Kaudulla National Park

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.

  

  

Kanneliya national park

Kanneliya-Dediyagala-Nakiyadeniya or KDN is a forest complex in southern Sri Lanka. The forest complex designated as abiosphere reserve in 2004 by UNESCO. The KDN complex is the last large remaining rainforest in Sri Lanka other thanSinharaja. This forest area has been identified as one of the floristically richest areas in South Asia. The forest complex is situated 35 Km northwest of city of Galle. The rain forest is a major catchment area for two of the most important rivers in southern Sri Lanka, the Gin and Nilwala Rivers. This biosphere reserve harbors many plants and animal species endemic to Sri Lanka.