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Alawwa Maligagodella Ruins (අලව්ව මාලිගාගොඩැල්ල නටබුන්)

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The area known as Maligagodella in Alawwa is a rather unknown site with ruins on a rocky outcrop 3.5km off Alawwa town. The area is scattered with ruins of several ancient buildings. However, due to the lack of any apparent religious artefacts in the ruins, it is thought to be a site of a palace of a regional king at some time. Also, the name given to this location by the villagers, Maligagodella indicates the same.

The information mentioned of this site is from a research report by the Department of Archaeology (ගවේෂන – 2 කලාපය – වයඹ පලාතේ පුරාවිද්‍යා ගවේෂන – 1 අදියර විශේෂ කලාපය – පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තුමේන්තුව) published in 2004.

The site lies at the Latitude N 7° 23′ 4” and Longitude E 80° 14′ 30” (7.384444, 80.241667), at a height of 200-300 feet above the sea level. The ruins are located in a valley between two mountains.

The ruins which have been researched have not unearthed any proof of religious buildings and the existing ruins do not follow any known Buddhist architectural features. No clue of the period of this palace can be found in any ancient text or from folklore.

Some of the black and red clay pottery found at the site has been dated to the period before the 2nd century. Furthermore, more pottery found at the site has been placed to the periods between the 5th to 10th centuries with most belonging to the 8th to 9th centuries. One piece of pottery has been potentially dated to the 2nd century BC.

Most of the ruins are found on the northern side of the rocky outcrop since this side is less steep than the southern side. Four flights of steps cut into the rock to the ruined area are found on the northern and southern sides of the rock.

Based on the map below, the steps marked as 1, contain 83 steps towards the ruins. western steps numbered 12 and 14 contain 7 and 14 steps respectively. West t0 to the number 1 steps you would find a quarry where rock was cut and separated into pillars and slabs. the holes chipped into the rock show how these were separated. Ruins marked as numbers 5, 9 10, 15, 16, 17, 20, 23 and 24 shows ruins of some buildings with scattered kabook foundations still visible.

To reach the site, travel to Wadakada from Polgahawela and take the road towards Ranagala Rajamaha Viharaya. This archaeological site is located very close to this temple.

Map of the Alawwa Maligagodella Ruined Site

References

ගවේෂන – 2 කලාපය – වයඹ පලාතේ පුරාවිද්‍යා ගවේෂන – 1 අදියර විශේෂ කලාපය – පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තුමේන්තුව

Also See

Map of Alawwa Maligagodella Ruins and Other Places of Interest

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.

Driving Directions to Alawwa Maligagodella Ruins

Route from Colombo to Alawwa Maligagodella Ruins	Route from Polgahawela to Alawwa Maligagodella Ruins
Through : Katunayake – Divulapitiya – Giriulla – Dambadeniya – Narammala Distance : 94 km Travel time : 2.5 hours Time to spend : 45 mins – 1 hour Driving directions : see on Google map	Through : Wadakada Distance : 13 km Travel time : 20 mins + hike Time to spend : 45 mins – 1 hour Driving directions : see on Google map

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References

Also See

Map of Alawwa Maligagodella Ruins and Other Places of Interest

Driving Directions to Alawwa Maligagodella Ruins

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