world over for his contribution to harnessing water resources. He is also credited with inventing the Block System — automated doors that close in the conditions of overflow.

India's 'dam builder' was born on September 15, 1861, in Muddenahalli near Chikkaballapur and went on to become India's most greatest civil engineer, economist, statesman, and is counted among the last century's foremost nation-builders.

PM Modi had also remembered M Visvesvaraya in his recent 'Mann ki Baat', saying, "lakhs of farmers and common people continue to benefit from the Krishna Raja Sagara Dam built by him".