Ruins of Yanoya Gal Palama (Stone Bridge) and Amuna (යාන් ඔය පුරාණ ගල් පාලම සහ අමුණ නටබුණ්)

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Ruins of Yanoya Gal Palama (Stone Bridge)
Image source : පුරාණ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ශෛලමය පාලම් නිර්මාණ කිහිපයක් සහ එහි තාක්ෂණය පිලිබඳ මූලික විමසුමක්

Anuradhapura was the first real capital of Sri Lanka over two thousand two hundred years ago. The road network was in a highly developed state during this era, with major roads leading to Trincomalee, Mannar, Jaffna and the southern kingdoms from Anuradhapura. These roads were not only used for foot traffic but also for carts carrying goods travelling for trade and commercial activities. With the development of the road network, the ancient kings built sturdy bridges out of granite slabs and pillars. Ruins in various bridges around Anuradhapura can be found across Malwathu Oya, Hal Pan Ela, Kandara Oya, Yan Oya, Kala Oya and Deduru Oya.

Outside the more popular stone bridges over Malwathu Oya and Halpan Oya, ruins of a few other bridges have been discovered. There may be many more still undiscovered stone bridges across the unknown ancient routes.

Ruins of such an ancient stone bridge (and an Amuna) can be found close to the Horowpathana – Trincomalee road. The ruins lie across Yan Oya, some distance upstream in a forest patch from the new bridge over Yan Oya on the Horowpathana – Trincomalee road. A large number of roughly hewn rock pillars and slabs are scattered across the river banks. Some broken pillars can be seen still standing on the riverbed. The approximate height of the pillars has been calculated as 2 meters and they are 30cmx30cm in size.

Travelling 55 km from Anuradhapura towards Trincomalee will bring you to the Horowpathana town. Traveling a further 6 km passing the town will bring you to the new bridge over Yan Oya. The ancient Amuna cum Stone Bridge lies about 2.7km upstream from this bridge.

No historical records are found about the origins of this Stone Bridge/Amuna. However, a surveyor named Victor noted this structure in an 1887 administrative report of the archaeological department. He states that the Amuna was built using two large rocks in the river. It is 130 feet long, 50 feet wide and 6 feet high from the river bed. The canal cut on the Yan Oya to divert the water from the amuna is also still visible. However, since the river has flown around the amuna with time it flows along the canal for some distance. Doctor Chandana Vithananchchi of Rajarata University states current observations of the site confirm this report.

Other Stone Bridges of Sri Lanka

There are many stone bridges discovered in Sri Lanka. These are in various states while some have been conserved to an extent. The most popular is the bridge over the Malwathu Oya.

Alubedda Stone Bridge
Angammedilla National Park Stone Bridge (Polonnaruwa)
Ebawalapitiya Gal Palama (Stone Bridge) over Deduru Oya
Girihandu Seya Stone Bridge (Tiriyaya)
Habagama Stone Bridge
Halpan Ela Stone Bridge (Anuradhapura)
Kayankerni Stone Bridge (Eastern Province)
Mahakanadarawa Wewa Stone Bridge (Mihintale)
Nirawiya Farm Gal Palama (Thambuttegama)
Palugaswewa Stone Bridge
Pavakkulam Stone Bridge (Vavuniya)
Perimiyankulama Gal Palama over Malwathu Oya (Anuradhapura)
Ritigala Gal Palama (Anuradhapura)
Sukara Nijjara Gal Amuna and Stone Bridge
Thimbiripokuna Palamgala Gal Palama
Thirappane Stone Bridge
Thulawelliya Stone Bridge
Ullukkulama Stone Bridge
Vannadi Palama (Vannadi Stone Bridge) and Amuna
Weliela Mankada Stone Bridge
Yanoya Stone Bridge

References

විතානාච්චි, ච. රෝ. සහ මෙන්ඩිස්, ඩී. තු. , 2017. මද්‍ය යාන් ඔය නිම්නයේ කොක්එබේ මෙගලිතික සුසානය ආශ්‍රිත පුරාවිද්‍යා කැනීම හා තදාශ්‍රිත ප්‍රදේශයේ පුරාණ මානව ජනාවාසකරණය. 1st ed. මිහින්තලේ: ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජරට විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය.
පුරාණ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ශෛලමය පාලම් නිර්මාණ කිහිපයක් සහ එහි තාක්ෂණය පිලිබඳ මූලික විමසුමක් – ආචාර්ය චන්දන රෝහණ විතානාච්චි
Vidanapathirana , P. (2016) මාර්ග පුරාණය : (ක්‍රිස්තු පූර්ව 3 වන සියවසේ සිට ක්‍රිස්තු වර්ෂ 13 වන සියවස දක්වා) . Colombo 7, Sri Lanka: Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology.

Also See

Map of the Ruins of Yanoya Gal Palama

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Travelling Directions to the Ruins of Yanoya Gal Palama

Route from Anuradhapura to The Ruins of Yanoya Gal Palama

Through : Mihinthale – Kahatagasdigiliya – Horowpathana
Distance : 61 km
Travel time :1.15 hours
Time to spend : 30 mins to 1 hour
Driving directions : see on google maps

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Fort Fredrick at Trincomalee (ත්‍රිකුණාමලය බලකොටුව)
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Dutch Fort of Galle (ගාල්ල කොටුව)
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Negombo Fort : Exploring the Historic Legacy of the Colonial Past
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Jaffna Fort (යාපනය බලකොටුව)
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