Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte (????? ?????????? ?????? in
Sinhalese and ???? ?????????????? ?????? in
Tamil), also known as
Sri Jayawardenapura or
Kotte ??????, is the
administrative capital of
Sri Lanka. It is located beyond the eastern suburbs of the commercial capital
Colombo and is often called
New Capital territory. The
Parliament of Sri Lanka has been based there since the formal inauguration of its new building on
29 April 1982.
The village of Darugama lay at the confluence of two streams, the Diyawanna Oya and the Kolonnawa Oya. As Darugama was a naturally secure place, it was not easy for enemies to enter it. Here, in the 13th century, a Tamil chieftain named Nissanka Alagakkonara built a fortress called Kotte (meaning 'Fortress') against invasion from the Jaffna Kingdom of Arya Chakaravarthi.[1]
Alagakkonara is mentioned by Ibn Batuta as ruling in Kurunegala, but other sources indicate that he was the Bandara (Guardian) of Raigama Korale (county) in the modern Kalutara District. Arya Chakravarthy's army was held by Alagakkonara in front of Kotte, while he defeated the enemy's invasion fleet at Panadura to the south-west.[2]
Kotte was a jala durgha (water fortress), in the shape of a triangle, with the Diyawanna Oya and Kolonnawa Oya marshes forming two long sides; along the shorter third (land) side a large moat (the 'inner moat') was dug. The fortress was nearly 2.5&_160;km² (1 sq. mile) in area, fortified with ramparts of kabook or laterite rock, 2.5 m high and 10.7 m in breadth.[1]
