Bomure Memorial (Sinhala: බෝමුරේ රාජසිංහ ස්මාරකය) is a commemorative pillar situated in Mada-mahanuwara village in Kandy District, Sri Lanka.
It was erected in December 1908 by Robert Chalmers (a British Governor of Ceylon) in order to commemorate the capture of King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha (1798-1815 A.D.) at this site (Lewis, 1913; Rajapakse, 2016). Rajasinghe was the last king of Sri Lanka who was finally captured by the British on 18 February 1815 while he was hiding in a house at Udapitivala (Abeyawardana, 2004).
Sir John D'Oyly, the 1st Baronet of Kandy (1814-1815 A.D.) reported this incident to the British Governor from the King's granary at Teldeniya on the day following the capture as follows (Seneviratna, 1983);
Dear Sir, I have the sincerest joy in reporting to Your Excellency that the object of your anxious wishes is accomplished, and the King of Kandy is captive in our hands.He was surrounded yesterday by the people of Dumbara, in conjunction with some armed Kandyans sent by the Adigar in the precincts of Medamahanuwara, and taken about an hour before dusk in the house of Udupitiya Arachchi at Galahewatta, a mile beyond Medamahanuwara, with two of his queens.
Rajasinha was brought to Colombo and temporarily imprisoned in A House in the Fort Area, until he was deported to Vellore in Madras (India) on 24
January 1816.
The pillar is 3.69 m tall and stands on a small plot of land (Abeyawardana, 2004). The inscription engraved on it in English and Sinhala says;
Sri Wickrama Rajasinha captured here 18 February 1815
ශ්රී වික්රම රාජසිංහ රජතුමා මෙහිදී අල්වා ගන්ට යෙදුනේ
See also
Attribution
#) LankaPradeepa.com would like to thank Lalith Kekulthotuwage for providing the necessary photographs required for this article. All the photos are published here with the permission of the author.
References
1) Abeyawardana, H.A.P., 2004. Heritage of Kandurata: Major natural, cultural and historic sites. Colombo: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka. pp.107-108.
2) Lewis, J. P., 1913. List of inscriptions on tombstones and monuments in Ceylon, of historical or local interest with an obituary of persons uncommemorated: Colombo. p.342.
3) Rajapakse, S., 2016. Pauranika Sthana Ha Smaraka: Mahanuwara Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka. ISBN:955-9159-34-8. p.140.
4) Seneviratna, A, 1983. Kandy: An Illustrated Survey of Ancient Monuments, with Historical, Archaeological, and Literary Descriptions Including Maps of the City and Its Suburbs. Central Cultural Fund. Ministry of Cultural Affairs. p.153.
Location Map
This page was last updated on 21 October 2023
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Kandy District
