An Engineered Sea in a Dry Land
The Parakrama Samudra, or "Sea of Parakrama," is a massive, shallow reservoir built in the 12th century under the direction of King Parakramabahu I. Located in Sri Lanka's semi-arid North Central Province, it was a part of the sophisticated irrigation network that transformed the region into a productive agricultural center. This body of water, with a surface area of about 25 square kilometers, is not one construction; it is an amalgamation of three separate, pre-existing reservoirs. The oldest of these, Topa wewa, dates to 386 CE. King Parakramabahu's engineers unified Topa wewa with the Eramudu and Dumbutulu wewas, creating a single, vast hydraulic system. the complex originally included two additional reservoirs, the Kalahagala and Bhu wewas, which were later separated from the main body during 19th-century reconstructions.
The scale of the project is immense. The main earthen dam, or bund, stretches for about 14 kilometers and stands up to 12.2 meters high. This structure impounds up to 134 million cubic meters of water, with an average depth of only 5 meters. The reservoir's primary purpose was to capture and store monsoon rains, providing a reliable water source for the extensive rice paddy cultivation that sustained the Polonnaruwa Kingdom. Today, it continues to irrigate over 18,000 acres of farmland.