The Royal Palace of Kandy (known as ''Mahawàsala''), located to the north of the Temple of the Tooth (Daladà Màligàwa) in
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 ...
, was the royal residence of the
Sri Lankan monarchy
A monarchy is a government#Forms, form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The legitimacy (political)#monarchy, political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restric ...
of the
Kingdom of Kandy in
Sri Lanka. The last king to reside in it was
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
Sri Vikrama Rajasinha (1798–1815). Once part of a large palace complex that included the King's Palace (''Raja Wasala''), Royal Audience Hall (''Magul Maduwa''), Queen's Palace (''Meda Wasala''), King's Harem Quarters (''Palle Vahale'') and Queen's Bathing Pavilion (''Ulpange''), together with the
Temple of the Tooth
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 ...
(''Dalada Maligawa''). Adjacent to the Royal Palace is the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
building that until recently housed Kandy High Court.
History
The first palace was built by King
Vickramabahu III (1357–1374) and by
Senasammata Vikramabahu
Sēnasammata Vikramabāhu was King of Kandy from 1469 to 1511. Before becoming independent the provinces that made up the Kingdom of Kandy belonged to the Kingdom of Kotte. Vikramabāhu founded the city of Kandy, and during the reign of Parakrama ...
(1469–1511) of the
Kingdom of Gampola
Gampola is a town and once an ancient polity located near Kandy in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was made the capital city of the island by King Buwanekabahu IV, who ruled for four years in the mid-fourteenth century. King Buwanekabahu ...
.
Vimaladharmasuriya I
Vimaladharmasūriya I was a king of Kandy from 1590 to 1604. His reputation was built when he successfully repulsed two major Portuguese offensives on Kandy, the Battle of Danture in 1594 and the Battle of Balana in 1602, in both of which the P ...
(1592–1603) also occupied this palace thereafter and each of them made various improvements to the existing palace.
During the period of King
Senarat (1603–1634), the Portuguese attacked the
Kandyan Kingdom
The Kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy on the 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 of the Kin ...
and destroyed the palace.
Rajasinha II
King Rajasinghe II, also known as Rajasingha II (pre coronation, Prince Deva Astana), was a Sinhalese King, reigned 1629 – 6 December 1687; third king of the Kingdom of Kandy in Sri Lanka. Rajasingha requested Netherlands, Dutch aid to help exp ...
who ascended to the throne in 1634 rebuilt it and all the subsequent kings until 1815 (the year which the kingdom fell under British rule), used this as their Royal Palace. By the time of the last king,
Sri Vickrama Rajasinha (1797–1814) the palace consisted of many buildings scattered spread among the premises. There were three wahalkadas (gateways) and a high wall used as main entrances. The section of the palace facing the
Natha Devale is said to be the oldest.
Following the
Kandyan Convention in 1815, the Royal Palace was the used by the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Resident
Resident may refer to:
People and functions
* Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country
* Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training
* Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceuti ...
starting with
Sir John D'Oyly and thereafter the
Government Agent in Kandy until 1947. The
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019
The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonialism, colonial powers:
Portuguese Ceylon
* List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551)
* List of Captain-majors of ...
would reside in the palace when visiting Kandy until the construction of the
King's Pavilion.
Raja Wasala
On to the right of the Magul Maduwa, at the northern end of the palace complex is the ''Raja Wasala'' or King's Palace. It is a long building with a central doorway, with a flight of steps entering into an imposing hall decorated with stucco and terra-cotta work. Rooms are found in the two long wings with a long verandah facing the inner courtyard. During the beginning of the British period, it was used by Government Agent
Sir John D'Oyly. D'Oyly successors continued to use it as their official residence. The building is now being used as a Museum of the Department Archaeology.
Maha Maluwa
The ''Maha Maluwa'' or Great Terrace is an open park area (approximately ) located in front of the
Temple of the Tooth
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 ...
. The site was the threshing ground of a large
paddy field, that is the
Kandy Lake
Kandy Lake ( si, බෝගම්බර වැව/ කිරි මූද), also known as Kiri Muhuda or the Sea of Milk, is an artificial lake in the heart of the hill city of Kandy, Sri Lanka, built in 1807 by King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe next ...
today. According to local folklore when King Wimala Dharmasuriya wanted to select a site for his capital astrologers advised him to select the site of the
threshing floor
Threshing (thrashing) was originally "to tramp or stamp heavily with the feet" and was later applied to the act of separating out grain by the feet of people or oxen and still later with the use of a flail. A threshing floor is of two main type ...
which was frequented by a Kiri Mugatiya (white
mongoose
A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to so ...
).
At one end of the square is a stone pillar memorial, which contains the skull of
Keppetipola Disawe, a national Sinhalese hero, a prominent leader of the
Uva rebellion of 1818, who attempted to wrest back the country from the British and was executed for his role in the rebellion. The park also contains a statue of
Madduma Bandara and a statute of Princess Hemamali and Prince Danthakumara, who according to legend brought the
tooth of Buddha to Sri Lanka.
Magul Maduwa
The ''Magul Maduwa'' or Royal Audience Hall, is where the king met his ministers and carried out his daily administrative tasks. The building was also known as the “Maha Naduwa” or
Royal Court
A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...
. The construction of this finely carved wooden building was commenced by the King
Sri Vikrama Rajasinha (1779–1797) in 1783.
The Magul Maduva was utilised as a place of public audience and figured as a centre of religious and national festivities connected with the Kandyan Court. The area was where the
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 ...
(Dalada) was occasionally exhibited from public veneration and it was at the Maha Maluva that the King received the Ambassadors from other countries.
The current building is an extension to the original by structure, undertaken by the British to facilitate the welcome of Prince
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales in 1872. The British removed 32 carved wooden columns from the “Pale Vahale” building replacing them with brick pillars. Out of these, 16 pillars were used to extend the “Magul Maduwa” by , with 8 pillars on each side and the old decayed bases replaced by new wooden bases. With this addition, the building has two rows of elegantly carved pillars, each row having 32 columns. A Kandyan style roof rests upon these columns.
It was here on 2 March 1815 the
Kandyan Convention was signed between the British and the Kandyian Chieftains (
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 ...
s) ending the Kingdom of Kandy, the last native kingdom of the island.
Wadahindina Mandappe
This is the palace where the king used to rest while adigars and other visitors awaiting for him. Foreign visitors were able to meet the king in this palace. It is situated near the Raja wasala and Magul maduwa. Today this building is used as Raja tuskera museum.
Inside the Rajah Tusker Hall are the
stuffed remains of
Rajah
''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested fr ...
, the Maligawa or chief elephant in the
Kandy Esala Perahera, who died in 1988. The building is just north of the Temple of the Tooth but within the same compound.
Palle Vahale
The ''Palle Vahale'' or Lower Palace was constructed during the
Sri Vickrama Rajasingha era and was used as the quarters of the
harem
Harem ( Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A har ...
of the
King of Kandy
The Kandyan monarchs ruled the Kingdom of Kandy on the island of Sri Lanka from 1469 to 1815. The Kingdom was first established by Senasammata Vikramabahu, a royal from the Kingdom of Kotte, when he led the secession of the Kande uda pas rata ( ...
.
The main doorway to the structure leads to a small hall in front of the central building; on either side are two wings. Inner verandahs on all four sides face an inner central courtyard.
In 1942 the building was converted into the
National Museum of Kandy
The National Museum of Kandy in Kandy, Sri Lanka is located next to the Temple of the Tooth in part of the former Royal Palace of Kandy. The primary exhibits are housed in the ''Palle Vahala'' building, which was the former home of the King's ...
, and is currently maintained by the
Department of National Museums.
Meda Wasala
To the north of the Palle Vahale, is the ''Meda Wasala'' or Queens' Chambers. Although smaller in size, it is similar in architectural character to the Palle Wasala. The western doorway leads to a small open courtyard, with verandahs surrounding it. The building is currently used by the Kandy office of the National Department of Archaeology.
Ran Ayuda Maduwa
Beyond the Meda Wasala is the ''Ran Ayuda Maduwa'' or Royal Armoury. The building has a central porch of timber columns. It is currently used for the District Courts of Kandy.
Ulpange
The ''Ulpange'' or Queens Bathing Pavilion is located on the embankment of Kandy Lake, to the south of the
Temple of the Tooth
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 ...
. It was constructed in 1806 by King Sri Wickrama Rajasinha to serve as the bathing chambers for his queens. Three sides of this two-storey building are bounded by the lake. The upper floor was used as the changing room and the ground floor was for bathing. The arches supported by columns admit sun and light to the lake at the ground level. After the British captured the city the building was later altered by adding another storey, in keeping with the traditional Kandyan architecture, and converted to a library. It is currently used as a police post.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Palace Of Kandy
Houses in Kandy
Kingdom of Kandy
Museums in Kandy District
Palaces in Sri Lanka