Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte

Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, also known as Kotte, is the legislative capital city of Sri Lanka. The municipality is situated adjacent to the urban area of Colombo, the de facto economic capital of the country.

Foundations and Fortifications

In the 13th century, a local chieftain named Nissanka Alagakkonara established a fortress at Darugama, a naturally secure location situated at the confluence of the Diyawanna Oya and the Kolonnawa Oya streams. This triangular water fortress, or jala durgha, spanned an area of nearly 2.5 square kilometres. Defensive measures included wide marshes forming two long sides and a large inner moat dug along the third land side. The structure was further fortified by ramparts constructed from kabook, or laterite rock, measuring 2.5 metres high and 10.7 metres broad.

Kingdom Capital and Architecture

Following the conquest of the Kingdom of Jaffna by Prince Sapumal in 1391, the settlement received the epithet Sri Jayawardenepura, meaning the resplendent city of growing victory. It served as the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Kotte until the end of the 16th century. Construction relied primarily on laterite and clay, featuring notable structures such as the king's palace with quartz walls and a golden spire, a three-storeyed Dalada Maligawa housing the sacred tooth relic, a five-storeyed Arama, the king's treasure house, the Kotavehara at Baddagana, the Veherakanda memorial royal cemetery, and the Angampitiya military parade and training ground.

Colonial Transition and Modern Era

The Portuguese arrived in 1505 and gained control of the city by 1565. Facing repeated assaults from the neighbouring Kingdom of Sitawaka, the Portuguese abandoned the location and established their new capital in Colombo. Urbanisation resumed during the 19th century, during which archaeological remains were frequently repurposed as building materials. To relieve congestion in Colombo, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte was designated as the new administrative capital in 1977, marked officially by the inauguration of the new Parliament building on 29 April 1982.

Legislative heart

Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, also known as Kotte, is the legislative capital city of Sri Lanka. Situated in the Western Province at latitude 6.88297 and longitude 79.90708, the municipality supports a population of 115,826 residents within the time zone of Asia/Colombo.

Located adjacent to the urban area of Sri Lanka's de facto economic capital, Colombo, the municipal council area shares borders with several surrounding districts. It is bounded in the North by the Kolonnawa Urban Council area, in the North-East by the Kotikawatta–Mulleriyawa Pradeshiya Sabha area, in the East by the Kaduwela Municipal Council area, in the South-East by the Maharagama Urban Council area, in the South-West by the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council, and in the West by the Colombo Municipal Council area.

Originally established in the 13th century as a secure water fortress constructed by the local chieftain Nissanka Alagakkonara at the confluence of the Diyawanna Oya and the Kolonnawa Oya, the settlement evolved over centuries. Following the conquest of the Kingdom of Jaffna by Prince Sapumal, the territory earned the descriptive epithet Sri Jayawardenepura, meaning the resplendent city of growing victory, and served as the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Kotte until the end of the 16th century. After subsequent periods of colonial control by the Portuguese and later administrative centralization in Colombo, the official relocation of the administrative capital back to Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte was marked by the inauguration of the new Parliament building on 29 April 1982. Today, economic life and governance in this multi-ethnic, multi-religious urban centre operate using the currency LKR, alongside official languages including Sinhala, Tamil, and English.