{"id":117577,"date":"2021-08-28T16:48:57","date_gmt":"2021-08-28T23:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=117577"},"modified":"2021-08-28T16:48:57","modified_gmt":"2021-08-28T23:48:57","slug":"leave-parakrama-samudraya-alone-please","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/08\/28\/leave-parakrama-samudraya-alone-please\/","title":{"rendered":"Leave Parakrama Samudraya alone, please"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chanaka Bandarage<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

News from Polonnaruwa states that a\njogging track is to be built on the bund of the Great Tank (Wewa) – Parakrama\nSamudraya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parakrama Samudraya is a gigantic tank (\u2018samudra\u2019\nmeans large as a sea).  Its archeological\nvalue is unspeakable\/unmeasurable.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parakrama Samudraya was built by\nParakramabahu the Great, more than 1,500 years ago.  During his period Sri Lanka exported rice to\nother countries as well.  It is stated\nthat he conquered parts of modern day Myanmar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our ancient tanks were built with the\nintention of storing rainfall and surface run off water. They are inter connected\nwith number of complex canals and spillways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tanks collected and distributed water\nprimarily for paddy cultivation.  They\nwere also a method of flood protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is Sri Lanka\u2019s ancient \u2018Sinhala\nHydraulic Irrigation\u2019 system. The whole world is astonished about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our forefathers preserved these great\ntanks with meticulous care and dedication. That is why they exist in such fine\nform today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our solemn duty should be to preserve them\nin their original form and shape for the next 1,500 years.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we build modern\/state of the art\njogging tracks upon bunds (banks) of the great tanks, they will not only harm\nthe tanks\u2019 ancient value but their engineering structures as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A jogging track was recently built on the\nbank of Tissamaharama Tank (Tissa Wewa – another ancient tank, built about 2,300\nyears ago).  It is a modern track built\nusing expensive red bricks.  The track\nresembles Colombo Independence Square\u2019s walking tracks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Tissamaharama walking track compatible\nwith the Tank\u2019s ancient status, rich historical value and glory? No<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The irreversible changes made to these\nprecious archeological structures clearly amount to unnecessarily meddling with\nthem.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building modern jogging tracks upon bunds\nof these most valuable, ancient tanks is akin to someone wearing a flashy,\nEuropean tie with his Sri Lankan national dress (jathika anduma).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parakrama Samudraya mirrors our rich\nhistory. It is a clear personification of the Great Sinhala Buddhist\nCivilization that was built on 3 pillars – \u2018village, temple and tank\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is an embodiment that represents our\nunique, most significant culture to the whole world. It is part of the nation\u2019s\nheart, soul and life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should not disregard that Polonnaruwa\nis a UNESCO World Heritage site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The construction work \u2013 use of very heavy machinery, removal\nof thousands of large granite\/quartzite rocks that form the current breakwater\n(where these precious rocks would end up?<\/em>), concrete\/cement work, and use\nof chemicals can ruin the tank permanently. Once the solid breakwater is gone,\nwould the jogging track be able to prevent the tank water from flooding lower\nlands? There is no doubt that the work involves removing trees and plants growing\nin and around the tank.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once built, thousands of people will use the jogging track\n(current tank bund) each day; wanting to jog\/walk.  They will cause untold damage to the tank\u2019s natural\nand serene environment. The overcrowding of people\/vehicle fumes will pollute the\ntank water; they will introduce tons of polythene, plastic, sewage and air\/noise\npollution. Many shops and boutiques will pop up to cater to the needs of the\nincreased population (thus the inevitable emergence of pests like stray dogs, rats,\ncrows and cockroaches). The damage\/disturbance that the jogging track could do\nto wildlife is immense. Wild elephants too use this reservoir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, local people uses the tank bund for various purposes\nlike bathing in the tank, spend time leisurely, drive cattle, and pilgrims to\nPolonnaruwa who cannot afford hotels use it as a place to cook a quick meal.  All this will end as the track will be\nexclusively reserved for those who jog\/walk. Basically that area will become\nout of bounds to simple, ordinary peasants of Polonnaruwa and poor visitors to\nPolonnaruwa (it is alleged that similar things have happened in Tissamaharama).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True, modernization is important to\nenhance people\u2019s standard of living. But, that does not mean we should \u2018modernize\u2019\nour valuable ancient history, heritage, culture and values.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the good monks who protested outlining\nthat there are ample other places in Polonnaruwa to build jogging\/walking tracks,\nthe authorities must permanently disband the idea of building a jogging track upon\nthe bund (bank) of the Great Tank – Parakrama Samudraya.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chanaka Bandarage News from Polonnaruwa states that a jogging track is to be built on the bund of the Great Tank (Wewa) – Parakrama Samudraya. Parakrama Samudraya is a gigantic tank (\u2018samudra\u2019 means large as a sea).  Its archeological value is unspeakable\/unmeasurable.  Parakrama Samudraya was built by Parakramabahu the Great, more than 1,500 years ago.  […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chanaka-bandarage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117577\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}