Sisiragiri Walawwa (Sinhala: යටියන සිසිරගිරි වලව්ව) is an abandoned country house located in Yatiyana village in Matara District, Sri Lanka. It was the ancestral residence of Ranaweeras, a wealthy land and plantation-owning family in Yatiyana.
History
Sisiragiri Walawwa is a two-story house built following British architecture in around 1916 (Bandara, 2019). It was constructed by Don Andreas Ranaweera or Yatiyana Ralahamy, the one who found the fortune of the Ranaweera family (Bandara, 2019). Don Andreas Ranaweera's son, Donald Jasen Ranaweera (b.1921-d.2000) expanded the family's wealth bringing them into one of the notable landlord families in the country. Donald also bought the Panilkanda Estate in Deniyaya and later acquired Fetteresso and Attabagie Group in Dickoya and Gampola.
During the 1987–1989 JVP insurrection, the house suffered looting and damage (Bandara, 2019). It is now abandoned and still stands in a dilapidated state. A storeroom and several graves of the Ranaweera family are located vicinity of the house.
References
1) Bandara, A., 2019. Siyawasak sapurana Sisiragiri Mandiraya (In Sinhala). Dayada. 13th issue. Department of Archaeology. p.29.
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.