Sorabora Lake
Uva Province
About Sorabora Lake
Sorabora Wewa at Mahiyangana is ancient engineering with a folk hero attached: the great tank - the 'Sea of Bintenna' - was built in the reign of King Dutugemunu (2nd century BC) and credited by legend to the giant Bulta, a warrior of prodigious strength who dug it, stories insist, using only a mammoty and his hands. Its wonder is the sluice: where every other ancient reservoir used built-up masonry outlets, Sorabora's engineers carved the entire sluice channel through living bedrock - a gorge of dressed stone you can walk beside as water still thunders through to the paddies below, twenty-two centuries on. The lake itself spreads silver toward the wall of the central hills; catamaran boatmen pole visitors out at dawn and dusk, fish eagles patrol, and elephants sometimes drink along the far shore. With Mahiyangana's great stupa ten minutes away, it completes the plain's ancient pairing.
Top Activities
- ✓The rock-cut sluice gorge
- ✓Catamaran boat rides at dawn
- ✓Fish eagle and elephant watching
- ✓Combine with Mahiyangana temple
- ✓Lakeside walks on the ancient bund
Nearby Attractions
Travel Tips
Walk the sluice channel - it's the engineering highlight, easy to miss.
Dawn boat rides get glass-calm water and the best birdlife.
Combine with Dambana's Vedda community, twenty minutes east.
Quick Info
Best Time
Year-round; dawn and dusk
Weather
Hot on the plain; mornings and evenings are the golden hours.
Estimated Daily Budget
7.3392°N, 81.0244°E
Open in Google Maps →Ready to Visit?
Add Sorabora Lake to your trip and let AI create your personalised itinerary.