Stories Behind Names of Places in Sri Lanka AMPITIYA – By Dr Nimal Sedara
Source : Qld Sri Lankan Newsletter – Dæhæna – July 2024
Ampitiya is a famous place just two kilometres away from the Kandy town. I am very familiar with this place as I have lived a good part of my life at Ampitiya.
Image Source : dinamina
Ampitiya is famous in the country because of three key institutions located there. One is the “Divrum Bhodiya”.This is where people were made to swear and proclaim their innocence by the Kings . That is how the temple got that name. The other is the largest Catholic Seminary of the country being located in Ampitiya. This is where the Catholic
clergy is trained. The third is the famous Ampitiya Roman Catholic College. It is now named after its founder Rev Father Berrewaerts as Berrewaerts college. During the time of King Rajasinghe this was not a thickly populated area and villagers lived a simple life as farmers doing cultivation and raising cattle.
There was a farmer who had a large herd of cattle and buffaloes. He spent the day gazing them in a flat area in the village. The horns of some cattle drop over time and grow again. This farmer used to collect these horns shed by the cattle and make carvings on some of them with the knife he always carried. Soon he became famous in the village as a skilled artist.
One day, King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe happened to walk to the Ampitiya area with his ministers. The King was talking to the people and this horn craftsman thought it would be the best time to present the best set of crafted horns to the King and he courageously did so. The villagers also praised his skill.
The King was so happy and delighted he gifted the cattle grazing flat land to the clever farmer. “mey ang pitya obata”, වම් අගපිටිය ඔෙට”. This is one story behind the name Ampitiya. The other story is that it got this name as “අග වකලිය” (Ang keliya) the popular sport which was held in this area.
Dr Nimal Sedara
Dr. Nimal Sedera is a journalist, poet, motivational speaker and an author of over 70 books.
