Polgahawela Denagamuwa Walawwa

 

Denagamuwa Walawwa

An old pphotograph of Denagamuwa Walawwa 

The Denagamuwa Walawwa, also known as Alfred House, located in Polgahawela, Kurunegala, originally belonged to the de Silva Jayasundara family. It is said that this family, who settled in Kurunegala in the mid-19th century, had migrated from the Colombo area. Mudaliyar Joseph de Silva Jayasundara married Denagamuwa Tikiri Kumarihamy, a daughter of Lokubanda of Kempitiya Walawwa in Kegalle, an aristocratic family from the Kandyan region, where Lokubanda served as a Korale (a reregional chief). This residence was named after their eldest son, Alfred de Silva Jayasundara, but today it is popularly known as Denagamuwa Walawwa.

At a time when there was a distinct social divide between the low country and upcountry regions, this marriage is seen as one of the early unions bridging the gap between low-country families and Kandyan aristocracy. Around the year 1880, Mudaliyar Joseph de Silva served as the interpreter to Magistrate F.R. Ellis of Kurunegala. His role as a close regional associate of the British colonial administration likely contributed to the early economic prosperity of the family.

Mudaliyar Joseph de Silva Jayasundara's wife belonged to a family considered to have migrated to Sri Lanka from India along with the sacred Sri Maha Bodhi tree. This lineage is known as the Bodhi Gupta lineage. At the request of King Kavantissa, they settled in the village of Bodhipala, which is now known as Denagamuwa. According to popular belief, the name “Denagamuwa” originated because the Coffin (Dena) of Arahant Maliyadeva Thero regarded as the last Arahant in Sri Lanka were once brought to Raja Maha Viharaya and the entourage stopped in this village during the journey.

The term Bodhi Gupta translates to “guardians of the Bodhi tree.” One of the earliest known members of the Bodhi Gupta lineage was Mohottala Hamy of Kempitiya, the son of the Disawa (regional governor) of Denagamuwa. During the 1818 rebellion against the Kingdom of Kandy, he was considered a traitor by the British and exiled from the country in 1819. His estate in Denagamuwa was confiscated by the Crown. However, in 1826, British Governor Edward Barnes granted him a pardon and restored his property.

Mohottala Hamy of Kempitiya had only one son Lokubanda, also known as Mudaliyar Joseph de Silva Jayasundara’s maternal uncle who held an official position in the Korale region and resided at Kempitiya Walawwa.

The eldest son of the Jayasundara family, Alfred de Silva Jayasundara, was born in 1868 at the Wehera Walawwa in Kurunegala. He received his education at a college in Matale and later at St. Thomas' College, Colombo. After completing his studies, he joined the British colonial civil service. In 1890, he was appointed to the Department of Forest Conservation, where he served as a forest officer in various locations across the Central Province for about two years. In 1892, after passing the government clerical examination, he joined the Accounts Office of the Government Railway Department.

In 1893, he resigned from government service and took over the management of his mother’s estate in Denagamuwa. He engaged in the development of the estate, which spanned approximately 500 acres, including paddy fields. Initially, he cultivated coconut and vegetables, and later expanded into cocoa and rubber plantations. Over time, this estate became one of the most successful and prosperous plantations in the Polgahawela area.

For fertilizing the coconut plantations, he used a mixture of cow dung and ash, which was readily available from his own estate. He believed this organic fertilizer was particularly effective for coconut cultivation. The coconuts from the Denagamuwa Estate were primarily supplied to the Weyangoda Orient Company’s coconut oil mill, and the copra (dried coconut) produced was also sold to European exporters in Colombo, forming a key source of his income.

The permanent labor force on Alfred Jayasundara's estate consisted of Indian Tamil workers and Sinhalese from the low country, though the majority of the laborers were recruited from surrounding villages.

Alfred de Silva Jayasundara cultivated both Yala and Maha paddy seasons on approximately 150 acres or slightly more of paddy land. The Denagamuwa Walawwa alone had about 15 paddy storage sheds (vi atu) that remained consistently filled. He also owned another 200-acre estate in Katupitiya, Hathpatthuwa, Wewuda Wila. Alfred was a member of the Kurunegala Agricultural Horticultural Society and served as the manager of the Polgahawela Buddhist Mixed School. He also acted as a former criminal investigator in the Hathpatthuwa region of Dambadeniya. In 1898, he married Madugalle Tikiri Kumarihamy, daughter of the Basnayake Nilame of the Madugalle family of the Eriyagama Walawwa in Peradeniya, and they lived at the Alfred House residence.

Alfred De Silva Jayasundara

Alfred Silva's mother Tikiri Kumarihamy

Kurunegala "Wehera Walawwa" where Alfred Silva was born

Alfred De Siva at his farther's grave

His brother, Everard Graham de Silva Jayasundara, known as E.G. Silva, was born in 1875 and educated at St. Thomas' College, Colombo. In 1894, he joined his brother in estate management and, after five years, entered the government service as a clerk at the Kurunegala Kachcheri (District Secretariat). He later took charge of land acquisition for the Northern Railway Line construction project. In 1901, he joined the Home Affairs Department as a permanent officer and served as a criminal investigator, while also acting as a shareholder in his brother’s estate. E.G. Silva was a member of the agricultural society and married Ada Emily Beatrice, eldest daughter of Mudaliyar Graham de Silva Senewiratne, in 1899. They resided in Polgahawela.

Another brother, Jonathan Edmund de Silva Jayasundara, was born in Kurunegala in 1872. He was educated at St. Thomas’ and Wesley Colleges, and later studied law at the Law Students Council, qualifying as an attorney in 1898 and appointed to the Kurunegala court. A land-owning planter, he owned the Royston Estate in Ranawana, Kurunegala, cultivating coconuts in addition to owning extensive paddy lands and residential properties in the district. A sports enthusiast, Jonathan was a member of the Kurunegala Tennis Club. In 1896, he married Alice Maud, daughter of Mudaliyar Henry Kanakaratne, and resided at the "Park View" residence in Kurunegala.

Today, the current owners of the Denagamuwa Walawwa operate a small tourist hotel under the name "The Rivendell Bungalow". Over time, certain alterations have been made to the original appearance of the house due to modern renovations.

Sources -

TCIC

Worldgenweb