Minneriya

Declared in 1997, Minneriya is the setting each year, between August and September, of The Gathering, the largest concentration of Asian elephant documented in the world, with up to 300 animals meeting around the Minneriya reservoir, which was originally built in the 3rd century by the Sinhalese king Mahasena for agricultural irrigation and 1,700 years later still acts as a seasonal magnet for the wildlife of the whole region through the dry season.