Yoda Ela (Giant Canal) or Jaya Ganga, an long single banking water canal carrying excess water to
Tissa Wewa reservoir
A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation.
Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...
from
Kala Wewa reservoir in
Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura (, ; , ) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies north of the cur ...
. The Yodha Ela is known for achieving a rather low gradient for its time. The
gradient is about 10
centimetres per
kilometre
The kilometre (SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American English, American and Philippine English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is the ...
or 6
inches per
mile
The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a imperial unit, British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of Unit of length, le ...
.
Construction
Yodha Ela was constructed during
King Dhatusena's reign in 459
AD. It is long. It is a trans-basin diversion canal transferring water from
Kala Oya Basin to
Malwathu Oya Basin. It has a gradient of the order of drop along . Even with modern day
survey equipment it would be difficult to achieve such accuracy.
Yodha Ela not only feeds Tissa Wewa, but also the nearby
Abhaya Wewa and Nuwara Wewa. A separate branch of the canal has then already brought water to the
Nachchaduwa wewa.
AmazingLanka.com, retrieved 28 January 2022
King Parakramabahu who reigned the country from 1153 to 1186, expanded the area that contributed to the water in the canal by connecting more reservoirs to the network between Kala Wawa and Thissa Wawa. He then renamed it Jaya Ganga (River of Victory).
Functions
Yodha Ela functions in a way of a moving reservoir because of its single banking aspect which is different from the present day double banking irrigation canals'. It feeds water in an area of feeding of paddy lands and 120 small tanks on its way from Kala Wewa to Tissa Wewa
See also
* Abhayavapi
* Dhatusena of Anuradhapura
* Kala Wewa
* Nachchaduwa wewa
* Parakramabahu I
Parākramabāhu I (Sinhala language, Sinhala: මහා පරාක්රමබාහු, 1123–1186), or Parakramabahu the Great, was the List of Sinhalese monarchs, king of Kingdom of Polonnaruwa, Polonnaruwa from 1153 to 1186. He oversaw ...
* Tissa Wewa (Anuradhapura)
* Tank cascade system
References
{{coord, 8, 01, N, 80, 31, E, region:LK_type:city, display=title
Bodies of water of Anuradhapura District
Canals in Sri Lanka