Showing posts with label 6th to 8th Century AD.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 6th to 8th Century AD.. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

"Kuttam Pokuna' - Twin ponds, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, 6th to 8th Century AD.

"Kuttam Pokuna" or the twin ponds are another hydrologic engineering marvel of ancient Sri Lanka. These two ponds belong to the Abayagiri aramic complex and probably been used by the monks for bathing. The origins of these ponds are not known but it is thought to have been built during the reign of King Aggabodhi I (575-608).
The smaller pond (the northern) one has been constructed first and the larger one at a later stage. They are connected through a pipeline at the bottom. The northern pond is 91 feet (28 meters) long and the other 132 feet (40 meters) .
Water to these ponds have been supplied through underground pipelines and the water is sent through several filtering chambers before it falls on the northern pond through a mouth of a dragon. The water from both ponds is drained from a small outlet in the smaller northern pond.
Though the underground pipelines are no more, you can see 4 levels of filtering of the water before it enters the ponds.
Though the underground pipelines are no more, you can see 4 levels of filtering of the water before it enters the ponds.
(amazinglanka.com)



Dr. Senarath Paranavithana was actively involved in the restoration of the ponds, in which small figures of fish, a conch, a crab and a dancing woman were found in the bottom.

For symmetry and beauty, constructed out of granite, 1500 years ago, it is hard to beat.

Please click on the web-link below:-
 
 https://youtu.be/hze1cY5tfd8