This vast water reservoir was built by King Parakramabahu-the Great(1153-1186). What you see today as the Parakrama Samudraya is only a part of his original creation. Parakrama Samudraya originally consisted of five large reservoirs separated by smaller dams to reduce the pressure on the main dam. Many smaller tanks have been built around the main tank to feed these primary tanks and to take excess water. The main five reservoirs which consist of the Parakrama Samudraya are; Thopa Wewa, Eramudu Wewa (Katu Wewa), Dumbuthulu Wewa, Kalahagala Wewa, Bhu Wewa. During restoration of the Parakrama Samudraya, the water which was supposed to come to the Thopa Wewa has started flowing to the Bhu Wewa. Then the engineers constructed a temporary dam to block the water flowing to the Bhu Wewa. This temporary wall became a permanent and this isolated Kalahagala Wewa and Bhu Wewa from the Parakrama Samudraya. The new reconstruction process has ignored most of the ancient technology which this tank was built in reducing the capacity of the tank further. Today, the dam of Parakrama Samudraya is 8 ½ miles (14 kilometres) in length and 40 feet (12.2 metres) in height. The body of water covers 5350 acres with an average depth of 25 feet. Over 18000 acres of paddy land is supported by this reservoir. Location Polonnaruwa Coordinates 7°54′N 80°58′ECoordinates: 7°54′N 80°58′E Type reservoir Catchment area 75,000,000 m2 Basin countries Sri Lanka Surface area 22,600,000 m2 Average depth 5 m (Mean) Max. depth 12.7 m Surface elevation 58.5 m