Mahavilachchiya - The First Model eVillage of Sri Lanka
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Mahavilachchiya is a settlement which was started in 1960s with the repair of Mahavilachchiya reservoir which was built during ancient kings’ times. The area had been abandoned for centuries till the settlements were done. There are two huge reservoirs called Mahavilachchiya and Kudavilachchiya and the latter remains unrepaired to date. The village Mahavilachchiya was recreated around Mahavilachchiya reservoir and the settlement Kudavilachchiya was not executed due to some reasons.

Geography

Mahavilachchiya village is located 40 Kilometers away from the city of Anuradhapura (see map) surrounded by the Vilpattu national park. The even land stretches unto the Horizon hosting water reservoirs small and large including the Mahavilachchiya tank, one of the biggest in Sri Lanka. The flat fertile land provides the population everything since farming is the livelihood of the most of the people here.

Heritage

Mahavilachchiya is surrounded by the ancient ruins and places of historical value. Malwathu Oya River, the path which lead prince Vijaya into the country quietly flows across the area. Prince Vijaya later became the first king of Sri Lanka. Vijaya’s team built our first villages along the Malvathu Oya and later they either developed as cities or vanished into the history. Anuradhapura is such a village of pagodas, stone Buddha statues and shrines.
In Mahavilachchiya area, there is a lot remaining evidence historical value. It bears witness to a large number of ruins including stone statues which had been abandoned for thousands of years. According to the sources, some of them had been badly damaged by treasure hunters. Restoration and excavation in the jungle has totally been given up due to the war between Tamil Tigers and the government forces that lasted for several decades.

Population

The population of Mahavilachchiya is around 20,000 and nearly 8,000 families live in the area. The population is mainly Sinhalese Buddhists though there are few Sinhalese catholic families too. There may be less than 10 Tamil families in the village but Muslims are hard to find in Mahavilachchiya.

Security

Mahavilachchiya has two main police stations, one in Pemaduwa and the other in Tantirimale. There are smaller police posts and check points. There are some army bases and training camps too. The police, army and the Civil Security Force provide protection to the village and they also help villagers in other forms of community work too. The Tamil tigers attacked the police, army, Civil Security Force and civilians several times in the past but with the successful operations carried out by the Sri Lanka forces in 2008, terrorists’ attacks were not reported. Before 2008, Tamil terrorists have killed several civilians in Mahavilachchiya.