Amongst the craggy regions of the Central province of Sri Lanka is a placid and beautiful man-made lake, which is actually the Kandalama Reservoir. Created by kings of long-gone times in order to provide water for farming irrigation; the Kandelle or Candelay reservoir, as it was also known, is located in the town of Kandalama and was made by damming one of the main tributaries of Kala Wewa.
The reservoir measures 4.8 km (3.0 miles) long and 2.3 km (1.4 miles) across at its largest parts; with a catchment area of 102 km2 (39.4 square miles) and a volume of 33,300,000 m3 (1.18×109 cubic ft).
The ancient wall of the dam itself has a massive height of 21 m (69 ft) and a width of 1,600 m (5,200 ft), making visitors wonder if it was built by giants. The reservoir has water all throughout the year and provides irrigation extending up to the distant Kekirawa region.
