Prakrama Bahoo,from the Maha Wanso. 



147 



paddy fields of many thousands of Wahas* of extent, and converted the 

 place in truth into a Kotlahaddha, according to the literal meaning of the 

 term, from the fact of its having Kottabaddaha\ (perpetual granaries,) 

 from the two Pali words Kotia, granary, and abaddha, perpetual. 



Thereafter the King having dammed up the mouths of the rivers 

 Sankaivaddhamdnd, and KumbMlaivdnd, as far as the Sahara Nijjhara % 

 (literally Hog cascade, or stream,) and there too, having made a canal, 

 and conducting the water into the tank of Mahdddragalla, thoroughly 

 repairing (at the same time) the breaches thereof, including the clearing 

 of the water-courses, (thus) brought into it a larger body of water than 

 it had before, and having formed paddy fields from this place as far as 

 the Sukara Nijjara, collected paddy. 



The King moreover, having made a collection of water in the middle 

 of the river Jajjara (Dedroo Oya?) and having formed paddy fields, col- 

 lected vast quantities of grain. 



Moreover, having made Panda Wdpi, which was formerly very small 

 indeed, (into one) containing a body of water, great and exceedingly 

 lofty, having outlets for the water, and an embankment of greatly increased 

 height, length, breadth and strength, he gave it the name of " the Sea 

 of Parakkama." 



In an island situated in the middle of it, on the summitof a rock § 

 the King built a Dhatu gabbho (Dagoba) resembling the peak of Mount 

 Kayldsa. 



* According - to the Pali Nighandu of Moggallana. 



4 Nellis make 1 Lahassa (or Kurunni) 

 4 Lahas „ 1 Drona 

 4 Drona s „ ] Marika 

 4 Marikas „ 1 Khari (or Ammonam) 

 20 Kaharis „ 1 Waha 



-j- This is no doubt the KottaVella of Brook. The Singhalese wordFe//a (g^r^fs 

 and the Pali word £>)©) Baddha, both mean, an embankment. 



" From Kotta Vella to Dastotte, a distance of 9 miles, the country is one of the 

 most delightful I ever recollect seeing on this Island, nearly the whole distance a car- 

 riage might drive ; there are strong marks of many of the plains and parts of the open 

 country having been cultivated, it abounds in tanks and ravines to facilitate irrigation, 

 all of which are neglected and broken. The reason the inhabitants assign for this, is 

 want of people, and money to keep them in order. (Route from Matelle to Trinco- 

 malie, by way of the Ambanganga, by R. Brook, Esq.) 



$ Instead of " as far as the Sukara Nijjhara ^CSD^^^I^^C^^^o" some 

 MSS. read ccfa &?.o£Q £5)(5 ^5)(5o" " the P lace Sukara Nijjhara." If this 

 be the correct reading, the whole passage might be thus translated : 



" Thereafter the King having dammed up, at the junctions of the rivers Sanka- 

 waddhamana, and Kumbhilawana, the place (called) Sukara Nijjhara &c." 



§ I am informed by Mr. Braybrooke, who has visited Padiwel Colum, that there is 

 a rock in the embankment, called by the natives ©^©CS^d'©)**^" <!53>25c* 

 Deyijaniie Kanda, " God's Hill, 77 or " King's Hill," which they believe is haunted by 

 the spirit of King Mahasen, to whom tradition ascribes the construction of the tank. ° 



