Rajamanthri Walauwa () or

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

of Rajamanthri is situated in Karandagolla,

Hanguranketha Hanguranketha (; ) is a town in the Nuwara Eliya District, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It is approximately southeast of Kandy and northeast of Colombo and located on the B413 Road. History The name of the town is purportedly derived from ...

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, ...

. Rajamanthri Walauwa is an eight-room, 200-year-old mansion built by the last

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

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 ...

in 1804. It was fully restored in 1944. During the early 1970s, Prince Gamini Rajamanthri and Prince Samantha Rajamanthri became the new inhabitants of the Rajamanthri Walauwa. To this day, the

is managed by Prince Julius' sons.

History

This villa was built in 1804 by the

to the last

King of Kandy The Kandyan Monarchy was the last independent monarchy of Sri Lanka, ruled by a succession of monarchs from the Kingdom of Kandy. This monarchy spanned over 230 years from 1590 to 1815 and played a significant role in shaping the country's hist ...

. The kingdom at that time forbade the use of roofing tile to anyone who wasn't royalty. Despite this ban, Chief Minister Rajamanthri built a replica palace with two sprawling stories of

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

tiles for himself. Two hundred years later,

Geoffrey Bawa Deshamanya Geoffrey Manning Bawa, (23 July 191927 May 2003) was a Sri Lankan architect. Often referred to as the leader of the Tropical Modernist movement, he was among the most influential Asian architects of his generation. Early life Geoff ...

's protégé, Chief Minister Julius Rajamanthri from Govi Gama

Radala Radala refers to a small minority group in Sri Lanka in the former provinces of the Kingdom of Kandy, who are either descendants of chiefs and courtiers of the King of Kandy of Nayaks of Kandy or descendants of native headmen appointed by the ...

caste, began a delicate restoration work that retained the essence of the villa. The estate is a major producer of coconuts, rubber, pepper, cardamom, ginger, cocoa,

areca nut The areca nut ( or ) or betel nut () is the fruit of the areca palm (''Areca catechu''). The palm is originally native to the Philippines, but was carried widely through the tropics by the Austronesian migrations and trade since at least 15 ...

, coffee, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, orchids and teak.

Meaning of ''walauwa''

In Sinhala, ''

walauwa Walauwa or walawwa is the name given to a feudal/Colony, colonial manor house in Sri Lanka of a Native headmen of Ceylon, native headmen. It also refers to the feudal social systems that existed during the colonial era. The term walauwa is derive ...

'' means ''mansion''. The English terms for ''walauwa'' are " manor" or "manor house", a large house with larger lands. The walauwa and its owners were supported by the larger lands and estates they possessed. These either were land grants from kings since the beginning of the Sinhalese kingdom until the

Kandyan Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the 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 hills in the Kandy plateau, ...

era or government service during the

Colonial era Colonial period (a period in a country's history where it was subject to management by a colonial power) may refer to: Continents *European colonization of the Americas * Colonisation of Africa * Western imperialism in Asia Countries * Col ...

, or were acquired by a successful enterprise and passed down through generations. The owners were the landed elites of

Ceylon 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, ...

; as such they gained a status of power and wealth. There is another theory that ''walauwa'' means a place of judgement. Those people who occupied the ''walauwa'' had the authority to pass judgement over people with the authority provided by Royal Decree. Mansions replaced the ''walauwa'' in the urban areas towards the latter part of the nineteenth century.

Notes

References

* * * * * Sinhalese social organization : The Kandyan Period by Ralph Pieris (Ceylon University Press 1956) * An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon in the East Indies by Robert Knox; https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14346 * Seneviratna, Anuradha; Polk, Benjiman (1992). Buddhist Monastic Architecture in Sri Lanka: The Woodland Shrine. Abhinav Publications. p. 110. . * Scriver, Peter; Prakash, Vikramaditya (2007). Colonial Modernities: Building, Dwelling and Architecture in British India and Ceylon. Routledge. pp. 206–207. . * Seneviratna, Anuradha; De Silva, Nimal (1999). World Heritage City of Kandy, Sri Lanka: Conservation and Development Plan. Central Cultural Fund. .

History

Meaning of ''walauwa''

See also

Notes

References

Further reading