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JOUKNAL E. A. S, (OEYIiON.) [Vol. III. 



I am not prepared to say what particular tank is meant by 

 Panda-wapi, in this passage, as I have not been able to 

 meet with any information, either in the Mahawanso or in 

 any other work, which would enable me to identify it with any 

 degree of certainty. The name Panda-wapi occurs but twice 

 in the previous part of the Mahawanso. King Mahadathiko 

 Maha Nago is said to have bestowed the " Panda-wapi Vi- 

 h&ra" i. e. ( the Panda Tank Vihara,' on a certain Samanero, 

 which proves the existence of a tank of that name so early as 

 A. D.8. (vide Tumour's translation of the Mahawanso, p. 214.) 

 The next reference to Panda-wapi is in the 60th Chapter of the 

 Mahawanso, in which it is mentioned as one of the tanks 

 constructed, or prepared, by King Wijaya Bahu I.,* who 

 reigned at Polonnaruwa A. D. 1071 — 1126. I am, however, 

 inclined to think that we may recognize the Panda-wapi of 

 the Mahawanso in the modern Padavij or P adavil-kulam of 

 the Wanni district. 



The reasons which have led me to form this conjecture are, 

 first, the similarity, or rather the identity, of the names ; for 

 the Pali word S)o8, wdpi, and the Tamil word @«s»r^, hdam, 

 erroneously spelt Colom, both mean i tank' so that in fact the 

 Pali term Panda-wapi is an equivalent for the Tamil, Panda 



* As this part of the Mahawanso has not been translated into English, 

 I annex a translation of the verses relating to works of irrigation in this 

 reign. 



" The tanks of Mahaheli, Sareheru, Maha Danta, Katunnaru, 

 Panda-wapi, Kallagalla, Erandagalla, Dighawatthu, Mandawata, Kit- 

 taggabodhi Pabbata, Walahassa Mahadaragalla Kumbhilasobbha, 

 Pattapasana, and Kanawapi, as well as many other tanks whose embank- 

 ments had been in ruins, did the King build (and repair,) ever intent on 

 the welfare of the poor. The ruler of the land having constructed 

 embankments (to prevent inundation) in many rivers, streams, in various 

 parts (of the Island) rendered the country abundant in food. Having 

 also constructed the canal Tillawathu, which had been in ruins, he filkd 

 the tank of Manihfra (Minnery) with water," — Vide 60th Chapter of 

 the Mahawanso. 



