Heiyantuduwa Raja ( Sinhala:හෙයියන්තුඩුවේ රාජා)(1924-November 6 2002) was a

Sri Lankan elephant The Sri Lankan elephant (''Elephas maximus maximus'') is native to Sri Lanka and one of three recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant. It is the type subspecies of the Asian elephant and was first described by Carl Linnaeus under the bi ...

, which carried the

Relic of the tooth of the Buddha The relic of the tooth of Buddha (Pali ''danta dhātuya'') is venerated in Sri Lanka as a sacred cetiya relic of Lord Buddha, who is the founder of Buddhism, the fourth largest religion worldwide. History The relic in India According to Sri Lanka ...

casket in the Dalada Perahera for 11 years after the demise of Maligawa Raja. Heiyantuduwa Raja's tusks were each in length when he was living, and it was considered one of the longest-tusked elephants in the country.

Owner

Heiyantuduwa Raja was captured from the Kattakaduwana jungle in

Hambantota District Hambantota District ( si, හම්බන්තොට දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ''hambantoṭa distrikkaya''; ta, அம்பாந்தோட்டை மாவட்டம் ''Ampāntōṭṭai māvaṭṭam'') is a district i ...

. On 8 March 1945, the tusker had been publicly auctioned by then

British Ceylon British Ceylon ( si, බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ලංකාව, Britānya Laṃkāva; ta, பிரித்தானிய இலங்கை, Biritthāṉiya Ilaṅkai) was the British Crown colony of present-day Sri Lanka between ...

government at Hambantota

Kachcheri A kachcheri or district secretariat is the principal government department that administrates a district in Sri Lanka. Each of the 25 districts has a kachcheri. The main tasks of the District Secretariat involve coordinating communications and ac ...

. William Gunasekara (also known as 'Heiyantuduwa Ralahami') of Heiyantuduwa in

Biyagama Biyagama ( si, බියගම, ta, பியகம) is a suburb in Gampaha District, situated in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. It is 12 miles from Colombo. A Free Trade Zone was established in Biyagama in 1985. "Kaduwela" interchange of expr ...

had bought him for 10,500

Rupees Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...

. Gunasekara was a wealthy landed proprietor and owned fourteen

elephants Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and ...

at that era. Later, Heiyantuduwa Raja was owned by his youngest son, Henry Gunasekara of

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

Historic Elephant

Heiyantuduwe Raja participated at the

Esala Perahera The Kandy Esala Perahera (the Sri Dalada Perahara procession of Kandy) also known as The Festival of the Tooth is a festival held in July and August in Kandy, Sri Lanka. This historical procession is held annually to pay homage to the Sacred To ...

in Kandy for several years. After the demise of Maligawa Raja, he also carried the casket of tooth relic for 11 years from 1989 to 2000 with permission from

Neranjan Wijeyeratne Neranjan Priyadarshana Dullewe Wijeyeratne ( Sinhala: නෙරංජන් ප්‍රියදර්ශන දූල්ලෑව විජයරත්න) (born 9 August 1956) (known as ''Neranjan Wijeyeratne'') is a Sri Lankan. He was Diyawa ...

, then

Diyawadana Nilame Diyawadana Nilame is the office of the chief lay custodian of the Temple of the Tooth, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Formerly an office of the royal household, at present it is the trustee for the Temple of the Tooth as defined by the ''Buddhist Temporal ...

Sri Dalada Maligawa The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic or Sri Dalada Maligawa, ( si, ශ්‍රී දළදා මාළිගාව) is a Buddhist temple in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which h ...

. Carrying the casket of

tooth relic The relic of the tooth of Buddha (Pali ''danta dhātuya'') is venerated in Sri Lanka as a sacred cetiya relic of Lord Buddha, who is the founder of Buddhism, the fourth largest religion worldwide. History The relic in India According to Sri Lanka ...

was an opportunity bestowed upon only a few elephants in Sri Lanka. Heiyantuduwe Raja had also carried the main casket of Buddha's relics at the

Kelaniya Kelaniya ( si, කැලණිය ta, களனி) is a suburb of Colombo in the Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is known for the Buddhist temple built on the banks of the Kelani River, which divides the suburb from Colombo District. The templ ...

Duruthu Perahera, Bellanwila Perahera and Gangaramaya Navam Perahera in addition to the

Sri Dalada The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic or Sri Dalada Maligawa, ( si, ශ්‍රී දළදා මාළිගාව) is a Buddhist temple in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which hou ...

casket.

National Heritage

Heiyantuduwa Raja died on 6 November 2002. He was about 78 years old at the time of his death. Despite an offer of 120,000

U.S. Dollars The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

by a Japanese company, Henry Gunasekara gave his

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

to the

Sri Lankan government The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය, Śrī Lankā Rajaya; ta, இலங்கை அரசாங்கம்) is a parliamentary system determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the is ...

in recognition of his part in the nation's heritage. Heiyantuduwa Raja's skeleton has been on display to the public at the

National Museum of Colombo The Colombo National Museum, also known as the Sri Lanka National Museum, is a museum in Colombo and the largest in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1877 and maintained by the Department of National Museums, it holds collections of significant importanc ...

since 29 January 2013 Heiyantuduwa Raja's Skeleton Opening Ceremony to public display at National Museum, Colombo Sri Lanka
.

References

External links

Video of Heiyantuduwa Raja
{{Elephants in Sri Lanka 1924 animal births 2002 animal deaths Individual elephants Individual animals in Sri Lanka Elephants in Sri Lanka

Owner

Historic Elephant

National Heritage

See also

References

External links