Walathapitiya Wewa and Archaeological Ruins

Walathapitiya Wewa (Tamil: Walathapitty Kulam) is a lake located in Sammanture in Ampara District, Sri Lanka. The site can be reached by travelling 2 km from the Walathapitiya Wewa junction which is on the Ampara-Sammanture highway about 6.5 km distance from Ampara town.

 

Restored in 1912, the tank is presently incorporated in the Gal Oya Scheme (Arumugam, 1969).

The reservoir

The reservoir is located in the Gal Oya River basin. Except for the drainage from its own catchment area, a channel from Konduwatuwana Reservoir supplies water to the Walathapitiya reservoir (Arumugam, 1969). The bund of the reservoir is about 1.5 miles long and the water is extending in an area of about 380 acres at its full supply level (Arumugam, 1969). The reservoir has 2 sluices and 3 spills (Arumugam, 1969).

Ruins

Several sites with archaeological evidence have been found around the Walathapitiya lake. One site is located at the spill of the lake where random scatterings of bricks, clay pieces, stone pillar fragments and washed off debris are found. Some earth mounds which are seemed to be vandalized by the people indicate the existence of ancient structures and buildings at the site. Another site with evidence of an ancient rock quarry is found on a rock plane near the lake road. 

A protected site

The premises with stone pillars, relics of ancient bricks and pieces of tiles [premises bounded north-east by outer canal of Walathapitiya lake, south and west by paddy field, north-west by the bund of the lake (07º 19' 23.5´´ N 81º 43´ 30.9´´ E)] situated towards south-east from the spill of Walathapitiya lake and the rock plain with sign of quarry at Walathapitiya lake road (07º 18´ 42.6´´ N 81º 43´ 17.7´´ E) are protected archaeological sites declared by a Gazette notification published on 26 December 2014. 

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References

1) Arumugam, S., 1969. Water resources of Ceylon: its utilisation and development. Water Resources Board. p.170.
2) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, no: 1895. 26 December 2014. p. 1149.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 12 February 2022
For a complete tourist map follow this link: Lankapradeepa Tourist Map