Kurunegala Lake Kurunegala Wewa (Sinhala: කුරුණෑගල වැව), popularly known as Kurunegala Lake , is a reservoir situated in Kurunegala town, Sri Lanka. Located at the verge of the Ethugala rock, it is used for recreation and sometimes as a drinking water source. History Kurunegala Wewa is also called by locals as Ranthaliya Wewa as there are some legends around this tank associated with Vathhimi Bandara, a prince born to a Muslim consort of King Buvanekabahu I (1272-1284 A.D.) or Vijayabahu IV [(1270-1272 A.D.) Borup et al., 2019]. The treasure & the origin of the Gale-Bandara cult As mentioned in the legends, a treasure in the form of a golden pot began to float in the Kurunegala lake during the time of Vathhimi and his all attempts to acquire it proved futile (Borup et al., 2019). Ritual specialists ( Kattadiyas ) who were engaged to retrieve the treasure by Vathhimi are said to have been killed after they failed to grab this floating treasure (Borup et al., 2019). This action finally made Sinhala elite…
