Kaudulla National Park is Situated about 190 km from
Colombo, Kaudulla National Park is dominated by the Kaudulla Tank built by the
sister of the famous King Mahasena who was the creator of the Minneriya Tank.
The folklore of the creation of this tank is very interesting.
After the sister of the king Mahasena married a person
disapproved by the king, she was banned from the palace and the newly married
couple went off and established a small farming village around Kaudulla.
Meanwhile King Mahasena while building and developing the irrigation systems
around the country planned a massive tank at Minneriya to support the
agriculture of the area. To carry this enormous amount of water, he had to
build an extra long dam. To protect this dam from breaking up by the force of
the water the king was asked to make a human sacrifice to the demons/gods who
protected dam. The king hearing that his sister has given birth to a son,
ordered the chief minister to sacrifice this infant on the gods. But the
minister sacrificed a goat instead of the baby and informed the king that the
sacrification is complete. The king satisfied, built and completed one of the
largest man made tanks in that time.
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