
Ambalama Heritage
Udunuwara Daskara Galkona Ambalama
Central Province
Kandy District
7°12'25.0"N 80°34'23.2"E
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STAND INSIDE IT — 360°
THE PLACE
Udunuwara Daskara Galkona Ambalama is a small wayside rest near the Galkona Purana Bodhiya, in Daskara village, Udunuwara. It stands on a stone platform. The walls are built of square-cut stone blocks raised to seating height, with four stone pillars of the same material, and stone slabs laid along the top of the walls serve as seats. The wall facing the entrance rises about two and a half feet, the side walls about two feet, a difference said to reflect the seating customs of its period.
The roof has two slopes, steeper above and gentler below, covered in the flat clay tiles common to Kandyan-era construction. A panthaliya, the water pot once set out for travelers, is no longer present. Local elders recall a wooden ambalama standing on the same spot before this stone structure was built, though no date survives for either phase. A neighbouring rest, referred to as the Suwandalkumbura Ambalama, once stood nearby to the west and is now in ruins.
A rafter carries a carved name, Seneviratne, and the year 1928, interpreted as a patron's name and a date, though it is not clear whether it marks the stone building's construction or a later rebuilding of the earlier wooden one. No further record has surfaced to settle the question.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS
THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S NOTES
Check the building’s condition before entering and do not climb on the ledges or roof supports. Keep nearby lanes and household access clear.
- Viran de Silva
UNIQUE SRI LANKA
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SOURCES
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RECORD
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CONTACT
Photographs © Viran de Silva
info@virandesilva.com
uniquesrilanka.com

