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Dewahuwa Wewa (Sinhala: දේවහුව වැව) is a reservoir situated in the Galewela area in Matale District, Sri Lanka.
History
A few stories are there that describe how the present name of this reservoir was originated. As the belief of some, "Devahuwa" is the corrupted name of "Deyahuva", a word that originated by the combination of two words "Diya" (water) and "Huva" [(pronounce as "Hoova") Abeyawardana, 2004]. It is said that there was a noise similar to a cry of a "Hoo" when releasing the water from the sluice of this tank (Abeyawardana, 2004).
According to another story, King Dutugemunu (161-137 B.C.) had received a Pirith thread (Huya) from the gods (Dewa) when he encamped at this site (Arumugam, 1969).
The reservoir
The present reservoir has been made by merging two tanks named Dewahuwa and Palu Rotawewa in 1950 (Arumugam, 1969). The bund of the reservoir is about 4,300 ft. long and the water is extending in an area of about 850 acres at its full supply level (Arumugam, 1969). It has one spill and one sluice (Arumugam, 1969).
References
1) Abeyawardana, H.A.P., 2004. Heritage of Kandurata: Major natural,
cultural and historic sites. Colombo: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka. p.170.
2) Arumugam, S., 1969. Water resources of Ceylon: its utilisation and development. Water Resources Board. p.341.
Location Map
This page was last updated on 20 January 2023