Carthigasen Memorial, Ratnapura

The Carthigasen Memorial is a tombstone memorial located in Ratnapura town, Sri Lanka. It has been erected in memory of the late Mr, S. T. Carthigasen, a district engineer who had sacrificed his life in the 1913 flood occurred in the Ratnaputa town.

History

S. T. Carthigasen was a contemporary of D.R. Wijewardene, a Sri Lankan press baron and a leader in the Sri Lankan independence movement. They were Ceylonese student at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom during their student days. After returning home, Carthigasen joined the Public Works Department of Ceylon and started his career as a district engineer. However, a year after his return, Carthigasen marked the end of his life while attempting to rescue some people during the Ratnapura flood in October, 1913. To commemorate his death, a monolith was erected on the wayside of Ratnapura - Colombo road , near the place where he drowned.

The inscription of the memorial can be read as follows,

"In memory of S. T. Carthigasen, District Engineer, P. W. D., who in the flood of 1913, near this spot gave up his life in rescuing others."

Location Map

This page was last updated on 26 October 2019