Kundasale
About Kundasale
Kundasale is a former town, now a suburb of Kandy in Kandy District, Central Province of Sri Lanka. The town is situated 7 km to the southeast of the center of Kandy. The population is about 150,000.
Kundasale History
King Vira Parakrama Narendra Sinha, the last Sinhalese King of Kandy decided in 1710 to move his palace from Kandy to Kundasale. He instructed the local governor, Ramukwelle Dissawe, to construct the palace complex. Rambukwelle Dissawe engaged the services of a builder, Devendra, who built the palace completely out of wood on top of a hill in a garden, Narikele. The palace is purported to have been more a summer palace rather than a royal palace. He was the first and the last king to have Kundasale as the capital of the Kandyan Kingdom. The king died in May 1739 and in 1804 British troops under the command of Captain Arthur Johnson attacked the palace, plundered its valuables, and burnt it to the ground. The building's remnants were used in the construction of the nearby Sri Narendrasinhe Rajamaha Viharaya. The two stone elephant carvings at the main entrance, Mahawahalkada, of Sri Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic) are said to have come from the ruins of the Kundasale Palace. They were however destroyed in the 1989 attack on the temple by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.
About Kandy district
Kandy district is situated in the central province of Sri Lanka. One of the seven World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka, Kandy was once home to the Kandyan Kings of yore in the 16th-century and a fountainhead for all the music, arts, crafts, and culture in the country. About 129 km away from Colombo, Kandy is ensconced amongst a hilly terrain and all eyes are drawn to the center of the city, where the Kandy Lake forms a charming feature. Kandy retains great religious significance for Sri Lanka, because it is in this charming city that the Dalada Maligawa or "Temple of the Tooth" is located, within which the sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha lies well guarded. The Royal Botanical Garden, Peradeniya is situated about 5 km to the west of the city center at Peradeniya and is visited by 1.2 million people per year. It is the largest botanical garden on the island. The Udawatta Kele (Udawatta Forest) is a protected sanctuary situated in the heart of the city, just north of the Temple of the Tooth. Kandy is a Sinhala majority city; there are sizeable communities belonging to other ethnic groups, such as Moors and Tamils. Kandy is second only to Colombo the center of the Sri Lankan Economy. Many major co-operations have large branch officers in Kandy and many industries include textiles, furniture, Information Technology, and jewelry are found here. Many agriculture research centers are located in the city. and a fountainhead for all the music, arts, crafts, and culture in the country. About 129 km away from Colombo, Kandy is ensconced amongst a hilly terrain and all eyes are drawn to the center of the city, where the Kandy Lake forms a charming feature. Kandy retains great religious significance for Sri Lanka, because it is in this charming city that the Dalada Maligawa or Temple of the Tooth is located, within which the sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha lies well guarded.
About Central Province
The Central Province of Sri Lanka consists primarily of mountainous terrain. The province has an area of 5,674 km² and a population of 2,421,148. Some major towns include Kandy, Gampola (24,730), Nuwara Eliya and Bandarawela. The population is a mixture of Sinhalese, Tamil, and the Moors. Both the hill capital Kandy and the city of Nuwara Eliya have located within the Central Province as well as Sri Pada. The province produces much of the famous Ceylon tea, planted by the British in the 1860s after a devastating disease killed all the coffee plantations in the province. Central Province attracts many tourists, with hill station towns such as Kandy, Gampola, Hatton, and Nuwara Eliya. Temple tooth or Dalada maligawa is the main sacred place in Central province. The climate is cool, and many areas about 1500 meters often have chilly nights. The western slopes are very wet, some places having almost 7000 mm of rain per year. The eastern slopes are parts of the mid-dry zone as it is receiving rain only from the North-Eastern monsoon. The Temperatures range from 24°C at Kandy to just 16°C in Nuwara Eliya, which is located 1,889 m above sea level. The highest mountains in Sri Lanka are located in the Central Province. The terrain is mostly mountainous, with deep valleys cutting into it. The two main mountain regions are the central massif and the Knuckles range to the east of Kandy.
【LK94008733: Kundasale. Text by Lakpura™. Images by Google, copyright(s) reserved by original authors.】
