Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, also known as Kotte, is the legislative capital city of Sri Lanka. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is located adjacent to the urban area of Sri Lanka's de facto economic, executive, and judicial capital, Colombo.
The Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Municipal Council area is bounded in:
- the North by Kolonnawa Urban Council area,
- the North-East by the Kotikawatta–Mulleriyawa Pradeshiya Sabha area,
- the East by the Kaduwela Municipal Council area,
- the South-East by the Maharagama Urban Council area,
- the South-West by the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council and
- the West by the Colombo Municipal Council area, which is the commercial capital of Sri Lanka.
History
Alagakkonara is mentioned by Ibn Batuta as ruling in Kurunegala, but other sources indicate that he was the Bandara of Raigama Korale 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.
Kotte was a jala durgha, in the shape of a triangle, with the Diyawanna Oya and Kolonnawa Oya marshes forming two long sides; along the shorter third side a large moat was dug. The fortress was nearly in area, fortified with ramparts of kabook or laterite rock, high and in breadth.
In 1391, following the conquest of the Kingdom of Jaffna by Prince Sapumal, Kotte was given the epithet 'Sri Jayawardenepura'. It became the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Kotte, which it remained until the end of the 16th century.
From the ramparts to the magnificent three storied buildings that housed the kings palace, laterite and clay were the main raw material used in its construction. One of the places from which the laterite blocks were mined can be seen even today inside the premises of Ananda Sasthralaya.
The main features of the capital city were:
- The King's palace, with walls of quartz that sparkle in the moonlight and a golden spire, with beautiful flower gardens and springs of water,
- The three-storeyed Dalada Maligawa with Buddha's sacred tooth relic in it,
- The five-storeyed "Arama" where sixty Buddhist Bhikkus resided, with a Sangha Rajaas the chief incumbent,
- The king's treasure house,
- The 'Kotavehara' at Baddagana, the only Buddhist temple of the city outside the moat and rampart,
- The Royal cemetery at Beddagana,
- The 'Angampitiya', the military parade and training ground just inside the inner moat.
The Portuguese arrived on the island in 1505 and were initially welcomed by the king, but they had militaristic and monopolistic intentions and gained control of the city by 1565. Failing to withstand repeated assaults by the forces of the neighbouring Kingdom of Sitawaka, the city was abandoned by the Portuguese, who made Colombo their new capital.
Like similar cities of that era, Sri Jayawardenepura was built with security in mind. A rampart and moat protected the entire city. Traces of this moat and rampart are still visible today at certain places. Along parts of the rampart, encroachers have now built houses, garages and even toilets.
The urbanisation of Kotte restarted in the 19th century. The archaeological remains were torn up and used as building materials —some of it even ending up in the Victoria Bridge, across the Kelani River.
Legislature
The New Parliament was inaugurated on 29 April 1982. The buildings were built on reclaimed land, after a massive lake was formed by dredging the marshlands around the Diyawanna Oya. The new parliamentary buildings were built on Duwa, a 50,000 square metre island in the centre of the lake. The island had been used as a recreation and brawling spot for Portuguese soldiers in the last days of Kotte era, alcohol being banned from the Royal City. It had belonged to E. W. Perera and had housed a chicken farm prior to being vested in the state. On 29 April 1982, the new parliamentary complex was declared open by the former president J. R. Jayewardene.The process of relocating government institutions from the former capital of Colombo is still in progress.
Municipal structure
The Kotte Urban Development Council was created in the 1930s, with a modern building at Rajagiriya. It was succeeded by the Kotte Urban Council, which had a large section of its area removed and tagged onto the Colombo Municipal Council ward of Borella while the Battaramulla urban council was dissolved and a small section of Battaramulla tagged onto the Kotte Urban Council. The Kotte Urban Council became the Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Municipal Council in 1997, with Chandra Silva as the first Mayor.There are 20 Members of the Municipal Council, elected on proportional representation. There are 18 wards, but these are now merely polling divisions, without individual representation.
Zones
Grama Niladhari Division
| Division No. | Division name |
| 514 | Welikada East |
| 514A | Welikada West |
| 514B | Rajagiriya |
| 514C | Obesekarapura |
| 514D | Welikada North |
| 519 | Nugegoda |
| 519A | Pagoda |
| 519B | Nugegoda West |
| 519C | Pagoda East |
| 520 | Nawala West |
| 520A | Koswatte |
| 520B | Nawala East |
| 521 | Ethul Kotte |
| 521A | Ethul Kotte West |
| 522 | Pitakotte West |
| 522A | Pitakotte East |
| 522B | Pitakotte |
| 526 | Gangodavila North |
| 526A | Gangodavila South |
| 526C | Gangodavila East |
Demographics
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious urban centre. According to the census of 2012, the demographics by ethnicity and religion is as follows:| Ethnic group | Population | Percentage |
| Sinhalese | 91,268 | 84.89% |
| Sri Lankan Tamil | 7,503 | 6.98% |
| Sri Lankan Moor | 5,207 | 4.84% |
| Burgher | 1,049 | 0.98% |
| Indian Tamil | 801 | 0.75% |
| Malay | 710 | 0.66% |
| Sri Lankan Chetty | 72 | 0.07% |
| Baratha | 58 | 0.05% |
| Other | 840 | 0.78% |
| Total | 107,508 | 100.00% |
| Religion | Population | Percentage |
| Buddhist | 82,841 | 77.06% |
| Roman Catholic | 7,827 | 7.28% |
| Muslim | 6,772 | 6.30% |
| Other Christian | 5,040 | 4.69% |
| Hindu | 4,864 | 4.52% |
| Other | 164 | 0.15% |
| Total | 107,508 | 100.00% |
Infrastructure
Transport
The only main railway station is at Nugegoda, on the Kelani Valley Line. Also at Nugegoda is the main bus terminus. There are subsidiary bus stands at Pita Kotte. This urban area is well served by buses and there is a CTB bus depot at Udahamulla.In 2005, a Passenger boat service was being finalised and would commence adjacent to Parliament Junction at Bataramulla and end at the Wellawatte canal near Marine drive. Each journey would take around 30 minutes. It would have stations at the Kotte Marsh, Nawala, Open University, Apollo Hospital, Duplication road, Wellawatte and at St Peter's College, Colombo. The Sri Lanka Navy is conducting a pilot project between the Open University and Wellawatte.
Health
The main hospital of area situated at Madivela known as Sri Jayawardenepura Hospital is a gift from the Japanese government. There is a dedicated Eye & ENT hospital at Rajagiriya, and another maternity hospital under construction in Nawala. A small private health centre, the Blue Cross Hospital at Rajagiriya, provides basic facilities for medical diagnostics, and there is a small nursing home in Park Lane, Welikada, much patronised by Maldivians.Education
There are a number of state and private schools in Kotte. They are either "national schools", "government schools", semi-government/private schools, or International schools.The oldest English school on the island is Sri Jayawardenepura Maha Vidyalaya, formerly known as Christian College, located in Pita Kotte. The Ananda Sastralaya at Pita Kotte is the oldest Buddhist school in the city, and Anula Vidyalaya, Nugegoda is the third-largest Buddhist girls school in South Asia, with over 5000 students.
The Education Ministry as well as the Department of Examinations is based in Kotte.
A considerable number of the students living within the zone study at government owned colleges and International schools in Colombo.
Located at Nawala is the Open University, Sri Lanka, and at Nugegoda is the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Public Libraries are conveniently located, and can be found at Nugegoda and Rajagiriya.