Belumgala – defense fortress of Kandyan hills – By Arundathie Abeysinghe Located in *Kadugannawa Gap approximately 10 kilometers from *Pilimathalawa, Belumgala Rock offers spectacular vistas of the environs as far as the eye can see including surreal vistas of Kadugannawa valley. Many visitors hike the adjacent small rock, believing it to be Belumgala, mistakenly. Belumgala is visible from *Pahala Kadugannawa viewpoint too. Also spelt as “Balumgala”, the mountain was thus named due to its strategic location as a place of defense. Considered as a silent defender of Kandyan hills, Colombo-Kandy Road can be seen clearly for many kilometers from the summit of Belumgala. As the location was a great boon for Sinhalese soldiers tracking enemy invasions, the mountain was known as “Belumgala” (meaning viewing mountain in Sinhala) for centuries. During the *Kandyan Kingdom, Sinhalese soldiers had been dispatched to this location and it had served as a major checkpoint when ...

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