You can easily reach the location of this Thampana reservoir by turning to the Katupitiya road at the Pilikada intersection which you will find when traveling from Kurunegala town to Kandy. The history of the area around the Thampana Reservoir, which was built during the British period, dates back to the era of King Walagamba, and during the Soli invasion, King Walagamba hid in and around this area. A temple called Bamba Viharaya, built during the hiding period is also found in this area even today.
Currently, the Kurunegala Municipal Council is entrusted with the custody of the land where the Thampana Reservoir is located, and the drinking water needs of the people around the Kurunegala city are met through this. This reservoir and its surrounding area are open for tourists only on the fortnight and on such days a visitor to this area will have the opportunity to worship the old Bamba temple built during the reign of the King Walagamba. However, even on such days, you will not have the opportunity to walk on the reservoir dam as you wish. If you want to do so, you must obtain permission from the Kurunegala Municipality.
If you choose such a fortnight for your visit you can see the rather high embankment from the current road near the area where the Thampana reservoir is located. At the end of the embankment, along with its exit, the small gate used to enter the area can be seen. A person who enters from that gate can see the Thampana Reservoir very beautifully and the not-so-big mountain Kota Kanda located nearby can also be seen. The basic need of this Thampana Reservoir, which was built during the time of the Duke of Edinburgh in the British era, is to get the water required for a British military camp located in the Udawalpola area near Kurunegala. Before the construction of Thampana Reservoir, there was a pagoda belonging to the Bamba temple built during the reign of Walagamba and several other structures at that place and during the construction of the reservoir, all of them were submerged. The ancient pipeline that transported water from the Thampana Reservoir can still be seen nearby, but now the pipeline system is not in use, and water is transported through another pipeline system to meet the drinking water needs around Kurunegala.
After entering the area where the Thampana Reservoir is located, a wide footpath can be seen along the reservoir, and when passing the reservoir, an ancient pond can be seen on the left. Legend has mentioned it that this pond was used for bathing during the reign of King Varagamba. When you pass the pond, you will see a step that goes up a bit and when you pass that step, you can see the Buddha temple of Bamba Vihara built during the reign of King Walagamba. A standing statue, a reclining statue, a sitting statue, and two statues of Agasava Denama can be seen in this Buddha temple, which was modernized during the Kandy era. Both the inner and outer walls of the temple have been decorated with paintings. An entrance to a tunnel that starts outside the Buddha temple can still be seen today, but over time, its entrance has been blocked. Legend has it that the tunnel extends towards Ridhigama Ridhivihara.
The forest in the area belonging to the Thampana reservoir area has been declared as a reserve by the Sri Lankan government. Thampana Reservoir is located near Kota Mountain and you have to go up through the reserve to climb it. There are no specific footpaths around the Bamba Temple and we traveled to the top of the hill with the help of Google Maps. While traveling like that, in one place, a rather tall but less wide rock can be seen, and a large number of bats are roosting in it. After that hill, when you climb up, you can see a gravel road leading to the top of the mountain, which had been prepared so that even a three-wheeled vehicle could travel. Later we came to know that the road starts from the 4th post of the Kurunegala - Kandy road. At the end of the gravel road, you could see a gravel pit. The nearby villagers call this as Ringana Gala. In the past, meditative monks may have lived in this cave, which was located in a rather special way. Looking straight ahead from Ringanagala, one can see the Ballegala mountain range, which is the second-highest mountain in Kurunegala district before Handuruk mountain. If you go slightly to the right of the creeping stone, you can reach the Thampana Reservoir and its surroundings, which is the most interesting place for tourists visiting the Thampana Reservoir. Down from that place is a steep slope and the tourists who come here like to take pictures of the Thampana Reservoir sitting at the beginning of the slope.
After visiting Ringanagala and its surrounding beauty, you can climb up through the forest with the help of Google Maps to find the highest point of Kota Mountain and finally reach the highest point of Thampana Mountain. A fairly flat rock can be found at that place. The people who had previously climbed the mountain to reach this stone plateau could see the pieces of stone placed on top of each other in several places around it. However, due to the tall trees surrounding the rocky plateau, you better walk a little further and descend to a place where there are fewer bushes on the other side of the mountain to see the surrounding scenery. At that place, we could see a very beautiful view of Kurunegala town and its surroundings, where the mountain range including Athugala, Kuruminiagala, Andagala and Kurunegala town, Wennaru lake and Kolapalali mountain, the North/Central Expressway under construction, Kandalava mountain, Dolukanda, once you reach you can experience an authentic view in the Kurunegala city on the top of the mountain.