Hanguranketha (; ) is a town in the

Nuwara Eliya District Nuwara Eliya District (; ) is a district in Central Province, Sri Lanka, centered on the tourist city of Nuwara Eliya. Demographics According to the 2001 census of Sri Lanka, population of Nuwara Eliya district is 703,610, of which 50.5 ...

, Central Province of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. It is approximately southeast of

Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...

and northeast of

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

and located on the B413 Road.

History

The name of the town is purportedly derived from ''Sangaruwan Ketha'', a thriving paddy field. The location was also known as ''Diyatillakepura'', a camping site of a number of Kings of Kandy during the various Chola invasions. Hanguranketha was used on numerous occasions as the temporary capital of the

Kingdom of Kandy The Kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy on the Sri Lanka, island of Sri Lanka, located in the central and eastern portion of the island. It was founded in the late 15th century and endured until the early 19th century. Initially a client kingdom ...

King Senarath was the first king to build a royal palace in Hanguranketha. His son, King Rajasinghe II, erected a royal palace, audience hall and several other buildings in Hanguranketha, as well as a constructing a lake, Udamaluwa, making it the site of his summer palace. According to Robert Knox's '' An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon'', the city had been surrounded by a whitewashed protective wall, which encircled the large two-storied palaces. The entrance of the palace had two beautifully carved doors and door panels. Rajasinghe was cremated at Hanguranketha following his death in 1687 and his ashes were deposited at a site near Adahanamaluwa Gedige Viharaya. In 1814 King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha fled to the safety of Hanguranketha when the Sinhalese aristocracy torched his palace in Kandy. The palace was completely destroyed in the Uwa Wellassa Great Rebellion in 1818. Only two buildings still exist from that era, the Maha Vishnu Devalaya and the Pothgul Maliga Maha Viharaya. Following the 1818 Rebellion, the remains of the destroyed palace were used in the construction of the present Viharaya, with a large hall for the library built during 1831-1880. The stone carved door frames, moon-stone slab and stone pillars belonging to the royal palace have been incorporated into the Viharaya building. The Devalaya was used as a troop

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

by the British following the rebellion.

Attractions

* Gala Uda fortress * Pothgul Maliga Maha Viharaya * Maha Vishnu Devalaya * Kitulpe Ranpatge Vihara * Medapitiye Arattanaya * Holy Emmanuel Church

External links

* {{NuwaraEliyaDistrict-geo-stub Populated places in Nuwara Eliya District

History

Attractions

See also

External links