Stories Behind Names of Places in Sri Lanka – By Nimal Sedera
THAVALAMA
Source:- Qld Sri Lankan Newsletter
“THAVALAMA” is a famous village in southern Sri Lanka in Hiniduma. All names of places have reason to be named so. Most of the Sri Lankan villages are linked to the Kings of olden days. Others are mostly linked to incidents and events of the past.
The word “Thavalama” may not be familiar to the younger generation of Sri Lankans for “Thavalama” is now an extremely rare way of transporting goods. So it is my duty to explain what a “Thavalama” is. At the time the road network of the countries were not developed for the transport of crops, goods of any nature, people used tamed animals to carry them. A good example is in the olden Sri Lanka cattle power was used to carry salt from the coastal area to the interior of Sri Lanka. It took about a month for them to walk with the cattle down the hills to the beach and return with the cattle loaded with salt. These bunches of cattle walking for the purpose of carrying goods was called “Thavalama”. In my childhood in Walapane, in the District of Nuwara Eliya, “Thavalama” was a very common sight. Our paddy harvest was brought home using cattle from far away rice fields on the back of cattle.
On the river Bank of the Gin ganga, there was a popular spot where the produce of the villagers were brought and exchanged or sold. The boat or the ferry (paru) was the only mode of transport we had to use in the river waters. When they arrived at this common spot of exchanging goods the only way to transport the goods beyond that was the bull power, the “THAVALAMA”.
Goods so brought included even cinnamon, coffee, and paper, the commercial crops of that time. So this common loading and unloading place by the river “Gin Ganga” was a busy spot. Hence “Thavalama” was a common feature in this place they began to call it “Thavalamthota” meaning “the mini harbour by the river”. Over time, people began to call in “Thavalama”. It is now a key landmark in Southern Sri Lanka.
Nimal Sedera
