Iratperiyakulama Reservoir | AmazingLanka.com

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Iratperiyakulama (Iratperiyakulam), is a small settlement along the A9 highway between Kandy and Jaffna, situated 19 kilometers past Medawachchiya and 6 kilometers before reaching Vavuniya town. It is believed that the village’s original name was Maharathkulama, which gradually evolved into its present form through Tamilization. Within this modest town lie two historically significant features: the Shailabimbarama Purana Viharaya and the Iratperiyakulama Reservoir, the latter located about 0.5 kilometers (0.31 mi) from the main road.

The ancient reservoir at Iratperiyakulama is among the largest in the Vavuniya District and has long attracted the attention of British archaeologists and irrigation experts, including Henry Parker, H. C. P. Bell and J. P. Lewis, during the period of British administration in Sri Lanka.

In 1895 Lewis noted about the Vanni District ;

The principal archaeological remains are to be seen in the ancient Sinhalese tanks, most of which have been described in detail in Mr Parker’s reports. These remains consist of massive embarkments, such as Thannimurippu where the bund is about 2¾ miles long; at Pavatkulam it is 2 miles long; at Mamadu 1¼ miles long; Iratperiyakulam and Kanukkeni 1 mile; and many of smaller dimensions.
Remains of ancient stone slices (Bisokotuwa) or Valve-Pits built with long slabs of stones of considerable breadth and small thickness, laid on edge and fitted together with great care.” Behind the stonework is a backing of brickwork. There are five of these sluices with bisokotuwas still to be seen at Pavatkulam, and Mr. Parker says, “so far as I am aware this is the only tank in the Island with more than four.”.

With regard to one of the sluices at Iratperiyakulama, which is still in use, Mr. Parker remarks:

We have here a sluice which has continued in working order for 1,770 years or more. It is probably the oldest identified sluice in working order in the island if this tank is the Alawichcha Lake (Brohier,1980).

According to Parker, an inscription by King Gajabahu I (112–134 CE) was found on the reservoir’s bank where the embankment met the northern side of a large rock. This inscription documented a grant made to the priesthood residing at the Tihadaya Viharaya, which was located on the shore of Alawichcha Wewa. Brohier (1980) asserts that Alawichcha Wewa is the ancient name of the reservoir, thereby proving that the reservoir’s construction predates 112 CE. It appears there is conflicting information regarding the fate of the inscription at Iratperiyakulama Wewa, making it understandable that Ven. Medhānanda was unable to locate it during his four reported visits in 1969, 1976, 1981, and 1987.

The different accounts of the inscription’s disappearance are

Lewis (1895): Lewis stated that the rock containing the inscription was completely destroyed during the construction of a road in the area.

Parker (1909): Parker believed the inscription was intentionally covered up by the embankment when the reservoir was restored. He predicted it would be invisible when future surveys attempted to copy the province’s inscriptions.

The Iratperiyakulama Reservoir underwent reconstruction between 1886 and 1887 at a total expenditure of LKR 18,500. According to Lewis (1895), after its restoration, the reservoir covered an area of 2.1 square kilometers (535 acres) and was designed to hold 4.6 meters (15 feet) of water. It was equipped with two iron sluices and was capable of irrigating approximately 1,200 acres of farmland. Today, the reservoir’s gross capacity is 14.4 million cubic meters, and it currently provides support to 400 farming families.

Buddhist Ruins

A Buddhist monastery was situated at Iratperiyakulam, located roadside, approximately 402 meters (a quarter of a mile) from the reservoir’s bund. The ruins discovered in the late 1800’s included a pohoya-geya (chapter house) featuring a large sedent stone image of the Buddha, the typical two rows of pillars, and a flight of steps. However, Mr. Parker was hesitant to identify these specific ruins as those of the “Tihadiya Viharaya.” He suggested that the latter was likely situated on the high rock Iratperiyakulam Kanda, where some remnants were uncovered during the construction of the trigonometrical tower (Lewis, 1895).

Following Parker’s earlier attempts, Ven. Ellāvala Medhānanda Thero appears to be the only person who subsequently searched for these ruins. He described an elevated area near the reservoir, identified by rock cliffs. Bricks dating back to early periods are scattered across the rock surface, within the rock caves, and below the cliffs. Medhānanda Thero suggested that this rock may mark the location where the Tihadaya Vihara stupa once stood. Traces of other ancient ruined structures extend along a stretch leading up to the modern Shailabimbarama Viharaya, which is situated to the west of the road that runs parallel to the reservoir’s bund.

A granite Buddha statue was discovered broken into pieces when new settlements were established around the Shailabimbarama temple. This statue has since been reconstructed and is now housed within the temple premises.

The current vihara complex features a Dhammasala (preaching hall), an Image House, and a Bodhi Tree estimated to be about 150 years old. To the north of the vihara, the remains of a stupa are visible. This ruined stupa has a circumference of 12.2 meters (40 feet) and currently stands at a height of about 2.7 meters (9 feet). The Yupa Sthamba (center pillar of the stupa) can be seen jutting out from the debris of the stupa.

Among the other artifacts found surrounding it are two broken pieces of a flower altar, a stone seat, and several pillars. According to Ven. Ellāvala Medhānanda Thero, a footprint stone etched with lines lies beside the Yupa Sthamba. According to the Thero, it is fortunate that the stupa was spared from the hands of vandals, having only suffered from natural decay.

As previously observed, the Tihadaya Arama monastery once stretched over a long distance, extending from the reservoir up to the viharaya’s current location. The modern Vavuniya–Kandy road now runs between the reservoir and the viharaya. The fact that such a large reservoir was donated to this monastery, as confirmed by the inscription, strongly indicates that a substantial number of Bhikkhus (monks) resided here.

The ancient chaitya (stupa) and the associated ruins situated in Irattaiperiyakulama Village, located in Grama Niladhari Division No. S. 212-A, within the Vavuniya South Divisional Secretary’s Division, Vavuniya District, Northern Province, were officially declared a protected archaeological site on 6th June 2008.

The Old Sinhala School

A government Sinhalese school was established in Iratperiyakulama in 1892, making it the first such school ever opened in a Vanni Sinhalese village (Lewis, 1895). Ven. Medhānanda Thero notes that this school is now known as Parakum Maha Vidyalaya, which is currently over 125 years old.

References

Abeywardana, M.Y. (2008) “The Antiquities Ordinance (Chapter 188) ,” The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, 1553, p. 530.
Bell, H., (1909). Archaeological Survey of Ceylon – North Central, Central, and Northern Provinces Annual Report 1905. Colombo: Archaeological Department of Ceylon, p.24-25.
Brohier, R. L. (1935). Ancient Irrigation Works in Ceylon : Northern and Northwestern Sections of the Island: Part II. Government Publications Bureau (Ceylon).
Ceylon Administration Report for the year 1891 (1892). Colombo , Ceylon: George J. A. Skeen.
Medhananda Thero, E. (2005). The Sinhala Buddhist heritage in the East and the North of Shri [i.e. Sri] Lanka (1st ed.). Dayawansa Jayakody & Co.
Lewis, J. P. (1895). Manual of the Vanni Districts: Vavun̤iya and Mullaittivu of the Northern Province, Ceylon (1st ed.). H.C. Cottle.
Lewis, J. P. (1895). Archaeology of Wanni. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, XIII (1893-1894), 151–178.
Paranavitana, S. (1983). Inscriptions of Ceylon : Volume II Part I Containing Rock and Other Inscriptions From the Reign of Kutakanna Abhaya (41 B.C. 19 BC-19 B.C.) to Bhatiya II (140-164, A . D .): Vol. II-Part I. Department of Archaeology, Sri Lanka.
Parker, H. (1909). Ancient Ceylon: An Account of the Aborigines and of Part of the Early Civilisation (1st ed.). Luzac & Co.

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