Reference
Glossary
The Sinhala and Pali terms used across this archive, with their script forms and meanings.
- All 39
- Irrigation & agriculture 6
- Office & administration 7
- Religion & monastic life 10
- Society & community 6
- Architecture & craft 6
- General 4
A
- Amuna අමුණ amuṇa
- A weir or diversion dam built across a river to feed a canal. Distinct from a tank: it diverts flow rather than storing it.
B
- Bisokotuwa බිසෝකොටුව bisōkoṭuva
- The valve pit built into a reservoir bund to regulate outflow under pressure. It allowed water to be drawn from a tank without the escaping flow damaging the embankment, and is among the distinctive engineering contributions of the island's hydraulic tradition.
E
- Ela ඇළ æla
- A canal or channel. The Yoda Ela, running some 87 kilometres from Kala Wewa to Anuradhapura at a gradient of a few centimetres per kilometre, is the best-known example.
K
- Kanna කන්නය kannaya
- A cultivation season. Maha follows the north-east monsoon from around October; Yala is the shorter and drier season from around April.
W
- Wewa වැව væva
- A reservoir or tank. The basic unit of the dry-zone irrigation system, ranging from a village pond of a few hectares to the great royal reservoirs of tens of square kilometres.
Y
- Yaya යාය yāya
- A tract of paddy land served by a single tank or channel, cultivated on a shared schedule agreed among its farmers.