Visiting the ancestral village of a Kandyan hero
Get ready for “Vibrance 2017”, a charity run by the Sri Lanka Unites clubs of Trinity College Kandy and Ladies’ College Colombo on Saturday, December 9. The run will be followed by a carnival at the Havelock Grounds.
Beginning at 4p.m, the event calls to all athletes and fitness fanatics to race against each other in a 2.5km run around the Havelock Grounds, to win a surprise award. The carnival following the run will have an electric atmosphere with artists such as DJ Harsha and Badinga, rides, games and food.
All proceeds from both the run and the carnival will be donated for the refurbishment and provision of computers for a rural school in Elpitiya with over 200 students. Register for the run for only Rs 800, from December 3 at the Kandy City Centre from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. and at Havelock Grounds on December 9 from 3.30 p.m. Tickets for the carnival will be available at the gate.
As one of the most powerful Chiefs of Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe’s court, Keppetipola Disava was entrusted with scores of responsibilities which in turn called for regular travelling between the royal court and his residence in Moneravila in Pallepola. “As a place of rest for both Disave and his horses, another residence in Hulangamuwa, Matale was built,” says Mrs. Aluvihare. The house which reflects Kandyan architectural splendour is sadly neglected today.
Keppetipola married Delwala Ethanahamy from Ratnapura and had a son who was named Loku Banda. “The British wanted no direct descendant of the Disava spared and to evade the hunt, his son Loku Banda had to live in disguise and most of the Keppetipola land was confiscated,” Mrs. Aluvihare says.
A man who knew not the meaning of fear, Keppetipola Disava was tried by Court Martial on November 15, 1818. Henry Marshall documents in his book that he was least cowed by his impending doom and even engaged in jovial banter.
Marshall places on record the last moments of the Chief: ‘Kneeling before the priest upon the threshold of the sanctuary, the repository of the Sacred Relic, the Chief detailed the principal meritorious actions of his life such as the benefits he had conferred on the priests, together with the gifts which he had bestowed on the temples and other acts of piety. He then pronounced the last wish, namely that in his next birth, he might be born in the mountains of the Himalayas and finally obtain nirvana.’ The only worldly possessions he had- the ‘ragged upper cloth from the waist’ he offered to Dalada Maligawa as his last pious act and his bana potha he gave to a local official to be delivered to Simon Sawers, an agent of the government, as a token of the gratitude he felt for his friendship and kindness while they were officially connected at Badulla.
Marshall who thus documents the end of Keppetipola Disava, on November 25, 1818, goes on to note: ‘Had the insurrection (1818 Uva rebellion) been successful, Keppetipola would have been honoured and characterised as a patriot instead of being stigmatised as a rebel and punished as a traitor’.
The sword of Keppetipola Disava and his flag, head dress and jacket are preserved in the Kandy National Museum today. Interestingly, Keppetipola who was a signatory to the Kandyan Convention as the Disava of Matale, had signed the document in Sinhalese along with the other two Chiefs-Galagoda and Galagama, unlike the others who signed in Grantha- a combination of Sinhalese and Tamil characters.
Ven. Yatigammana Vimalagnana Thera of the Malwatte Maha Vihara Sangha Sabha in his address at the ceremonial internment of the remains of Keppetipola Disava on November 26, 1954 noted: ‘If he should be here in spirit now, he would know how well he has served his people. There have been many men of our race after him to bear steadfastly and pass on, the flame of patriotism which in death he enkindled and to encompass the end for which he laid down his life.’