Liyangastota Amuna of Walawe Ganga Scheme (ලියන්ගස්තොට අමුණ)

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Liyangastota Amuna of Walawe Ganga Scheme

Liyangastota Amuna (which was called Liyangahatota Amuna during British times) is an anicut built by the British across the Walawe Ganga River lying close to the Barawakumbuka Interchange, which leads to Nonangama on the Southern Expressway. The amuna was built in 1889 by the British to feed water to Ridiyagama and Kadawara reservoirs through the left bank channel and Mamadola and Oluvila reservoirs through the right bank channel.².

There is no evidence of an ancient amuna at this site, but a few kilometers downstream, near Ramba Rajamaha Viharaya, lies a ridge of rocks (dolomite) extending almost across the riverbed. This ridge is known as Sudu-Gal-Palla or Sudu-Gal-Bemma. The latter name suggests that an ancient anicut once existed at this location.

Near this ridge of limestone rocks, there were remains of an old Yoda-ela on the right bank of the river, constructed within a deep cut and noted for its excellent state of preservation, although it is now entirely covered by jungle. Another canal from this point, aligned more or less at right angles to the river’s course on the same bank, is traditionally believed to have led directly to Etbatuwa Tank and thereby into the Kachigal-ara valley. Tradition also holds that a canal branched off from Sudu-Gal-Bemma and extended into the Magam Pattu on the eastern bank¹.

The right-bank canal scheme of the Liyangastota Amuna was completed in 1889, while the left-bank canal scheme was completed by the British in 1928¹. The amuna measures 24 meters in length and has a maximum height of 5.5 meters³.

References

Brohier, R. (1980). Ancient irrigation works in Ceylon (1934). Colombo: Ministry of Mahaweli Development.
Silva, E.I.L., Manthrithilake, H. and Etige, M. (2014) ‘Environmental Flow in Sri Lanka: Ancient Anicuts Versus Modern Dams’, Sri Lanka Journal of Aquatic Sciences, 19, pp. 3–14.
Arumugam, S. (1969) Water Resources of Ceylon: Its Utilisation and Development. Colombo: Water Resources Board, Sri Lanka.

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From Colombo to Liyangastota Amuna

Via : Southern Expressway
Distance : 227 km
Travel time : 3 hours
Time to spent : ½ hour
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References

Also See

Map of Liyangastota Amuna

Traveling Directions of Liyangastota Amuna

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