Heritage

Historical Headman’s Lodge in Kandy (මහනුවර මුලාදෑනි මණ්ඩපය)

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The Headman’s Lodge (Muladeni Mandapaya) is an open hall built on wooden pillars with one room at the far end. The building is located at the heart of 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 was built following the Kandyan Architecture and resembles the Audience Hall of the king inside the premises of the 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 was used by the Village Headmen visiting Kandy city during the early part of British administration. The building 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 is tiled with flat clay tiles typical of buildings of the Kandyan 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) are finely finished but have no carvings. However, each pillar head is decorated with 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 an outlet for Central Cultural Fund Books and replicas.

The pillars in the Headman's Lodge (Muladeni Mandapaya) is is recorated with Pekada (decorative wooden pillar heads / brackets at the top of the pillar) with lotus flower carvings at the end.

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

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

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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

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References

Also See

Map of Headman’s Lodge (Muladeni Mandapaya) in Kandy

Traveling Directions to Headman’s Lodge (Muladeni Mandapaya) in Kandy

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