Kandy Lake
| Kandy Lake | |
|---|---|
| Kiri Muhuda | |
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Kandy Lake
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| Location | Kandy |
| Coordinates | 7°18′N 80°38′E / 7.300°N 80.633°ECoordinates: 7°18′N 80°38′E / 7.300°N 80.633°E |
| Type | reservoir |
| Primary inflows | none |
| Primary outflows | evaporation |
| Basin countries | Sri Lanka |
| Built | 1807–1812 |
| Surface area | 19.01 ha (47.0 acres) |
| Max. depth | 18 m (59 ft) |
| Water volume | 867×103 m3 (30.6×106 cu ft) |
| Shore length1 | 3.4 km (2.1 mi) |
| Surface elevation | 529 m (1,736 ft) |
| Islands | one |
| Settlements | Kandy |
| References | |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Kandy Lake (Sinhalese: බෝගම්බර වැව/ කිරි මූද), also known as Kiri Muhuda or the Sea of Milk, is an artificial lake in the heart of the hill city of Kandy, Sri Lanka, built in 1807 by King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe next to the Temple of the Tooth. Over the years, it was reduced in size. It is a protected lake, with fishing banned. There are many legends and folklore regarding the lake. One such is that the small island at its center was used by the king's helm for bathing and was connected to the palace by secret tunnel.
Kandy Lake, the main body of water in Kandy in central Sri Lanka, is a man-made lake created in 1807 by the last Sinhalese king of Kandy, Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, using forced labor. Deveda Moolacharya is considered the architect of the Kandy Lake. The king used land which was a paddy field to create the lake. The king first built a dam across the paddy fields, starting from the Pattiruppuwa (Octogen) side, where the steps leading into the lake by the Mahamaluwa (Esplanade) are still visible, stretching across to the Poya-maluwa. The dam, upon which a roadway was constructed, allowed the king to go across to the Malwatte Vihare. According to D’Oyley, the dam was constructed between 1810–1812. It stands as an indictment of the excesses of the Kandyan monarchy for wasting away national resources to build an ornamental lake at a time when the kingdom was under serious threat. When a hundred of his advisors advised King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe against building the lake, he had them impaled on the reservoir bund of the paddy field which he was converting into the ornamental lake. It was not long before the British captured him, with help from his own noblemen disgruntled by his irrational policies.
Kandy Lake has a perimeter of 3.4 kilometres (2.1 mi) and a maximum depth of 18 metres (59 ft). A decorative wall, called Walakulu wall, runs for 630 metres (2,070 ft) along the banks of the Kandy Lake. In the middle of the lake is an island housing the Royal Summer House. Sri Dalada Maligawa, or Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, is located beside the lake across the road. On the opposite side of the road from the Temple of the Tooth Relic is the Royal Bathhouse.
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Wikipedia