Muthu Mandapam, Vellore

Muthu Mandapam is a memorial situated on the banks of the Palar river in Vellore, India. It has been built by the Tamil Nadu Government to honour King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha (1798-1815 A.D.), the last ruler of Sri Lanka (Rajalakshmi & Yoganandham, 2020). The tomb of Rajasinha along with the tombs of seven of his family members stands inside this pearl-shaped memorial house erected in 1990.

History

Sri Vikrama Rajasingha was the last of the four kings of the Nayak dynasty (Telugu origin) of the Kandyan Kingdom. He succeeded his uncle King Sri Rajadhi Rajasinha (1781-1798 A.D.) in 1798 at the age of eighteen. He ruled Kandy until he was deposed by the British government under the terms of the Kandyan Convention signed on 2 March 1815 between the British Governor of Ceylon Sir Robert Brownrigg (1812-1820 A.D.) and the chiefs of the Kandyan Kingdom.

Rajasinha surrendered to Brownrigg at Bomure on 18 February 1815 while he was hiding in a house at Udapitivala in Kandy (Abeyawardana, 2004). He was brought to Colombo and temporarily imprisoned in A House in the Fort Area. On 24 January 1816, under the supervision of Captain O'Brien, the king, his queens and others were deported to Vellore in Madras (India) through the ship H.M.S. Cornwallis. 

Rajasinha was kept as a royal prisoner at the Vellore Fort for 17 years with his family members (Rajalakshmi & Yoganandham, 2020). There he lived on a small allowance (Privy Purse) given to him by the British colonial administration. Rajasinha died on 30 January 1832, aged 52 years. His body was cremated on the banks of Palar River which is presently known as Muthu Mandapam.

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) Rajalakshmi, R. and Yoganandham, G., 2020. Dalits Empowerment in Tamil Nadu-A Historical Perspectives. Lulu. com. p.210.

 

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This page was last updated on 11 July 2022