Mahavilachchiya Wewa Reservoir of Anuradhapura Kingdom(මහවිලච්චිය වැව)

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Mahavilachchiya Tank — Mahavilachchiya Wewa
photo courtesy of Dr. Ashan Geeganage

Constructed by Prince Saliya, son of King Dutugemunu (161-131 BC) in 140 BC, Mahavilachchiya Wewa lies on the northeast border of Wilpattu National Park. This irrigation reservoir has been built by damming the Thalawa Oya which is a tributary of Modaragam Oya. Historical records state that King Dhatusena (459-477) had extended the Jayaganga Canal to feed Mahavilachchiya Wewa with the excess water from Kalawewa in addition to the water flowing on the Thalawa Oya. Identified in ancient texts as “Mayetti Wapi” , King Udaya (797-801) is recorded to have expanded this reservoir further.

Based on a plaque installed during a renovation in 1955, this irrigation reservoir has a capacity of 32,500 acre feet (40 Mn cubic meters) of water and covers approximately 10.5 km2 of land when full. Based on the same plaque, the reservoir supports over 2500 acres of paddy land. The water is supplied to the farmland on over 2 canals on the left and the right banks. The left bank canal is 5km long and the right bank canal is 13.5 km long. The ancient embankment is almost 2.5 km long and both slice gates are about 3.5 feet wide.

The Mahavilachchiya Wewa lies about 1 kilometre away from the Vilachchiya Town.

References

Soysa. (2015). ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඉපැරිණි වැව් සහ වාරි කර්මාන්ත (1st ed.) [Print].

Also See

Map of the Mahavilachchiya Wewa

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

Show Location (ගූගල් සිතියම)

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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Travelling to Mahavilachchiya Wewa

Route from Colombo to Mahavilachchiya Wewa

Through : Puttlam
Distance : 222 km
Travel time : 5-6 hours
Driving directions : see on google map

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References

Also See

Map of the Mahavilachchiya Wewa

Travelling to Mahavilachchiya Wewa

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