Concise Mahavamsa Ruwan Rajapakse, P.E., Sinhalanet.com 1

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Concise Mahavamsa Ruwan Rajapakse, P.E., Sinhalanet.com 22 Besides this he made every effort to reduce the quantity of earthwork to a minimum. To effect this the line of the embankment was twisted in order to avoid low ground, in a manner never found in later works of larger size ”. (Ref: H. Parker, Ancient Ceylon) Note on Early Irrigation Works in Lanka and India: “The nature of the flat plains around the sites of the primitive capitals of Southern India could never have encouraged the construction of reservoirs with high embankments, which in fact are still non existent on them. All that could be attempted there in very early times in the way of making reservoirs would be the formation of shallow village tanks, with embankments from six to twelve feet high, for retaining a supply of rain water for bathing purposes and for irrigation. It was only in the districts surrounding the early capitals of Ceylon that necessary conditions existed promoting the construction of larger works of this character – a series of shallow valleys down which flowed seasonal streams of moderate times, and heavy rainfall lasting for only a short period of each monsoon. It may be assumed, therefore that the formation of all reservoirs of a class with embankments much higher than those of simple village tanks was originally due to the constructive genius of the Sinhalese themselves”. (Ref: H. Parker, Ancient Ceylon) Original Panda Wewa Design Still Being Used: Most modern reservoirs of the world today do not deviate much from the ancient design of Panda Wewa. Main components, such as embankment to hold water, sluice to obtain water and a spillway to get rid of flood water had not change conceptually from Panda Wewa to most modern reservoirs in the twenty first century. King Abhaya – (Third King of Sri Lanka) - Son of King Panduvasdev: (474 BC – 454 BC) King Panduvasdev had ten sons and one special daughter named “Chitra”. Oldest of the sons was Prince Abhaya. Chitra was the youngest and was extremely beautiful. Every man who saw her became maddened by her mere sight. Hence she was called “Unmada Chitra”. When she was born, fortunetellers predicted that her future son would kill all her brothers and unite the whole country. Story of Unmada Chitra and Tower (Ektam Geya): After the death of King Panduvasdev, oldest son Abhaya was consecrated as the King. Since fortunetellers predicted that Unmada Chitra’s future son would unite the country by killing her brothers, King Abhaya decided to imprison her in a tower where no man can go. This tower was known as “Ektam Geya” and was guarded by hundred soldiers day and night. One day when Unmada Chitra looked outside the window of the Ekatam geya, she happened to see “Deega Gamini”. They fell in love immediately. Deega Gamini built a secret ladder, climbed the Ektam geya at night, and met Unmada Chitra. They used to meet this way every night. Months later Unmada Chitra was pregnant and her brothers were very upset. Unmada Chitra’s brothers decided that if Unmada Chitra’s baby happened to be a son they would kill him. If the baby
Concise Mahavamsa Ruwan Rajapakse, P.E., Sinhalanet.com 23 happened to be a daughter they would let her live. Unmada Chitra finally gave birth to a son and named him “Pandukabhaya”. Then she and her attendants found a female baby, born the same day from a nearby village and switched the two babies. Baby Pandukabhaya was removed from the Ektam geya and was given to an attendant. She took the baby boy to a nearby village. When Unmada Chitra’s brothers heard that she had given birth to a daughter, they were pleased. Seven years later, Unmada Chitra’s brothers found out what Unmada Chitra did and that her son is living in a village named Dvaramandalaka. They sent soldiers to find the seven year old boy and kill him. When soldiers came, seven year old Pandukabhaya, hid inside a hollow tree. Soldiers killed all other boys and went away thinking Pandukabhaya is dead. Then, when Prince Pandukabhaya was sixteen years old, his uncles again found out that he was not killed first time and sent soldiers to kill him. Prince Pandukabhaya escaped the soldiers for the second time. When Pandukabhaya was twenty years old, he developed an army on his own. When his uncles found out about Prince Pandukabhaya and his army, they came to attack him. Many battles took placed between Prince Pandukabhaya and his uncles. Finally, Prince Pandukabhaya was able to subdue all his uncles and become the King of the whole country. King Abhaya was given a high post in the Pandukabhaya government. ~King Pandukabhaya~ (437 BC – 367 BC) Son of Unmadha Chitra (Queen – Suwannapali) - Capital changed to Anuradhapura King deepened a pond in Anuradhagama, filled it with water, and took water from this pond for his consecration festival. Hence this deepened pond was called Jayavapi. (Author’s Note: Mahavamsa states that a pond was deepened and filled with water. How it was done is not stated. It can be deduced that the pond was filled with water using a canal. Jayavapi is suspected to be Bulan Kulam in Anuradhapura). King Pandukabhaya built a great city where Anuradha Gama was located, named it “Anuradhapura”, and made it the capital city of Lanka. He built many villages, castles, sewer systems, hospitals and cemeteries. King Pandukabhaya built Abhaya Vapi (today known as Abhaya Wewa in Anuradhapura), a common cemetery, a place for executions, a place of worship and a house for sacrifice. King built a hermitage for Nigantha ascetics near Gaminivapi. (Here Mahavamsa accidentally mentions another reservoir - Gaminivapi, identified as Karambewa reservoir in Anuradhapura. Did Deega Gamini build Gaminivapi?). Abhaya Wewa: (400 BC) - (Author’s Note) Only Panda Wewa is older than King Pandukabhaya’s Abhaya Wewa. Pandukabhaya was the grand son of King Panduvasdev. Abhaya Wewa was much smaller than Panda Wewa. (Abhaya Wewa is only 330 acres compared to Panda Wewa, which is 1,360 acres). The reason for the smaller size of the reservoir could be attributed to the fact that Abhaya Wewa was built inside the capital city of Anuradhapura.
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