This is a reservoir, known in Sri Lanka as a tank and it was first constructed by King Pandukabhaya about 2,400 years ago. There was probably a natural lake here in earlier times, but as the Dry Zone around Anuradhapura receives more than 80% of its rainfall during the northeast monsoon, Sri Lankan engineers devoted their attention to building dams at a remarkable early date. The Abhaya tank as it was called in ancient times, was loped; but it was in continual use for about 1,500 years while the city flourished. The system of reservoirs interconnected by a network of more than 600 channels, that were built all over the dry zone of the island during the ancient times and stands as the single most massive achievement of the ancient Sri Lankans. Today, pilgrims visiting the shrines at Anuradhapura still bath in the Abhaya Tank.
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