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| This was once a Capital of Sri Lanka. |
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| The bund of the tank surrounding a central tower with roots of the banyan trees hanging down. |
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| The foundation of the central tower. |
King Panduwasdewa the younger brother of King Vijaya, ascended the throne of Panduwasnuwara after King Vijaya's demise. King Panduwasdewa had seven sons and a daughter. The daughter was exceedingly beautiful. An astrologer had predicted that the daughter, who was named Unmaada Chitra, would bear a son who in his adulthood, would ascend the throne of Panduwasnuwara. The brothers of Unmada Chitra were furious at this prediction. They built a tall tower in the centre of a water reservoir and imprisoned Unmaada Chitra in the tower when she came of age and set guards on the place. A youngster by the name of Diga Gamini fell in love with Unmaada Chitra. He reached the tower at night by stealthily swinging from the long aerial roots of the banyan trees growing on the bund of the reservoir. He made love to the princes and before long the princess was expecting a child. The uncles of Unmaada Chitra were furious on finding this out. They put more guards and gave orders that if a son was born to Unmaada Chitra, that the infant should be put to death immediately. At the time of birth a new-born female infant of a servant was substituted for the infant Prince and the infant Prince was spirited out. The young female infant was spared as it meant no threat to its uncles.The infant Prince was brought up by a householder without the knowledge of his uncles. After various adventures the Prince Pandukkabaya, fought for the Kingdom and won it back. He built theprosperous capital of Panduwas Nuwara, the ruins of which are still there. This happened around 400BC.
The photographs show some of the ruins of Panduwas Nuwara.
