Ancient Wahalkada Amuna on Yan Oya

RATE THIS LOCATION :1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (2 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
Loading...

Scattered ruins along the Yan Oya at various places indicate that there were a number of stone anicuts across the Yan Oya in ancient times. Wahalkada Amuna is one of the few such ancient anicuts built across the Yan Oya in the Central Yan Oya valley.

This amuna is found across the Yan Oya in the jungle about 3 km from the D2 zone of the Wahalkada farming colony bordering the Anuradhapura and Trincomalee districts.

Details of this amuna are not found in the ancient annals, however, a surveyor named Wickwore has recorded the state of this amuna in the Archaeological Administration Report of 1897.

“Below the original weir, this is one of the oldest constructions I have ever seen. Like the previous anicut, the river has now turned towards right to the anicut. As a result, not a single stone has fallen out of this amuna. It is made entirely of finely cut stone. The row of rocks was set up along the river’s waterway and another against it. Some stones are 11½ feet long and 10 feet wide. The weir is 92 feet long and 38 feet wide. It is 10 feet high from the bottom of the river. Both ends of the weir are 6 feet high and shaped towards the river banks. This was done to control the floodwaters flowing over the weir ”

(Administration Report- 1897)

In 2017, Dr Withanachchi reported that the amuna described by Wickwore in 1897 had remained more or less the same for over a century. According to Dr. Withanachchi, the amuna is 26.8 meters (88 feet) long and 11.5 meters (37.7 feet) wide. This compares closely to Wickwore’s measurements. The anicut is relatively large compared to the size of the Yan Oya. A significant portion of the anvil is still intact. There is also a structure made of stones to prevent the banks of the river from being washed away when the water level in the river rises. About 80% of the rock layer laid on the surface still remains intact.

Wickwore states that the canal connected to this anicut is 14 chains (280 m) above the amuna on the right bank it connects back to Yan Oya after further another 10 chains (201 m). Apart from this he has not found any other canal and states that any other canal may have been covered by mud. Dr. Withanachchi states that the canal mentioned by Wickwore could not be located during the survey and that it is possible that Wickwore had speculated this as a canal but possibly a natural erosion of the Yan Oya. According to Dr. Withanachchi, water was diverted from this anicut only on the left bank of Yan Oya. The canal connected to this gal amuna lies about 20 meters above the amuna. He says that this amuna has been used to supply water to a large agricultural area which could not be irrigated from the Wahalkada Wewa. According to Dr Withanachchi, this anicut is located at latitude and longitude 8.78373245555, 80.8838876527.

අනුරාධපුරය සහ ත්‍රිකුණාමලය දිස්ත්‍රික්කයන්ට මායිම්ව පිහිටි වාහල්කඩ අමුණේ මතුපිට සැලැස්ම සහ හරස්කඩ සැලැස්මක් - The Plan and the cross section of the ancient Wahalkada Amuna bordering Anuradhapura and Trincomalee Districts
අනුරාධපුරය සහ ත්‍රිකුණාමලය දිස්ත්‍රික්කයන්ට මායිම්ව පිහිටි වාහල්කඩ අමුණේ මතුපිට සැලැස්ම සහ හරස්කඩ සැලැස්මක් – The Plan and the cross section of the ancient Wahalkada Amuna bordering Anuradhapura and Trincomalee Districts
රූපය: මධ්‍ය යාන් ඔය නිම්නයේ කොක්එබේ මෙගලිතික සුසානය ආශ්‍රිත පුරාවිද්‍යා කැනීම හා තදාශ්‍රිත ප්‍රදේශයේ පුරාණ මානව ජනාවාසකරණය
යාන් ඔය නිම්නයේ පුරාණ වාහල්කඩ අමුණ - Ancient Wahalkada Amuna on Yan Oya
යාන් ඔය නිම්නයේ පුරාණ වාහල්කඩ අමුණ – Ancient Wahalkada Amuna on Yan Oya
ජයාරූපය : මධ්‍ය යාන් ඔය නිම්නයේ කොක්එබේ මෙගලිතික සුසානය ආශ්‍රිත පුරාවිද්‍යා කැනීම හා තදාශ්‍රිත ප්‍රදේශයේ පුරාණ මානව ජනාවාසකරණය

References

  1. විතානාච්චි, ච. රෝ. සහ මෙන්ඩිස්, ඩී. තු. , 2017. මධ්‍ය යාන් ඔය නිම්නයේ කොක්එබේ මෙගලිතික සුසානය ආශ්‍රිත පුරාවිද්‍යා කැනීම හා තදාශ්‍රිත ප්‍රදේශයේ පුරාණ මානව ජනාවාසකරණය. 1st ed. මිහින්තලේ: ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජරට විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය.

Also See

Map of Wahalkada Amuna on Yan Oya

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

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

Zoom out the map to see more surrounding locations using the mouse scroll wheel or map controls.

Travel Directions to Wahalkada Amuna on Yan Oya

Anuradhapura Wahalkada Amuna on Yan Oya
Though : Medawachchiya – Kebitigollewa
Distance : 88 km
Travel time : 120 mins
Time to Spend : about 30  minutes
Driving directions : see on Google Map

© www.amazinglanka.com

Leave a Reply