Holy Emmanuel's Church, Hanguranketha
Photo credit: Google street view Holy Emmanuel's Church (Sinhala: හඟුරන්කෙත ශුද්ධ එමානුවෙල් දේවස්ථානය) is a church situated in Hanguranketha, in Nuwara Eliya District, Sri Lanka. It is considered one of the oldest churches established in the district (Abeyawardana, 2004; Wijesinghe, 2015). History Although it is mentioned on the church building that it was built in 1886, the history of the establishment of this church runs back to the year 1815 (Abeyawardana, 2004; Wijesinghe, 2015). Folklore During the early 19th century, the ancient route between Kandy and Nuwara Eliya was fallen through Hanguranketha (Abeyawardana, 2004; Wijesinghe, 2015). People used this route only during the daytime as there were robbers operating at night (Abeyawardana, 2004; Wijesinghe, 2015). One day a Catholic priest travelling on horseback on this route stayed overnight at the spot where the present church is located as his horse refused to proceed (Abeyawardana, 2004). On the next day, the priest commenced…
