Yodha Ela
trans-basin diversion canal in Sri Lanka
Yoda Ela (Giant Canal) or Jaya Ganga, an 87 km (54 mi) long single banking water canal carrying excess water to Tissa Wewa reservoir from Kala Wewa reservoir in Anuradhapura. The Yodha Ela is known for achieving a rather low gradient for its time. The gradient is about 10 centimetres per kilometre or 6 inches per mile.
Construction
Yodha Ela was constructed during King Dhatusena's reign in 459 AD. It is 87 km (54 mi) long. It is a trans-basin diversion canal transferring water from Kala Oya Basin to Malwathu Oya Basin. It has a gradient of the order of 0.32 m (1.0 ft) drop along 1.61 km (1.00 mi). Even with modern day survey equipment it would be difficult to achieve such accuracy.
Yodha Ela not only feeds Tissa Wewa, but also the nearby Abhaya Wewa and Nuwara Wewa. A separate branch of the canal has then already brought water to the Nachchaduwa wewa.
King Parakramabahu who reigned the country from 1153 to 1186, expanded the area that contributed to the water in the canal by connecting more reservoirs to the network between Kala Wawa and Thissa Wawa.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 26, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q38251846. Authority coordinates are 8.017, 80.517. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1153 and 1186.
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This entry incorporates text from “Yodha Ela” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.