Yamuna Eri or Yamunari/ Jamunari Pokuna (Tamil: யமுனா ஏரி; Sinhala: යමුනාරි පොකුණ) is an old pond situated in Nallur in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka.
Folklore
There are many theories about the origin of this pond. Depending on the accounts given in the Yalpana Vaipava Malai (a Tamil literary work), some believe that it was built by a Chola prince named Vijaya Kulangai (or Kulang-kay-ariyan or Singka-ariyan). According to Yalpana Vaipava Malai, Vijaya Kulangai had built a three-sided well in his newly built city of Nallur and the water brought from the sacred river Yamunai (Yamuna River in India) had mixed with the water in that well (Britto, 1879).
According to another well-known opinion, this pond was constructed by the renowned Cakravarti King
Pararajasekaram [(1478-1519 A.D.) Dias et al., 2016; Wijebandara, 2014].
Pond
The pond is completely made of coral blocks and has been built in the shape of the English letter 'U'. The outer part of the pond is about 70 ft. long, 65 ft. wide and 15 ft. deep (Wijebandara, 2014). The platform in the centre of the pond is about 55 ft. in length and 30 ft. in width. A flight of steps running towards the water is located at its southern end.
A protected monument
The Jamunari Pokuna situated in the Divisional Secretary’s Division of Nallur is an archaeological protected monument, declared by a government Gazette notification published on 16 July 1948.
Attribution
1) Yamuna Eri by AntanO is licensed under CC BY SA 4.02) Jamuna aaree at Nallur by T.Thevananth's Photos is licensed under CC BY 2.0
References
1) Britto, C., 1879. The Yalpana-Vaipava-Malai or The history of the
Kingdom of Jaffna: Translated from the Tamil, with an appendix and a
glossary by C. Britto. Colombo. p.14.
2) Dias, M.; Koralage, S.B.; Asanga, K., 2016. The archaeological heritage of Jaffna peninsula. Department of Archaeology. Colombo. p.209.
3) The Gazette notification of Ceylon. No: 9886. 16 July 1948.
4) Wijebandara, I.D.M., 2014. Yapanaye Aithihasika Urumaya (In Sinhala). Published by the editor. ISBN-978-955-9159-95-7. pp.68-69.
2) Dias, M.; Koralage, S.B.; Asanga, K., 2016. The archaeological heritage of Jaffna peninsula. Department of Archaeology. Colombo. p.209.
3) The Gazette notification of Ceylon. No: 9886. 16 July 1948.
4) Wijebandara, I.D.M., 2014. Yapanaye Aithihasika Urumaya (In Sinhala). Published by the editor. ISBN-978-955-9159-95-7. pp.68-69.
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This page was last updated on 12 May 2023
