Yodha Wewa — Attraction in Northern Province

Giant's Tank (Tamil: கட்டுக்கரை குளம், translit. Kaṭṭukkarai Kuḷam; Sinhalese: යෝධ වැව Yōdha Væva) is an irrigation tank in northern Sri Lanka, approximately 10 mi (16 km) south east of Mannar. Some historians have speculated that Giant's Tank is the same as the Mahanama Matha Vapi tank built by King Dhatusena in the fifth century and restored by King Parakramabahu Iin the twelfth century.1 On the other hand, Mudaliyar C. Rajanayagam in his book Ancient Jaffna suggests that the tank was probably constructed by the Nagas.4] Rajanayagam has suggested that the Megisba lake mentioned by Pliny in Description of Taprobane was in fact Giant's Tank.[5]

Consideration was given to renovating the tank during Dutch Governor Willem Jacob van de Graaf's administration in the eighteenth century but nothing happened.[1] Restoration did however begin in the 1880s following a motion in the Legislative Council by P. Ramanathan.[1] Delays by epidemics and other issues meant that restoration wasn't completed until November 1902.[1 A 90 ft (27 m) thick, 12 ft (4 m) high, 640 ft (195 m) long stone dam (known as tekkam in Tamil) was built across the Aruvi Aru 22 mi (35 km) from its mouth.7 The waters were then diverted to Giant's Tank by a 12 mi (19 km) inlet channel (alawakkai).1 The tank had a catchment area of 38 sq mi (98 km2).1] The name Giant's Tank was the English translation of the local name for the tank - Sodayan Kattu Karai (giant built embankment).[1 The tank is now known as Kattukarai Kulam in Tamil.[9]

Responsibility for the tank passed from the Public Works Department to the Department of Irrigation in 1900.[10] By the late 1960s the tank's bund was 4.5 mi (7 km) long and 10 ft 4 in (3 m) high whilst the tank's storage capacity was 26,600 acre⋅ft (32,810,617 m3) and its water spread area was 4,550 acres (1,841 ha).[1] There was a 172 ft (52 m) channel flow spill on the right bank and seven sluices.[1] Water from the tank was transferred to numerous minor irrigation tanks via a 24 mi (39 km) main channel and 24 mi (39 km) of branch channels.[1]

The tank's storage capacity was 30,500 acre⋅ft (37,621,196 m3) in 2003 and it was capable of irrigating 24,000 acres (9,712 ha).[9] The tank's height was 11.5 ft (4 m) but it was capable of holding 10 ft (3 m) safely.[9] The tank's storage capacity was 31,500 acre⋅ft (38,854,678 m3) in 2009 and it was capable of irrigating 27,000 acres...

The Yodha Wewa in Mannar is one of the largest tanks in the island and was It was built by King Dhatusena (459-477) by damming and diverting water from the Malwatu-oya. Known as Manawatu Wewa in the ancient times, the tank is fed by an 8 mile (13 km) ancient canal, recently restored, which carries water from the Malwatu Oya river.

There were two parallel line of embankment towards the sea which were then joined by a flat curved bund, the bund thus enclosed the tank on three sides, making it possible to irrigate the land on both flanks as well as the land in front. Though British condemned this as unsuccessful engineering, Brohier saw the thinking behind it. Work on the Giants tank appears to have been done in sections. The earthworks at the two ends of the embankment and the feeder channels were constructed simultaneously. Usually, the trans basin canals were built first and the tank was...

The name "Yodha Wewa" means "Giant's Tank" because it is so large. Apparently nobody really knows who constructed it and even yet they are unsure exactly how it was supposed to irrigate the surrounding lands. The British considered it a failed construction works because they didn't understand the engineering planning that underpinned it. It is spectacular even when the waters haven't filled it, but sadly there is no signage directing you to the tank and even more awful is that the residents of the nearby town had no idea about it. When you drive along the road to Mannar you can see this massive bund on the right that extends for many kilometres. I stopped and climbed that bund to take the attached photos which don't do justice to this...