| Home > Ancient Reservoirs |
|
|
|
Ancient Reservoirs of Sri Lanka
Minneriya Tank |
Irrigation systems of ancient Sri Lanka consist of a large number of
village tanks, gigantic reservoirs and a intrinsic network of water
cannals connecting these tanks while supplying water to farming land.
There about 30,000 tanks in Sri Lanka of which the majority was built
form 3rd century BC to 12th century. This compared to the Sri Lankan
dry zone land area of about 40,000 sq. kilometres (where almost all the
tanks are located), is almost equivalent to one reservoir for each sq.
kilometre.
The first large tank to be built in recorded history is Abaya
Wewa in 3rd
century BC. From that day onwards Sri Lankan tank builders developed
a remarkable expertise on controlling large bodies of water which allowed
them to built massive reservoirs which no other civilisation ever could
have dreamt of.
The breakthrough which made the Sri Lankan Irrigation Engineers build such
massive tanks was invention of the "Biso Kotuwa" of valve pit as early
as 3rd century BC which could easily regulate the out flow extremely
large water bodies. Europeans stared using the valve pits in their resoviors
only in the mid 18th centuary, 2100 years later according to H. Parker,
an Irrigation Engineer who was in charge of restoring many ancient iIrrigation
tanks in late 1800's, in his book 'Ancient Ceylon'
He goes on to say,
........At first, only the simplest works of the smaller class, with
very low embankments, would be undertaken; but when a better knowledge
of the art of raising such banks of earth to hold back greater depths
of water was acquired, schemes of a more comprehensive character
would be attempted, until at last no reservoir was looked upon as
too great to be constructed, and the lengths of the embankments extended
for any distance up to a maximum of nine miles, while their heights
in a few instances rose to more than fifty feet..............
......... It may appear to be such a simple matter to raise a long bank
of earth in order to hold back a certain quantity of rain water for
bathing purposes or for watering an adjoining rice field after the
rains have ceased, that any people living in hot countries where the
rains are only seasonal and are followed by several almost rainless
months might be expected to be struck by the idea of making these little
reservoirs for themselves, without its transmission from another
country ; but as a matter of fact the notion of reservoir-making appears
to have been originated in only one country, and never to have been
invented independently elsewhere, at any rate in the Old World. ............
Another development of the ancient irrigation systems is the remarkable
instrumentation precision. When king Dathusena (459-477 AD) built Yodha
Ela, also known as Jayaganga, the ancient irrigation engineers first
found out that the Kala Wewa in Pollonaruwa was built on a slightly
elevated ground compared to Tissa Wewa in
Anuradhapura. Then he built the 54 mile ( 87 Km ) Yoda Ela with a gradient
of 6-12 inches per mile ( appox 10 to 20 cm per kilometre) to carry excess
water in the Kala Wewa to Tissa Weva. How these engineers could achieve
such precision still baffles experts today.
Articles
Ancient Reservoirs in Sri Lanka
- Badagiriya
Wewa - Pallemalala
- Basawak Kulama ( Abaya ) Tank
- Bathalagoda Tank -
- Debera Wewa - Tissamaharamaya
- Girithale Tank
- Mahagala Wewa - Hambantota
- Minneriya Tank
-
Nachchaduwa Reservoir
- Anuradhapura
- Nuwara Wewa - Anuradhapura
- Panda Wewa - Panduwasnuwara
- Parakrama Samudraya (
Ocean of Parakrama) - Pollonnaruwa
- Siyambalagamuwa Reservoir
- Sorabora Weva - Mahiyangana
-
Thuruwila Irregation Tank
- Anuradhapura
-
Tissa Wewa
- Anuradhapura
- Tissa Wewa - Tissamaharamaya
- Vavunikulama Reservoir -
Vavunia
- Weerawila Wewa - Wellawaya
-
Yoda Wewa
- Mannar District
- Yodha Wewa - Tissamaharamaya
| Home > Ancient Reservoirs |
|
|
|
|
