Mahawalatenna Walawwa | Birthplace of World's First Female Prime Minister

Mahawalatenna Walawwa (Sinhala: මහවලතැන්න වලව්ව) is a mansion located in Mahawalathenna village in Ratnapura District, Sri Lanka. It is the birthplace of Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (b.1916-d.2000), the first female Prime Minister in the world. History Folklore says that Mahawalatenne Maha Adikaram built a mansion at this place over 200 years ago after seeing a miraculous incident - a hare chasing a fox- that happened here (Abeyawardana, 2002). It is said that this incident led him to believe that this was an auspicious site for the construction of a residence (Abeyawardana, 2002). However, the authenticity of this story is low since the same legend is found in several other places in the country. The present mansion at the site was constructed in 1902 by Samuel David Mahawalatenna following a plan designed by an English architect (Abeyawardana, 2002). Rosmund Mahawalatenna, one of the daughters of Samuel David Mahawalatenna was married to Barnes Ratwatte (b.1883-d.1957), the fathe…