Sorabora Tank, the Mighty Feat of Giant Bulatha-by Gamini C. Kumara
Source:Dailynews
A tank was an indispensable resource to the people who lived in ancient times. It was mainly for storing water to be used for their agricultural purposes.
The livelihood was entirely dependent on the water stored in the tank, and that is why they built more tanks. The giant tanks built by the ancients are indeed great engineering marvels and are real testimony to the country’s past hydraulic civilization.
The tank creations show in no uncertain terms that ancient kings had given high priority to the uplift of the agricultural economy in the country. Thus the island of Sri Lanka boasts large and small irrigation tanks, most of which were built during the reign of ancient kings.According to the history of Ceylon, the first tank was built by King Pandukabhaya, who reigned from 437–367 BC, and it was during his time that Abhaya wewa, Gamini wewa and Jaya wewa were built. Here the present tank, ‘Basawakkulama’ in Anuradhapura which was called Ábhaya wewa in the past is considered the first tank built in the country. Thereafter, the building of tanks started in the country.
R.L. Brohier’s records say that save for the large modern irrigation reservoirs, there are nearly 7,620 small tanks located in various parts of the island, of which some have been in operation for more than 2000 years while some are not currently operational.
Most of the present day irrigation reservoirs are the ancient ones restored from time to time. On a recent tour to the Mahiyangana area, I did not forget to visit such an ancient tank, which is well-known in the Badulla district of Sri Lanka as ‘Sorabora tank’, also known as ‘Horabora tank’.
Situated just 1km away from Mahiyangana Town it is an ancient medium scale irrigation tank that is providing water to thousands of farmers’ paddy fields in the area.
The tank has been a tourist attraction and famous for nature exploring, photography and sightseeing since time immemorial mainly due to its scenic beauty. Indeed, it is a nice place for nature lovers. Almost daily both local and foreign people visit it to enjoy the breathtaking scenery around the tank.
According to historical legends, this tank is believed to have been built during the reign of King Dutugemunu in the 2nd Century BC by a giant named ‘Bulatha’. There is a story woven around this tank.
During the time when the tank was built, Prince Gemunu was waging a war on Tamil invader King Elara. While marching to Anuradhapura, the King’s Army is said to have camped at the village called ‘Kadali Pathra’ (today known as Keselpatha) near Mahiyanganaya.
It was at this time that a strongman named ‘Bulatha’ (Bulathirala) from the village of Kiripattiya joined the Army of Prince Gemunu. This person was called ‘Bulatha’ as he was tasked with providing betels to the king’s palace.
He was assigned to collect treacle from Meemure, betel from Kevulgama, arecanut from Puwakpitiya and milk from his own village, Kiripattiya.
To collect these items he had to travel in mountainous areas with dangerous paths including Kosgolla mountain pass that linked Ududumbara and Minipe. While travelling in these areas he saw a river flowing through a low land which lay between two hills and got the great idea of building a tank by damming this river for the purpose of irrigating the paddy fields in the area.
This river is called Diyawanna Oya. So, Bulatha started the mammoth task of tank building while performing his royal duty to the palace. He began building a large embankment across the two hills all by himself. His wife brought his food from the village, Kiripattiya. She too had to travel through the dangerous Kosgolla pass and saw hundreds of devotees going to worship Mahiyangana Raja Maha Viharaya with difficulty and decided to build steps on the rock for the convenience of these pilgrims.
These steps can be seen on the rocks even today. When the work on the dam was complete Bulatha invited King Dutugemunu to see his work and open the tank. This was on the day that the King opened the renovated Mahiyanganaya Raja Maha Viharaya. Here the King was amazed to see the strenuous task of building a tank by a single person for the benefit of the villagers. It is said that the king who highly appreciated this feat was so pleased that he gifted his royal cape to the giant Bulatha and made him a General in the King’s Army and also presented him with a village named Udathwewa. However, some other legends say a different tale.
According to them, the King was envious of the herculean effort made by Bulatha to build such a tank and got him beheaded in secret and threw the dead body into this tank. Bulatha’s blood is supposed to have made the water murky or unclear. This tank’s name is said to have come from this gruesome act secretly done by the King.
The Sinhala term for secret is ‘hora’ and the term for murky is ‘bora’. That was how it came to be known as ‘Horbora Wewa’, which is presently known as ‘Sorabora Wewa’. In the days gone by it was known as the ‘sea of Bintenna’.
The tank is one-of-a-kind. Normally we see the sluice gate of a tank built in the embankment but in this tank the sluice gate is away from it. Its sluice gate has been built in the rock. We can see clearly this 5 feet wide rock cut sluice gate, which is used to release water even today. Even after the restoration of this tank by the Irrigation Department, no change has been made to it.
Also, in most tanks there is a structure called ‘Bisokotuwa’ (silt-trap), but this tank has been built without it. Bisokotuwa is a deep square well built to regulate the water pressure at the sluice gates inside the tank thereby protecting the embankment from erosion. As the sluice gate is not in the embankment it is not at risk of erosion and there was no need for a Bisokotuwa for it. This is indeed a remarkable feat of ancient tank building technology.
The ruins of another tank built similar to the Sorabora Wewa without a Bisokotuwa are found near Udathwewa village, and this tank too is believed to have been built by the giant, Bulatha.
The Sorabora tank covers 1100 acres (4.5 sq. km) and holds 11,800 acre feet of water at full capacity. It has become a great resource for the villagers living in the area and is a major tourist attraction in the Badulla district. As we knew, there are relevant facilities for those who want to enjoy boat rides in the tank. Now this tank with the unique ancient sluice located in the Sorabora village in the Wevgampaha Grama Niladhari Division in Mahiyanganaya is an archaeologically protected site visited by many who come to worship Mahiyangana Rajamaha Viharaya.
