THE WILPATTU NATIONAL PARK (01 of 03)

The Wilpattu National park is one of the largest and oldest national parks in Sri Lanka, covering an area of 1,317 km² (131,693 hectares). Situated in the Northwest coastal lowland dry zone of the country, Wilpattu ranges between 0-152m above sea level. One of the unique topographical features of the park is that it has more than one-hundred-and-six tanks and lakes (Willus). “Willu” are natural sand rimmed water basins that area filled with rainwater. While these Willus mainly contain fresh or brackish water, two of Wilpattu’s willus are said to contain saline water. Following the long rainy season, all willus and lakes of the park were full during the time of our visit. Hence instead of the usual tracks that cut across the sandy beds of the willus, we had to take by-roads through the forest areas.

Willpattu is also a historically important location as it is the area named as “Thambapanni” (area with copper sand) where the Mahawansa claims that prince Vijaya first arrived on the island, and met with princess Kuveni. Kuveni (or Kuwanna) is said to be a princess of the Yakkha tribe that inhabited the island before the arrival of Vijaya and his men. The “Kudiramalai” (Horse point) harbor in Thambapanni had been a popular place of international trade, where a subject of Emperor Claudius (47 AD) from Rome had accidently arrived, and then held trade relations afterwards.

Legends say that a ruthless warrior queen named Alli-sarani (or Alli-rani) once ruled the area having Kudiramali as her capital. She has led an all-female army and controlled the pearl trade around the bay of Mannar. It is said that Alli-sarani traded Arabian horses for pearls, thus the harbor got its name. There had been a statue of a horse just above the harbor which was visible for traders coming by sea. According to the South Indian literature, Alli-rani (queen Alli) is believed to be a reincarnation of goddess Minakshi. Some believe that Kuveni and Alli-sarani would have been the same, or have been sisters. The already discovered historical evidences, and the said many more such potential evidences in the Wilpattu area, suggests that the popular history of Sri Lanka deliberately fixed into a time frame of 2500 years, needs to be seriously investigated much further.

We spotted more than 60 bird species during 48 hours spent within the park, including an Orange-headed Thrush and a Black-naped Monarch. Several reptile and Butterfly species were also recorded. More than ten species of Mammals were also recorded.