Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2017) |
Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte
ශ්රී ජයවර්ධනපුර කෝට්ටේ ஶ்ரீ ஜெயவர்த்தனபுர கோட்டை | |
---|---|
UTC+5:30 (SLST) | |
Postal code | 10100 |
Area code | 011 |
Website | kotte.mc.gov.lk |
Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, commonly known as Kotte (pronounced [ˈkoːʈeː]),[2] is the legislative capital of Sri Lanka.[3] Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is located adjacent to the urban area of Sri Lanka's de facto economic, executive, and judicial capital, Colombo.
The Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Municipal Council area is bounded in:
- the North by Kolonnawa Urban Council area,
- the North-East by the Kotikawatta–Mulleriyawa Pradeshiya Sabha area,
- the East by the Kaduwela Municipal Council area,
- the South-East by the Maharagama Urban Council area,
- the South-West by the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council and
- the West by the Colombo Municipal Council area, which is the commercial capital of Sri Lanka.
History
The village of Darugama lay at the confluence of two streams, the
Alagakkonara is mentioned by
Kotte was a jala durgha (water fortress), in the shape of a triangle, with the Diyawanna Oya and Kolonnawa Oya marshes forming two long sides; along the shorter third (land) side a large moat (the 'inner moat') was dug. The fortress was nearly 2.5 km2 (0.97 sq mi) in area, fortified with ramparts of kabook or laterite rock, 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) high and 10.7 metres (35 ft) in breadth.[5]
In 1391, following the conquest of the
From the ramparts to the magnificent three storied buildings that housed the kings palace, laterite and clay were the main raw material used in its construction. One of the places from which the laterite blocks were mined can be seen even today inside the premises of Ananda Sasthralaya (a local school).
The main features of the capital city were:[5]
- the king's palace, with walls of quartz that sparkle in the moonlight (candrakanta pasana) and a golden spire, with beautiful flower gardens and springs of water,[6]
- the three-storeyed Dalada Maligawa with Buddha's sacred tooth relic in it (Temple of the tooth),
- the five-storeyed "Arama" where sixty Buddhist Bhikkus resided, with a Sangha Raja(a high priest)as the chief incumbent,
- the king's treasure house,
- the 'Kotavehara' at Baddagana, the only Buddhist temple of the city outside the moat and rampart,
- the royal cemetery at Beddagana (Veherakanda memorial),
- and the 'Angampitiya', the military parade and training ground just inside the inner moat.
The Portuguese arrived on the island in 1505 and were initially welcomed by the king, but they had militaristic and monopolistic intentions and gained control of the city by 1565. Failing to withstand repeated assaults by the forces of the neighbouring kingdom of Sitawaka, the city was abandoned by the Portuguese, who made Colombo their new capital.[7]
Like similar cities of that era, Sri Jayawardenepura was built with security in mind. A rampart and moat protected the entire city. Traces of this moat and rampart are still visible today at certain places. Along parts of the rampart, encroachers have now built houses, garages and even toilets.
The
Legislature
The New
The process of relocating government institutions from the former capital of Colombo is still in progress.
Municipal structure
The Kotte Urban Development Council was created in the 1930s, with a modern building at Rajagiriya. It was succeeded by the Kotte Urban Council, which had a large section of its area removed and tagged onto the Colombo Municipal Council ward of Borella while the Battaramulla urban council was dissolved and a small section of Battaramulla tagged onto the Kotte Urban Council. The Kotte Urban Council became the Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Municipal Council in 1997, with Chandra Silva as the first Mayor.
There are 20 Members of the Municipal Council (MMCs), elected on proportional representation. There are 18 wards, but these are now merely polling divisions, without individual representation.
Zones
Wards
Ward No. | Ward name |
---|---|
01 | Obesekarapura |
02 | Moragasmulla |
03 | Meda Welikada |
04 | Rajagiriya |
05 | Bandaranayakapura |
06 | Nawala West |
07 | Koswatta |
08 | Ethulkotte |
09 | Pitakotte East |
10 | Pitakotte |
11 | Pitakotte West |
12 | Nawala East |
13 | Nugegoda West |
14 | Pagoda North |
15 | Gangodavila East |
16 | Pagoda South |
17 | Nugegoda East |
18 | Gangodavila West |
Grama Niladhari Division
Division No. | Division name |
---|---|
514 | Welikada East |
514A | Welikada West |
514B | Rajagiriya |
514C | Obesekarapura |
514D | Welikada North |
519 | Nugegoda |
519A | Pagoda |
519B | Nugegoda West |
519C | Pagoda East |
520 | Nawala West |
520A | Koswatte |
520B | Nawala East |
521 | Ethul Kotte |
521A | Ethul Kotte West |
522 | Pitakotte West |
522A | Pitakotte East |
522B | Pitakotte |
526 | Gangodavila North |
526A | Gangodavila South |
526C | Gangodavila East |
Demographics
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious urban centre. According to the census of 2012, the demographics by ethnicity and religion is as follows:
Ethnic group | Population | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Sinhalese | 91,268 | 84.89% |
Sri Lankan Tamil |
7,503 | 6.98% |
Sri Lankan Moor |
5,207 | 4.84% |
Burgher | 1,049 | 0.98% |
Indian Tamil | 801 | 0.75% |
Malay | 710 | 0.66% |
Sri Lankan Chetty |
72 | 0.07% |
Baratha |
58 | 0.05% |
Other | 840 | 0.78% |
Total | 107,508 | 100.00% |
Religion | Population | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Buddhist | 82,841 | 77.06% |
Roman Catholic |
7,827 | 7.28% |
Muslim | 6,772 | 6.30% |
Other Christian | 5,040 | 4.69% |
Hindu | 4,864 | 4.52% |
Other | 164 | 0.15% |
Total | 107,508 | 100.00% |
Infrastructure
Transport
The only main railway station is at
In 2005, a Passenger boat service was being finalised and would commence adjacent to Parliament Junction at Bataramulla and end at the Wellawatte canal near Marine drive. Each journey would take around 30 minutes. It would have stations at the Kotte Marsh,
Health
The main hospital of area situated at Madivela known as Sri Jayawardenepura Hospital is a gift from the Japanese government. There is a dedicated Eye & ENT hospital at
Education
There are a number of state and private schools in Kotte. They are either "national schools" (run by the central government; Main School
The oldest English school on the island is
The Education Ministry as well as the Department of Examinations is based in Kotte.
A considerable number of the students living within the zone study at government owned colleges and International schools in Colombo.
Located at
Climate
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte features a
Climate data for Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.6 (87.1) |
31.2 (88.2) |
31.7 (89.1) |
31.8 (89.2) |
31.1 (88.0) |
30.4 (86.7) |
30.0 (86.0) |
30.0 (86.0) |
30.3 (86.5) |
30.0 (86.0) |
30.2 (86.4) |
30.4 (86.7) |
30.6 (87.2) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.6 (79.9) |
26.9 (80.4) |
27.7 (81.9) |
28.2 (82.8) |
28.3 (82.9) |
27.9 (82.2) |
27.5 (81.5) |
27.6 (81.7) |
27.5 (81.5) |
27.0 (80.6) |
26.7 (80.1) |
26.6 (79.9) |
27.4 (81.3) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 22.3 (72.1) |
22.7 (72.9) |
23.7 (74.7) |
24.6 (76.3) |
25.5 (77.9) |
25.5 (77.9) |
25.1 (77.2) |
25.2 (77.4) |
24.8 (76.6) |
24.0 (75.2) |
23.2 (73.8) |
22.8 (73.0) |
24.1 (75.4) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 85 (3.3) |
63 (2.5) |
112 (4.4) |
252 (9.9) |
335 (13.2) |
195 (7.7) |
130 (5.1) |
95 (3.7) |
165 (6.5) |
358 (14.1) |
309 (12.2) |
153 (6.0) |
2,251 (88.6) |
Source 1: Free Meteo (1961–1990)[12] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: Weatherbase[13] for precipitation |
Sports and recreation
Cricket is the most popular sport in this urban area as well as the country and is usually played in the grounds around the city.
In the 1990s, the Kotte Municipal Council constructed the Chandra Silva Stadium, to replace the EW Perera Grounds. Part of the grounds was sold and later used to construct the HSBC building. In 2007 the Municipality, with aid from the Ministry of Urban Development, completed the first stage of the new Chandra Silva Stadium on the site of a rubbish dump behind the HSBC building.
Recently, football has once more grown in popularity, and the sport now has a considerable following. The football association's new training facility at Kotte is aimed at harnessing and developing the available talent and organizing the individual players into a cohesive team. It includes a football playground with a sprinkler system, gym and a host of other facilities.[14]
Other sports are mostly played in the numerous clubs and
6°54′39″N 79°53′16.21″E / 6.91083°N 79.8878361°E
Notable residents
- Edward Walter Perera (1875–1953), a Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) barrister, politician and freedom fighter.
- Sir Governor General of Ceylon.
- Tissa Abeysekara (1939–2009), an eminent film personality.
See also
References
- ^ "World Gazetteer: Kotte – profile of geographical entity including name variants". Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
- ^ "News 1st: Madura Vithanage elected as the Mayor of Sri Jayewardenapura Kotte M C". YouTube.
- ^ "The Administrative Capital of Sri Lanka since 1982 is Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte". Official Sri Lanka government website. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ^ "Sri Lanka: A Country Study". Russell R. Ross and Andrea Matles Savada. Retrieved 26 February 2007.
- ^ a b "Divisional Secretariat". Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
- ISBN 955-613-144-2
- ^ "European encroachment and dominance". U.S. Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 5 October 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2007.
- ^ "Ward Map of Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte Municipal Council – Colombo District" (PDF).
- ^ "Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka – Population by ethnicity and district according to Divisional Secretary's Division, 2012".
- ^ "Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka – Population by divisional secretariat division, religion and sex- 2012" (PDF).
- ^ "Canal transport to ease traffic pile up". Chanuka Mannapperuma. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 10 July 2005.
- ^ "Weather Forecast Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte: Averages (1961–1990)". Free Meteo. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
- ^ "Kotte, Sri Lanka Travel Weather Averages". Weatherbase. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
- ^ "National training centre for Football at Beddegana". Sri Lanka Football. Archived from the original on 17 November 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2007.