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Dehadu Kadulla |
Dehadu Kadulla (Sinhala: දෙහදු කඩුල්ල) is an ancient gateway made out of rock located in the village of Kadadora in Nuwara Eliya District, Sri Lanka. The gateway formed by a bridge of a rock and an embankment is also called Kandadvara from which the present word Kadadora was probably derived (Abeywardana, 2004). The monument is situated about 1.2 km southwest of gigantic Stupa, Mahaweli Maha Seya.
History
The present village Kadadora provides access to Kotmale from the west (Abeywardana, 2004). In ancient times, there were four main entrances named Gal Dora, Kada Dora, Wata Dora, and Niyamgam Dora, to enter the Maya Rata, a principality or an administrative region of the Sinhalese kingdom located in the Southwestern part of the country (Performance Report, 2011). Of them, the Kada Dora, also called Dehadukadulla, is the only entrance which can be seen today. According to folklore, the Kada Dora entrance was the place where Prince Dutugemunu had hidden his sword (Magul Kaduwa) when he was coming from Ruhuna to Maya Rata seeking shelter. In the Sinhala language, the term Dehadu is used to mean a sword (Abeywardana, 2004).
The Structure
The entrance is about 2.17 meters tall and 1.85 meters wide and has been constructed using rubble and rock boulders (Abeywardana, 2004).
A Protected Monument
The Kadadora Dehadu Kadulla situated in the Grama Niladhari Division of Kadadora, in Kotmale Divisional Secretary’s Division, is an archaeological protected monument, declared by a gazette notification published on 6 June 2008.
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References
Books, Government Gazette Notifications, Performance Reports
1) Performance Report, 2011: Colombo. Planning and Monitoring Section, Department of Archaeology, p.289.
2) Abeywardana, H.A.P., 2004. Heritage of Kandurata: Major natural, cultural and historic sites. Colombo: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka. pp.232,239.
3) The Gazette of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, no 1553, 6 June 2008. p.526.