Stories Behind Names of Places in Sri Lanka KOTMALE – By Dr. Nimal Sedera
Source: Qld Daehena Sri Lankan Newsletter
Kotmale is a famous village in Sri Lanka located in the District of Nuwara Eliya in the Central Province. The main reason why Kotmale became famous is because the greatest King in the Mahawansa, King Dutugemunu, used this village as his place of hiding and began building his army to fight the Indians who captured the Sri Lankan capital, Anuradhapura. Further, it is the village where the tooth relic of the Lord Buddha was hidden at the time of unrest in the country. Therefore it is a historical place of Sri Lanka linked to hundreds of stories linked to the King, including his marriage.
A modern attraction of Kotmale is the 87 metre high, 600 metre long rockfill dam across Kotmale Oya, a tributary of Mahaweli ganga . There is also the huge Kotmale Maha Seya, the 84-meter-tall stupa.
About the name “Kotmale”, there are different views and stories. I am only picking one of them.
There had been a deeply religious, helpful and clever farmer living in this area. He was successful in his cultivation. He was known for his generosity. But there came a bad time where his cultivations failed and virtually collapsed his business. He did not wish to face his people as a loser and decided to leave the village.
When this honest farmer was walking in the hilly jungle some miracle took place with a powerful light descending from the sky. This light fell on the hill.
And there glittered a pinnacle, or a dome of gold. He was so happy that the Gods were helping him to lead a better life for the good he did to the society. Without an effort he happily collected the gift of gold and walked back to his home thinking of doing more service to the people.
The word used for hill at that time was “Malaya”. Hill country was called “Malaya rata”.
He related the story to the people and the story spread across the area. “රන්කොත හමු වූ මාලේ ” became the historic village of “KOTMALE”
Dr. Nimal Sedera is a journalist, poet, motivational speaker and an author of over 70 books.
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