The Mahaweli River ( si, මහවැලි ගඟ, literally "Great Sandy River"; ta, மகாவலி ஆறு 'mahawali gangai'', is a long river, ranking as the longest

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

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 ...

. It has a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

of , the largest in the country, which covers almost one-fifth of the total area of the island. The real beginning of Mahaweli Ganga starts at Polwathura (at Mahawila area), a remote village of Nuwara-Eliya District in bank Nawalapitiya of Kandy District by further joining of Hatton Oya and Kotmale Oya. The river reaches the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line bet ...

on the southwestern side of

Trincomalee Bay Trincomalee Bay, also known as Koddiyar Bay, is a bay in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ( ...

. The bay includes the first of a number

submarine canyon A submarine canyon is a steep-sided valley cut into the seabed of the continental slope, sometimes extending well onto the continental shelf, having nearly vertical walls, and occasionally having canyon wall heights of up to 5 km, from ...

s, making Trincomalee one of the finest natural deep-sea

harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

s in the world. As part of

Mahaweli Development programme The Mahaweli Development program ( si, මහවැලි සංවර්ධන වැඩසටහන) is known as the largest multipurpose national development program in the history of Sri Lanka and is also considered as the keystone of the govern ...

the river and its tributaries are dammed at several locations to allow

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been dev ...

in the dry zone, with almost of land irrigated. Production of

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined a ...

from six dams of the Mahaweli system supplies more than 40% of Sri Lanka's electricity needs. One of the many sources of the river is the

Kotmale Oya The Kotmale River ( si, කොත්මලේ ඔය ) is the longest tributary of Mahaweli River. The river begins as the Agra Oya, in the Horton Plains. The Central Plains have an annual rainfall of between 125 and 200 inches a year. The river ...

.Mahaweli Ganga
/ref> There is a misconception in Sri Lanka that the Mahaweli starts in the Sri Pada mountain. The Mahaweli gets its source waters from

Horton Plains Horton Plains National Park ( si, හෝර්ටන් තැන්න ජාතික උද්‍යානය, Hortan Thanna Jathika Udyanaya) is a national park in the central highlands of Sri Lanka that was designated in 1988. It is locate ...

Kirigalpoththa Kirigalpotta is the 2nd tallest mountain in Sri Lanka at above mean sea level, and is also the highest mountain in the country whose summit is accessible to the general public (the highest point, Pidurutalagala, is occupied by a military base and ...

and the Thotupola mountain range.

Tributaries

* Nanu Oya * Puna Oya * Pundalu Oya *

* Hatton Oya * Nilamba Oya * Thalathu Oya * Hulu Ganga * Beli Ul Oya * Kirindi Oya * Loggal Oya * Uma Oya * Badulu Oya * Amban Ganga

Starting of Mahaweli

The Mahaweli River starts from Polwathura/Mahavila area with its water source starting from the Horton Plains National Park.

References

External links

Mahaweli River The Lifeline of Sri Lanka
Rivers of Sri Lanka {{SriLanka-river-stub

Tributaries

Starting of Mahaweli

See also

References

External links