Abstract:
The hydraulic civilization of Sri Lanka had been developed in terms of the tanks in the
country. Agriculture is the main subsistence of Sri Lankans from the ancient past. Sri Lankans could
able to build a proud history with traditional irrigation technological wisdom which shaped by rich
cultural features of the ancient period. Hydraulic civilization in Sri Lanka has unique features of its
own. The main income of the Pemaduwa people is paddy, dry and mixed cultivation and fishing.
These people still have intimate relationships, practicing environmental protection methods and
performing various cultural activities and social practices related totanks. The ancient bureaucratic
system was not in practice and it had replaced by the present administrative system. The Objectives
of this research are to study about the indigenous irrigation wisdom in terms of traditional technical
knowledge, administration, management and environmental protection systems in the ancient irrigation
civilization of the country. The present study has conducted in the Villachchi region in Anuradhapura
district, which named as ‘MahawewbendhiRajjyaya’ (the country where massive tanks were built).
