(2 votes, average: 2.00 out of 5)
Loading...
The building known as the Headman’s Lodge (Muladeni Mandapaya) is an open hall built on wooden pillars with one room at the far end. Building is located at the heart of the Kandy city, on the Deva Veediya (Temple Street) close to the current entrance to the Temple of Tooth and just before the DFCC Bank Kandy Branch Building.
This building has been built in accordance to the Kandyan Architecture and resembles the Audience Hall of the king inside the premises of Temple of Tooth. However this is a much smaller building and lacks the elaborate wood carvings found on the pillars and beams of the Audience Hall.
As the name implies, the Headman’s Lodge were used by the Village Headmen visiting Kandy city during the early part of British administration. The buildings is built on a raised rectangular platform with 28 large wooden pillars holding the roof of the hall and 4 more pillars are found in the room at the far end of the building. The roof tiled with flat clay tiles typical of buildings of Kandyn era and is held by these pillars.
Each pillar is square with two octagonal sections in the middle. These 2 sections are separated by a square section again. Generally fine carvings are seen on this square section on buildings of similar nature. The pillars in the Headman’s Lodge (Muladeni Mandapaya) is finely finished but have no carvings. However the each pillar head is recorated Pekada (decorative wooden pillar heads / brackets at the top of the pillar) with lotus flower carvings at the end.
Today this hall is used as a outlet for Central Cultural Fund Books and replicas. This building was
References
- Abeyawardhana, H. A. P. (2004) Heritage of Kandurata: Major Natural, Cultural, and Historic Sites. Kandy: Kandurata Development Bank, in association with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
Also See
- Kandy – The Last Kingdom of Sinhale
Map of Headman’s Lodge (Muladeni Mandapaya) in Kandy
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 Headman’s Lodge (Muladeni Mandapaya) in Kandy
Kandy can be reached from Colombo on the old Colombo – Kandy road (option 1) which is scenic but heavy in traffic, especially on Fridays and Sundays. However, the new Central Expressway (option 2) has opened up a new route which is longer but less cumbersome.
| Route 1 from Colombo to Kandy | Route 2 from Colombo to Kandy |
| Through : Katunayake Expressway – Central Expressway – Kurunegala Distance :150 km Travel time: 3.20 hours Driving Directions : see on Google map | Through : Katunayake Expressway – Central Expressway – Kurunegala Distance :150 km Travel Time: 3.20 hours Driving Directions : see on Google map |
| Route From Nuwara Eliya to Kandy | |
| Through : Walapane – Raja Mawatha Distance :100 km Travel Time : 3.0 hours Driving Directions : see on Google map |