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Gal Oya
The Gal Oya is a long river, in South east Sri Lanka. It is the 16th longest river in Sri Lanka. It begins in the hills east of Badulla and flows northeast, emptying into the Indian Ocean south of Kalmunai. The river was dammed in 1948 as part of the Gal Oya scheme. The dam created the Senanayake Samudra — the largest reservoir in Sri Lanka, at Bintenne. Resettlement of the Tamils and Sinhalese people displaced in this scheme gave rise to among the first ethnic riots in Sri Lanka. The Gal Oya project resulted in the formation of the 100,000 acre Gal Oya basin. This basin has since been used for cultivating paddy, chillies, sugarcane and potatoes. The Gal Oya National Park in the vicinity has a wide variety of wildlife including bears, leopards and elephants. See also * List of rivers in Sri Lanka * Gal Oya Dam * Gal Oya National Park * Gal Oya riots The 1956 anti-Tamil pogrom, also known as the Gal Oya riots, was the first organised pogrom against Sri Lankan Tamils i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gal Oya Dam
The Gal Oya Dam (also known as Inginiyagala Dam) is an embankment dam in the Uva Province of Sri Lanka. The dam creates one of the largest reservoirs in the country, the Gal Oya Reservoir. Water from the reservoir is used primarily for irrigation in the Uva and Eastern provinces, in addition to powering a small hydroelectric power station. Construction of the dam and reservoir began in , completing four years later in . Dam and reservoir The dam is constructed between two hills at the small town of Inginiyagala, measuring and in length and height respectively, consisting of of soil. The dam, built by Morrison-Knudsen company, creates the Gal Oya Reservoir. The reservoir, also known as the Inginiyagala Reservoir, and more commonly as the Senanayake Samudraya (after D.S. Senanayake), has a total storage of and a surface area of . Power station In addition to downstream irrigation, water from the reservoir is used to power the , a hydroelectric power station located immed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, and southeast of the Arabian Sea; it is separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. Sri Lanka shares a maritime border with India and Maldives. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is its legislative capital, and Colombo is its largest city and financial centre. Sri Lanka has a population of around 22 million (2020) and is a multinational state, home to diverse cultures, languages, and ethnicities. The Sinhalese are the majority of the nation's population. The Tamils, who are a large minority group, have also played an influential role in the island's history. Other long established groups include the Moors, the Burghers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by the Southern Ocean or Antarctica, depending on the definition in use. Along its core, the Indian Ocean has some large marginal or regional seas such as the Arabian Sea, Laccadive Sea, Bay of Bengal, and Andaman Sea. Etymology The Indian Ocean has been known by its present name since at least 1515 when the Latin form ''Oceanus Orientalis Indicus'' ("Indian Eastern Ocean") is attested, named after Indian subcontinent, India, which projects into it. It was earlier known as the ''Eastern Ocean'', a term that was still in use during the mid-18th century (see map), as opposed to the ''Western Ocean'' (Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic) before the Pacific Ocean, Pacific was surmised. Conversely, Ming treasure voyages, Chinese explorers in the Indian Oce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of water. Small rivers can be referred to using names such as Stream#Creek, creek, Stream#Brook, brook, rivulet, and rill. There are no official definitions for the generic term river as applied to Geographical feature, geographic features, although in some countries or communities a stream is defined by its size. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location; examples are "run" in some parts of the United States, "Burn (landform), burn" in Scotland and northeast England, and "beck" in northern England. Sometimes a river is defined as being larger than a creek, but not always: the language is vague. Rivers are part of the water cycle. Water generally collects in a river from Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation through a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Badulla
Badulla ( si, බදුල්ල, ta, பதுளை) is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the lower central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District. Geography Badulla is located in the southeast of Kandy, almost encircled by the Badulu Oya River, about above sea level and is surrounded by tea plantations. The city is overshadowed by the Namunukula range of mountains (highest peak above sea level). It was a base of a pre-colonial Sinhalese people, Sinhalese local prince (regional king) who ruled the area under the main King in Kandy before it became part of the British Empire. Later, it became one of the provincial administrative hubs of the British rulers. The city was the terminus of upcountry railway line built by the British in order to take mainly tea plantation products to Colombo. History and present day Badulla was an isolated village until the British built roads from Kandy and Nuwara Eliya in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kalmunai
Kalmunai ( ta, கல்முனை, translit=Kalmuṉai; si, කල්මුනේ, translit=Kalmunē) is a major city in Ampara District. It is the largest city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. It had a total population of 106,780 as of 2011. It is one of the few Muslim-majority municipalities in the country. When Muslims in Colombo were expelled by Portuguese in the 17th century, they fled to Kandy and sought refuge with King Rajasinha II, who resettled these refugees in Kalmunai (8,000 refugees) and Kattankudy (4,000). Kalmunai was the site of the royal farm, as a result of this settlement, it became a Muslim-majority area. There were Sri Lankan Muslims, Sri Lankan Tamils, Sinhalese, and Burghers with the Moors forming a majority. It consists of four major regions namely Kalmunai city (Thalavatuvan Junction to Tharavai kovil Road), Kalmunai South ( almunaikudy Kalmunai North (Pandiruppu, Maruthamunai, and Neelavanai), Kalmunai Out City ( Sainthamaruthu) and Kalmunai West (Nat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Senanayake Samudraya
Senanayake Samudraya ( Sinhala: සේනානායක සමූද්රය, Tamil: சேனானாயக்க சமூத்ரய) is the biggest reservoir and man-made lake in Sri Lanka. It is locally known as the sea ( Sinhala:සමූද්රය ''samudraya'', Tamil :கடல்). Senanayake Samudraya was opened on 28 August 1949 under the Gal Oya Multipurpose Scheme, which was completed in 1953 by D. S. Senanayake. Senanayake Samudraya was formed by damming the Gal Oya river and other smaller rivers in between a pair of mountains in Inginiyagala. Senanayake Samudraya is the largest and one of the most iconic reservoirs with an earthen dam built after receiving freedom from the British and was completed in 1953. The reservoir is sometimes referred to as “ Inginiyagala Reservoir”. The Senanayaka Samudraya is part of the Gal Oya multipurpose irrigation system project which started in the year 1949 and completed in 1953 by the first prime minister of Sr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamils
The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Dravidian ethno-linguistic group who trace their ancestry mainly to India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu, union territory of Puducherry and to Sri Lanka. Tamils who speak the Tamil Language and are born in Tamil clans are considered Tamilians. Tamils constitute 5.9% of the population in India (concentrated mainly in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry), 15% in Sri Lanka (excluding Sri Lankan Moors), 7% in Malaysia, 6% in Mauritius, and 5% in Singapore. From the 4th century BCE, urbanisation and mercantile activity along the western and eastern coasts of what is today Kerala and Tamil Nadu led to the development of four large Tamil empires, the Cheras, Cholas, Pandyas, and Pallavas and a number of smaller states, all of whom were warring amongst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinhalese People
Sinhalese people ( si, සිංහල ජනතාව, Sinhala Janathāva) are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They were historically known as Hela people ( si, හෙළ). They constitute about 75% of the Sri Lankan population and number more than 16.2 million. The Sinhalese identity is based on language, cultural heritage and nationality. The Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, an insular Indo-Aryan language, and are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, although a minority of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity and other religions. Since 1815, they were broadly divided into two respective groups: The 'Up-country Sinhalese' in the central mountainous regions, and the 'Low-country Sinhalese' in the coastal regions; although both groups speak the same language, they are distinguished as they observe different cultural customs. According to the Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa, a third–fifth century treatise written in Pali by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gal Oya Riots
The 1956 anti-Tamil pogrom, also known as the Gal Oya riots, was the first organised pogrom against Sri Lankan Tamils in the Dominion of Ceylon. It began with anti-Tamil rioting in Colombo, followed by anti-Sinhalese rioting in Batticaloa. The worst of the violence took place in the Gal Oya valley, where local majority Sinhalese colonists and employees of the Gal Oya Development Board commandeered government vehicles, dynamite and weapons and massacred minority Tamils. It is estimated that over 150 people died during the violence. The police and army were eventually able to bring the situation under control. Background information By 1956, 50% of clerical jobs were held by Tamils, although they were a minority of the country's population. This was partly due to the availability of Western style education built by American missionaries in the Tamil dominant Jaffna peninsula during the colonial era. The overrepresentation of Tamils was used by populist Sinhalese politicians to come ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gal Oya National Park
Gal Oya National Park in Sri Lanka was established in 1954 and serves as the main catchment area for Senanayake Samudraya, the largest reservoir in Sri Lanka. Senanayake Samudraya was built under the Gal Oya development project by damming the Gal Oya at Inginiyagala in 1950. An important feature of the Gal Oya National Park is its elephant herd that can be seen throughout the year. Three important herbs of the Ayurveda medicine, triphala: ''Terminalia chebula'', ''Terminalia bellirica'' and ''Emblica officinalis'' are amongst the notable flora of the forest. From 1954 to 1965 the park was administrated by the Gal Oya Development Board until the Department of Wildlife Conservation took over administration. The national park is situated from Colombo. Associated protected areas The Gal Oya Development Board established several protected areas to protect the catchment areas of Senanayake Samudraya and several other reservoirs. This also helped to prevent the soil erosion caused by bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
