Ancient Mamaduwa Wewa – වව්නියාවේ මාමඩුව වැව

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Surrounded by Sinhalease villages such as Mahakachchakodiya, Etambagaskada and Agbopura and Tamil villages such as Vimangalla,  Mamaduwa is a small Sinhalease village located in north-east of Vavuniya in an area scattered with Buddhist Ruins. According the folklore prince Dutugemunu has gone across this area to Erupothana, the home town of one of his generals, Nandimithra after destroying the army of Elara. Hearing the arrival of the victorious prince, the villagers have built a massive shed (Maduwa) to celebrate the overthrowing of Elara by the prince. Thus this area where the “Maha Maduwa” was was built evolved in the “Mamaduwa” with time.

With the shifting of the capital to Polonnaruwa and and then further to south, all the villages and the massive reservoirs which fed the  paddy fields were abandoned for thousands of years. These Sinhalese villages reborn again in 1839 and Mamaduwa had a total population of 16 villagers by this time under the British rule but the dilapidated ancient Mamaduwa Reservoir was their main challenge to sustain their paddy fields. This massive reservoir has been built during the reign of king Agbo (Aggabodhi I) in between 575-608.  According to inscriptions found at Mamaduwa, this reservoir has been called Mahinda Thata Vapi during the ancient times.

The villagers successfully appealed to then Jaffna Governor to re-build the reservoir but the Tamils in the area had  vehemently opposed this plan. Despite the resistance by Tamils, rebuilding of this tank undertaken in 1881 under the guidance of Henry Parker.

The reservoir today carries 3.8 million cubic meters of water covering approximately 1.25 square kilometers at full capacity and supports about 465 acres of farming land. The Bund  (embankment) of the tank is almost 1.9 kilometers long.

A slab inscription has been found buried on the reservoir bund during renovations. The inscription and pictures of a dog and a crow is carved on a 3½ feet high, 3 feet wide and 1½ feet thick slab which has broken in to two pieces. The inscriptions states that those who use the water from the reservoir for farming and dont carry out religious offering shall be reborn as dogs and cows.

The last time Mamaduwa came in the news in 1986 when the LTTE Tamil terrorist’s  first ever civilian bus bomb exploded near the Mamaduwa Cemetery on 22nd of July. The bus filled with school children and villagers driven by a Tamil driver brought death to 32 civilians out of which 30 were from Mamaduwa and Mahakachchakodiya.

Also See

• Hydro Heritage of Sri Lanka
• Ancient Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka
• Other Places of Interest Within Close Proximity

Map of  the Mamaduwa Wewa

Traveling to Mamaduwa Wewa