Kandalama Tank

The Kandalama Tank, a huge man-made reservoir built and extended by Ceylon’s ancient kings, has been hailed as the most beautiful lake in Sri Lanka as well as a magnificent feat of engineering. At 4.8km (3mi) long and 2.3km (1.4mi) wide, with a catchment area of 102sq km (39.4sq mi), it holds 33 million cubic meters of water used to irrigate the surrounding farmland, particularly the paddy fields. The tank was created by a dam 69ft (21m) high and 5,200ft (1,600m) which, according to a British chronicler Charles Pridham “is formed with vast hewn masses of rock, faced with stones eight or ten feet thick at the base, placed like steps, and laid in regular layers, to move which by sheer physical force must have required the united labor of thousands”. In 1821, John Davy of British Ceylon wrote: “The lake or tank of Kandalama is best example of the kind of work, that I have ever seen.”