Tissa Wewa Reservoir – Anuradhapura

Description

King Devanampiya Tissa built Tissa Wewa Reservoir in the 3rd century B.C. It was produced to supply water to the capital city of Anuradhapura, including the Royal Gardens located just over the wewa bund, and provide much-needed precipitation to the paddy fields in the area. Life by the old Tissa Wewa in Anuradhapura remains as it did in years gone by, and the lake still works as a vital help to the villagers in the region.
If the water level at Tissa Wewa is below, an early morning walk on the shores gives a brilliant insight into village life in the neighbourhood. Fishers are netting in their catch of Wew Maalu (small lake fish), cattle herders taking their cattle to feed on the grasses.
For birders like us, the scene is pleasant. Egrets, Grey Herons, Cormorants, Black-winged Stilts, Pelicans, Painted Stork and in season, migrants such as Kentish Plovers, Little-ringed Plovers, Barn Swallows, Sandpipers and others that frequent the lake are such a treat to observe.