Naccaduva: Island of water festivals

Prof. W. I. Siriweera

The Naccaduva reservoir, seven miles South-East of Anuradhapura, can be identified from epigraphic sources with the Pattapasana Vapi of the Mahavamsa constructed by king Moggallana II (531-551) by damming the Malvatu Oya and its tributary, Maminya Oya. Naccaduva literally means the island of dance and festivals. It is likely that during the latter part of the Anuradhapura kingdom the place was used for certain water festivals by the kings and nobility.

Naccaduva reservoir

The reservoir submerged 4408 acres of land and irrigated 4200 acres of paddy. Its supply from the Malvatu Oya was supplemented by a canal about 6 miles long which branched off from the Jaya ganga constructed earlier by king Dhatusena (455-473) to convey water from the Kala vava to Tisa vava in Anuradhapura. On the other hand, a 50 feet wide canal from Naccaduva augmented the water supply of Nuvara vava in Anuradhapura, another good testimony for engineering skills of our ancestors in connecting the network of reservoirs and canals. This Nuvara vava augmentation scheme can also be dated to the sixth century A.D.

Ancient reservoirs

The length of the bund of the Naccaduva reservoir is about one mile and its height is about 35 feet. The width of the bund on top is about 20 feet.

Its 10 feet 10 inches long and 12 feet 6 inches wide sluice or the bisokotuva in popular parlance, can be considered as one of the best sluices in the ancient reservoirs. Two inlet culverts discharged water from the reservoir to the sluice and two outlet culverts from the sluice released water to the main canal.

To facilitate overflooding, a fine masonary dam or Vana, 44 feet wide at the crest, and 167 feet long had been built at the point where the embankment abutted against the northern ridge. Part of the flood water which spilled over the dam rejoined the Malvatu River. It is from this point that the earlier mentioned canal up to Nuvara Vava was constructed.

As all other reservoirs, the Naccaduva tank was also repaired by successive kings. According to the Mahavamsa the most important restorations had been done in the reigns of Vijayabahu I (1070-1110) and Parakramabahu I (1153-1186) of Polonnaruva.

Rajarata civilization

After the collapse of the Rajarata civilization in the middle of the thirteenth century, the Naccaduva reservoir and surroundings too remained desolate until restoration work began in the twentieth century. In order to revive the irrigation network in the Island the British rulers established a separate irrigation department in 1900. The restoration of the Naccaduva a started in 1906 during the governorship of Sir Henry Arthur Blake. By this time there were five breaches in the bund and many trees had grown inside the reservoir. The restoration was completed in 1914.

The first attempt in the direction of state aided colonization schemes started at Naccaduva after the restoration of the reservoir. At the very beginning the state supported a voluntary organization named the Ceylon Agricultural society to initiate colonization but the project was abandoned due to epidemics of influenza and malaria. In 1918-1919 alone 35,000 people died in the Island as a result of malaria.

But after the end of the first World War, Naccaduva scheme was resuscitated as one of the measures to counteract the food crisis. In 1920, the government wanted to settle at least 25 families in the colony. Each peasant family was to be allocated five acres of paddy land and 2.5 acres of highland. The planned outright assistance included a temporary house and meals until the colonists were self-supporting. They were also to be given some money and seed paddy and buffaloes for cultivation. Later, Jak plants, free tools and coconuts were added to the list. A colonization officer was to be appointed to supervise the development work.

Financial difficulties

The colonists were obliged to clear the jungle and prepare land for cultivation. They were expected to repay debts to the government to obtain the right of ownership of land.

Nevertheless, attracting colonists was not easy and the first batch in 1920 included only 19 families consisting of 91 souls.

Out of them, two adults and 15 children had died due to malaria by the end of the year. Some settlers deserted the colony and it was difficult to find replacements.

The colonists soon experienced financial difficulties as well. Their indebtedness resulted in some holdings passing into the hands of money lenders.

In 1924, Naccaduva was closed down as a colonization scheme but it was started again in 1933. In the new scheme colonists were expected to make an annual payment in return for government cleared land. A cash deposit was also expected of them and they had to build their own houses.

Thus even middle class colonists were attracted to Naccaduva. The government only provided roads and channels, measures for malaria control and health facilities. Later on, Naccaduva became a popular habitat and apart from colonists there were other migrants and locals of the surrounding areas who settled at Naccaduva.

By December 31,1953, settlements at Naccaduva had considerably increased and there were 820 allottees. Over 5,385 acres of land had been alienated by the government among these settlers.

The later successes of colonies such as the Naccaduva had contributed to the increase of population in the North Central Province. The province which was carved out in 1873 had a population of 97,365 in 1931. By 1951 it had increased to 228,759. The 2001 census recorded a population of 1,104,664, which implies a remarkable demographic growth in the Tank Territory.