Kaduwela (, ) is the largest city in Sri Lanka by land area, covering . The city is composed of three divisions called Kaduwela, Battaramulla and Athurugiriya and is located in the
Colombo District
Colombo District ( ''kol̠am̆ba distrikkaya''; ''Koḻumpu Māvaṭṭam'') is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a D ...
,
Western Province, Sri Lanka
The Western Province ( ''Basnāhira Paḷāta''; ''Mael Mākāṇam'') is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of the country. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but did not have any l ...
.
Kaduwela Town (located in Kaduwela Division) is located about from the Colombo city centre on the Colombo -
Avissawella
Avissawella (, ) is a township in Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council, situated on the A4 route from Colombo to Ratnapura, Colombo District, Western Province, Sri Lanka, approximately 40 km air distance and 48.1 km road distance fr ...
Old Road (Low Level Road) and about from
Kollupitiya on the New
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 ...
Road from Ethulkotte to Kandy.
Etymology
Kaduwela was originally ''Kadudevola'', a compound of ''Kadu'' (
sword
A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...
) and ''Devola'' (
shrine
A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...
). It was the location of a shrine of the goddess
Pattini, linked to a golden sword used in the 'water cutting' ritual. The shrine is called the ''Purana Rankadu Pattini Maha Devale'' (ancient great shrine of the golden-sword Pattini).
In another possibility Kaduwela simply means the jungle
paddy field. Kadu means jungle (Sorata Thera's Sinhala–Sinhala dictionary) and wela means paddy field. There is also another Kaduwela in the Ukuwela division of Matale district
According to Robert Percival of the
19th Regiment of Foot, during the Revolt of 1797 against the Dutch, the Sinhalese threw up earthworks and established a fort here.
After the British defeat in the
1st Kandyan War, Kaduwela was occupied by a small force of British
sepoy
''Sepoy'' () is a term related to ''sipahi'', denoting professional Indian infantrymen, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire and the Maratha.
In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its Euro ...
s and
lascoreens. They were later reinforced by a mixed force of European troops and sepoys under Captain Charles Wilkinson Mercer of the
51st Regiment, prior to the Battle of Hanwella.
Kaduwela Municipal Council
Demographics
Kaduwela DS Division has the largest Sinhalese population by all DS Divisions of Sri Lanka and 2nd largest Buddhist population after Homagama DS Division in Sri Lanka according to census 2012. According to the census of 2012 the demographics by ethnicity and religion is as follows:.
See also
*
List of towns in Western Province, Sri Lanka
References
External links
Kaduwela Municipal Council
*
Populated places in Western Province, Sri Lanka
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