Oorusitano Tank, Mahagama

Map showing Oorusitano Wewa (cobra location on southern shore)

From the Mahanaga school we continued to the bund of the local tank, which is called the Oorusitano Wewa, built by king Mahanaga (3rd century BC). The tank originally covered an area of over 700 acres (280 hectares) but siltation has led to its shrinking to about 400 acres (160 ha).

Oorusitano Wewa from the south

Mahanaga means 'Great Cobra'. The cobra was a sacred animal - one was said to have given shelter to the Buddha. In Sri Lanka it was a guardian of the waters. Here is the original, carved at the time of Mahanaga, of the seven-headed cobra symbol later used by the Symbionese Liberation Army (of Patty Hearst fame) as its emblem.

Seven-headed cobra (see large image and location here)

There used to be two of these guardstones, but the other was moved to the Lord knows where in the past 4 decades. The cobra was carved in the time of king Mahanaga and was supposed to guard the waters.

Seven-headed cobra (showing relative size)

It lies at a place where a tunnel, part of a watercourse which drew water from the Oorusitano Wewa, discharged itself into the open.

The tunnel

When I looked into the tunnel I found that it was full of bats and smelled of guano. You might just see the bats fluttering in the centre of the photograph, in the light at the end of the tunnel.

Upper surface of the tunnel

A tale surrounds the name of the tank and that of this watercourse. It seems that a child had been found living among wild boar. He was rescued and brought up among humans and given the name of Sookara Sitano or Ooru Sitano, meaning Mr Pig. When Mahanaga built the tank, the entry to the watercourse (the sorrowwa) was hidden. Nobody knew how to control the flow of water out of the tank.

A silt trap in the middle of the tunnel.

Mr Pig had a magic clay pot. He would shake the pot and water would rush through the watercourse. One day somebody made a hole in the pot, so it lost its magic. The water would not flow. Therefore Mr Pig and his wife flung themselves into the water and water began to flow down the watercourse. When Mr Pig fell into the water, he made a 'buck' sound, his wife hit the water with a 'bock'. Hence the watercourse was known as the Buck-bock sorowwa.

Children swimming in the new watercourse

Today a new watercourse has replaced the Buck-bock sorowwa. I went down to its shores and one of the boys bathing in it shouted that there was a diya balla, a 'water dog' behind me. I looked round and spied an Indian Otter (lutra lutra nair) on the far bank. It dived in just before I could take a photograph. Its head is just visible underwater, just below the rocks on the centre-left and just to the right of the clump of grass on the right of the photograph.

New watercourse, looking downstream

On the road to Mahagama

Map of the hinterland of Hambantota, showing Mahagama

On the weekend I went to Mahagama, close to Sevenagala. This Mahagama was one of several ancient towns of that name, which were capitals of the southern Sri Lankan principality of Rohana (modern Ruhuna). This particular village is said to be the capital of Mahanaga, the brother of king Devanampiya Tissa, who fled Anuradhapura and established his own kingdom in the south.

To get to Mahagama we turned left (eastwards) just before Embilipitiya and drove along the dam (the bund) of the Udawalawe tank (reservoir) .

Bund of Udawalawe reservoir

The Udawalawe tank was created by damming the upper reaches of the Walawe river in order to provide water for the farmers of lower Sabaragamuwa and Ruhuna. The main road to the Udawalawe elephant sanctuary and beyond lies on top of the bund.

Approaching the Udawalawe sanctuary, we pass European tourists who have hired Land Rovers and are out for a good day of elephant spotting - Udawalawe is one of the best places for seeing Sri Lankan elephants (elaphas maximus).

European tourists

Udawalawe sanctuary is marked by an electified barbed wire fence. Some elephants gather along the fence to get goodies from visitors, like this one:

Elephant, Udawalawe reserve

Some years ago, one of these elephants had managed to cross the fence and had ravaged the nearby houses. However, the villagers told us that they have not had any problems recently.

The elections to the Uva Provincial Council were due on 8th August, so the campaign was in full swing. Opposite where I took the picture of the elephant was an 'election office' of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance, festooned with posters of candidates. Moneragala is a classic centre-left district, so UPFA posters were much more in evidence than that of the other parties.

UPFA 'election office'

A TV programme featuring Shasheendra Rajapaksa, one of the prospective UPFA candidates for the Moneragala district of the Uva province (13 is his lucky number!) was due to be videotaped at the Mahanaga school at Mahagama. I found the school band ready to welcome the guests, who were late; the band was restive.

Mahanaga school band

The band, who were dressed in saris, had an interesting mix of western and oriental instruments. The leader, on the right of the photograph, carried a curvy horn known as a kombuwa.