sore bora wawe

The story of this lake reached the king too. the king decided to visit him at his work. he was praised by the king. sorabora wawe is one of the eariest hydro logical constructions in our country. it is in mahiyanganaya which is one of the earliest seats of civilization in Sri Lanka.

there are many folk tales an folk songs about the beauty of “sorabora wawe”. the thone sluice of sorsbora wewa is considered a feat of engineering skill, unsurpassed.

Legends

There are many lends connected with the betel leaf. There is a legend which says that the betel leaf was brought from the land of the nagas.

there is another legend about a person who had to provide betel to the palace. He had to propane ‘seven chews’ of betel for the king at different times of the day. He was an ordinary villager, and soon he came to be known by the job he was given, ‘bulatha’ He had to trudge a long distance over a hill to perform this duty. legend says that bulatha,s wife who brought his lunch everyday thought of making a stone flight of steps as it would make her journey easier. Each day she carried two stones and laid then as steps. The hill with these man made steps is still known as “gal padihela’ some say it was bulatha who did the steps.

There is another legend about the making of the Sorabora wewa by bulatha. During his journey to the palace he is said to haw brought loads of sand and rock to the place where the wawe is. He had succecded in making a dam across the river creating a lake.

In 1929, Ceylon, the most beautiful of the world’ s large islands had the same colonial structure as Burma and India. The English had entrenched themselves in their neighbourhoods and their   clubs. Caught between the Englishmen dressed every evening in dinner jackets and the Hindus I couldn’t hope to reach their fabulous immensity. I had omly solitude open to me and that time was the loneliest in life

The loneliest years of my life

my dog and my mongoose ware my sole companions, fresh from the jungle The latter graw at my side, slept in my bed. and ate at my table. No one can imagine the affectionate of a mongoose.  little pet was faliar with every minute of my day to day life. She trampled all over  my long papers and raced after me all day long. She  curled up between my shoulder and my head at siesta time and slept there the fitful, electric sleep of wild animals. She  accompanied me on my  long walks  by the  sea shore. I learned what true Loneliness was in those days and years in Wellawatte. During all that time

I slept on a field cot like a soldier. All had for company were a table, and the   two Chairs for my work, strong up   the     shore   I would  come to the elephants bathing hole. With my dog alongside, my companion I couldn’t ged lost. He was my companion, my guardian who always   protected me.

RAINFORESTS

Tropical rainforests are   located around the equator. the temperature around the  equator, is high. hence the rate of water evaporation is high as a result there frequent rain in rainforests. They are found in South and Central America,  in  the islands around  Australia and Asia The rainforests are imporent to human existence and  the surroundings. Rainforests are a rich source of medicinal plants , food and useful forest products. they maintain about 50% of  the plant, animal, bird , reptile  and insect species of  the world. These forests help to maintain a regular rainfall. they also stand as a buffer against floods, droughts and erosion. These forests produce a significant amount of the world’s oxygen  

In 1890s the German engineer Rudolf Diesel invented the diesel engine. These inventions brought about a revolution in the ways of transport.

as a result of modern science and technology, there  has been a massive development in transportation was very, very slow. people traveled mainly on foot and transported goods on  their heads or dragged them along the ground. Later they learnt to use pack animals like horses, donkeys, camels and oxen. Next they used wagons drawn by animals and sailing vessels