Pethangoda Grove

A popular verse of Sinhala poetry runs as follows:

Rusiru pethangoda uyanata wædiyaaya
Napuru unakatuwak pathulehi ænunaaya
Sitiya sævoma vatakara mathulaaya
Raajasingha devi naamen mækunaaya

In English, this means:

He betook himself to the beautiful Pethangoda park
A wicked bamboo thorn pierced his foot
All those there surrounded him and chanted spells
Rajasinghe was erased from the names of the gods

This refers to king Rajasinghe I of Sitawaka, who fought an unrelenting war against the Portuguese. Apparently, he was known by his given name, Tikiri Bandara (still a popular name among the Kandyan Sinhalese) until 1555, when he captured the town of Alutnuwara from the Royal pretender, Vidiya Bandara, while still a prince. Thereafter he was popularly known as Raja Singhe ('regal lion'), later taking this moniker as his regnal name on mounting the throne.

Rajasinghe I witnessing an execution

Rajasinghe was quite a colourful character, who was reputed to have murdered his father king Mayadunne of Sitawaka, the son of Vijayabahu VII (the king mentioned in the post on Menikkadawara). He was rejected by the Buddhist clergy as a parricide and therefore become a devotee of the Hindu god Shiva.

In 1593, having been defeated in battle at Kadugannawa, he retired to Ruwanwella and went to his pleasaunce at Pethangoda (pronounced peth-un-go-duh and meaning 'hill of bauhinia tomentosa'). There, he had the accident with the bamboo thorn mentioned in the poem.

He was brought by royal barge down the Kelani river, but died of septicaemia at a place with the mellifluous - if unlikely - name of Kukulubittarawella (Cock's egg sandbank). An alternative name for the village is the slightly more rational Kikily Bittara Welaloo Wella (Sandbank in which the hen's eggs were buried) - no, I don't know the significance of this place-name.

Bamboo thorns, Pethangoda

But was it an accident? The mediaeval chronicle, the Rajavaliya tells us that Rajasinghe was succeeded by his grandson prince Raja Surya 'who', it says 'had caused the death of king Raja Sinha'. Apparently, Raja Surya had a dalliance with a damsel, the daughter of an astrologer called Dodampe Ganitaya. The latter had practised witchcraft to prevent the removal of the poison in Rajasinghe's wound. The inference is that there had been a trap set for the king.

Some say (darkly) that the bamboo thorn had been coated with poison. Still others say he was killed by a cobra's bite - indicative of divine retribution for his dual crime of killing his father and turning his back on Buddhism.

Thorny bamboo, Pethangoda

Be that as it may, the thorns at the Pethangoda park are pretty wicked. Some of them are about a metre (3 feet) long. Alas the photographs I took do not do them justice. These are Indian thorny bamboos, reputedly obtained from the subcontinent and different from the bamboos found in Sri Lanka. They have dark green shoots, not yellow as is the norm in this godly isle.

Looking towards the entrance and the lower clump

All that is left of the pleasaunce is a grove of two clumps of bamboo, on two levels, surrounded by a barbed wire fence. The clumps of bamboo themselves are enclosed behind wire mesh in order to prevent vandals from destroying them - they are already in a bad state due to vandalism (one wonders why there is no divine retribution on these hooligans).

The upper level of the grove

Nevertheless it is a pleasant spot, with a rubber plantation on three sides and a paddy field on the other. One can imagine how the king might have found solace from his eternal worries by sitting and gazing at the bamboo branches, especially the lovely pattern made by the bamboo against the sky.

Looking towards paddy field (A larger-size picture can be seen here.)

Incidentally, Raja Surya didn't get to reign long. He used to sneak off at night to be with Dodampe Ganitaya's daughter and on one such romantic tryst was done to death by his relatives. Soon after the kingdom of Sitawaka fell to the Portuguese.

After his death Rajasinghe was worshipped as Ganegoda Deviyo (God of Ganegoda). Incidently, Sri Lankan kings were considered divine while they lived, being addressed as 'Deviyanwahanse Budhuwewa' - 'may your godship become a Buddha'. So the transition couldn't have been too difficult.

Pethangoda marked with blue pin

Click here to see detailed google map of Pethangoda

Pethangoda is situated on the Anguruwella-Warakapola road, next to a stream known as the Gurugoda Oya. It is within easy driving distance of the rest houses at Ambepussa, Hanwella and Kitulgala, and the Ambalama hotel in Hanwella.