Erupothana Wewa at Mahakachchakodiya (එරුපොතාන වැව)

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The sluice gate of Erupothana Reservoir created using a natural rock formation.
Photo by Jagath Abesekara licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

Erupothana is a historically important location in the Sri Lankan annals being the birthplace of Nandimithra, one of the ten giant warriors of King Dutugemunu (161-131 BC). After the war with Elara, king Dutugemunu made Nandimithra a regional ruler and allocated this area to him.

Lying off Vavuniya, Erupothana and its surrounding area was inaccessible to the public for almost 30 years due to the LTTE terrorist’s activities. But the area still shows signs of this being a thriving community with Buddhist monastic ruins scattered all over the region.

This area consists of a few still functioning ancient irrigation reservoirs. Erupothana Reservoir is one such reservoir lying along the Mamaduwa – Mahakachchakodiya road. Covering an area of about 1.2 square kilometres with an approximately 1 km long bund. The obscure reservoir hides a unique feature unknown by many.

Bisokotuwa, the heart of large reservoirs in the country was the groundbreaking invention which enabled the ancients of Sri Lanka to build massive reservoirs since the 4th century BCE.

Generally, all the reservoirs have sluice gates which regulate the water flow out of the reservoir on the massive embankments.

But like the well-known sluice gate of Sorabora Wewa at Mahiyanganaya, the Erupothana Wewa also utilises a natural rock channel to control the water out of the reservoir instead of a manmade sluice gate. This sluice can be seen at the far end of the Erupothana Dam when travelling from the Mahakachchakodiya side.

Also See

Map of the Erupothana Wewa at Mahakachchakodiya

Please click on the button below to load the Dynamic Google Map (ගූගල් සිතියම් පහලින්)

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The map above also shows other places of interest within a approximately 20 km radius of the current site. Click on any of the markers and the info box to take you to information of these sites

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Traveling to Erupothana

Route from Vavuniaya to Erupothana Wewa at Mahakachchakodiya

Through : Mahakachchakodiya
Distance : 15.5 km
Travel time : 30 minutes
Driving directions : see on google map

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Also See

Map of the Erupothana Wewa at Mahakachchakodiya

Traveling to Erupothana

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