Surrounded by forest, this huge body of water is thought to have acted as an ancient water storage tank for the Abhayagiri monastery rather than as a pool for pachyderms. Such is the scale of the tank – 159m long, 53m wide and 10m deep – that six Olympic-sized swimming pools could comfortably fit inside it.
Underground channels from the Periyamkulama Tank keep the pond topped up, and are still in working order – during very heavy rains water pours into the pond from inlets.
