Ruins of Thulawelliya Gal Palama (Stone Bridge) over Kanadara Oya (තුලාවෙල්ලිය පුරාණ ගල් පාලම නටබුණ්)

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Ruins of Thulawelliya Gal Palama (Stone Bridge) over Kanadara Oya
Image source : පුරාණ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ශෛලමය පාලම් නිර්මාණ කිහිපයක් සහ එහි තාක්ෂණය පිලිබඳ මූලික විමසුමක් : Thusitha Mendis

Anuradhapura was the first real capital of Sri Lanka over two thousand two hundred years ago. The road network was in a highly developed state during this era, with major roads leading to Trincomalee, Mannar, Jaffna and the southern kingdoms from Anuradhapura. These roads were not only used for foot traffic but carts carrying goods travelling for trade and commercial activities. With the development of the road network, the ancient kings built sturdy bridges out of granite slabs and pillars. Ruins in various bridges around Anuradhapura can be found across Malwathu Oya, Hal Pan Ela, Kandara Oya, Yan Oya, Kala Oya and Deduru Oya.

Outside the more popular stone bridges over Malwathu Oya and Halpan Oya, ruins of a few other bridges have been discovered. There may be many more still undiscovered stone bridges across the unknown ancient routes.

Thulawelliya is a remote village off Medawachchiya. The second rock bridge over Kanadara Oya lies about 1km below the ancient Mahadaragallaka Wapi which is now called the Mahagalkadawala Wewa which has been completely destroyed and about 500 meters upstream to the Kanadara Oya ancient Amuna.

The bridge has been built at a place where Kanadara Oya flows over a rock surface. The bridge over the river has been destroyed but a large number of rock pillars and slabs can be seen on the left bank of the river. Some parts of the pillars still can be seen standing in their original positions. Based on the scattered pillars, the pillars of the bridge have been about 2 meters high.

Other Stone Bridges of Sri Lanka

There are many stone bridges discovered in Sri Lanka. These are in various states while some have been conserved to an extent. The most popular is the bridge over the Malwathu Oya.

Alubedda Stone Bridge
Angammedilla National Park Stone Bridge (Polonnaruwa)
Ebawalapitiya Gal Palama (Stone Bridge) over Deduru Oya
Girihandu Seya Stone Bridge (Tiriyaya)
Habagama Stone Bridge
Halpan Ela Stone Bridge (Anuradhapura)
Kayankerni Stone Bridge (Eastern Province)
Mahakanadarawa Wewa Stone Bridge (Mihintale)
Nirawiya Farm Gal Palama (Thambuttegama)
Palugaswewa Stone Bridge
Pavakkulam Stone Bridge (Vavuniya)
Perimiyankulama Gal Palama over Malwathu Oya (Anuradhapura)
Ritigala Gal Palama (Anuradhapura)
Sukara Nijjara Gal Amuna and Stone Bridge
Thimbiripokuna Palamgala Gal Palama
Thirappane Stone Bridge
Thulawelliya Stone Bridge
Ullukkulama Stone Bridge
Vannadi Palama (Vannadi Stone Bridge) and Amuna
Weliela Mankada Stone Bridge
Yanoya Stone Bridge

Note that the location shown below on the Google Map is approximate based on the provided directions.

References

පුරාණ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ශෛලමය පාලම් නිර්මාණ කිහිපයක් සහ එහි තාක්ෂණය පිලිබඳ මූලික විමසුමක් – ආචාර්ය චන්දන රෝහණ විතානාච්චි

Also See

Map of the Ruins of Thulawelliya Gal Palama (Stone Bridge) over Kanadara Oya

Please click on the button below to load the Dynamic Google Map (ගූගල් සිතියම් පහලින්)

Show Location (ගූගල් සිතියම)

The map above also shows other places of interest within a approximately 20 km radius of the current site. Click on any of the markers and the info box to take you to information of these sites

Zoom out the map to see more surrounding locations using the mouse scroll wheel or map controls.

Traveling Directions to the Thulawelliya Gal Palama (Stone Bridge) over Kanadara Oya

Route from Anuradhapura to Thulawelliya Gal Palama (Stone Bridge) over Kanadara Oya

Through : Medawachchiya
Distance : 47 km
Travel time :1.15 hours
Time to spend : 30 mins – 1 hour
Driving directions : see on google maps

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