Eragama Wewa and Archaeological Ruins

Eragama Wewa is a reservoir in Eragama village in Ampara. The breached tank was restored in 1891 and later utilised in the Gal Oya Scheme.
Ambalan Oya Reservoir
Eragama Wewa

Eragama Wewa, also known in Tamil as Irakkamam Kulam (Sinhala: එරගම වැව හා පුරාවිද්‍යා නටඹුන්) is a reservoir in Eragama village in Ampara District, Sri Lanka. The ancient Dighavapi Viharaya is located about 5.7 km northeast of this tank.

History

Eragama Wewa is considered an ancient work (Arumugam, 1969). The breached tank was restored in 1891 and later utilised in the Gal Oya Scheme (Arumugam, 1969). Several sites with archaeological ruins around the tank were identified and declared protected monuments by the government through a Gazette notification published in October 2014.

The Reservoir

Eragama Wewa is one of the tanks in the Gal Oya River Basin. The tank bund is about 2,650 ft. in length while it has a storage capacity of 15,700 acre feet (Arumugam, 1969). The reservoir has 3 sluices and 2 spills (Arumugam, 1969).

A Protected Site

The old sluice and the bund of Eragama Lake (Irakkamam Lake) belonging to Rahumanth Nagar, Kuduvil, Manikkamadu, Ameer Alipuram villages and Grama Niladhari Divisions No. 5-2-34005 Irakkamam 07, No. 52-34-035 Irakkamam 01, No. 5-2-34-055 Irakkamam 04 and No. 5-2-34-025 Irakkamam 025 in Eragama (Irakkamam) Divisional Secretariat are protected archaeological monuments declared by a Gazette notification, published on 10 October 2014.

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References

Books, Government Gazette Notifications

1) Arumugam, S., 1969. Water resources of Ceylon: its utilisation and development. Water Resources Board. p.178.
2) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1884. 10 October 2014. pp.914-915.

Location Map

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Attribution

To Whom

LankaPradeepa.com extends its gratitude to Mrs Badra Kamaladasa (Former Director General of Irrigation) for providing the necessary photographs required for this article. All the photos are published here with the permission of the author.

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