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P:ateway of the fort at the latter place. 
The small pyramidal-shaped pinnacles may 
he compared with those on the tower 
of the church at Gsteig They appear also, 
but more squat in shape, on the gateway 
of the Mannar Fort. 
It may be laid down as an axiom that 
whenever the Dutch built a gable, how ever 
simple, they endeavoured to ornament it 
in some way with plaster mouldings and 
finials. Reiiuced to its most primitive form, 
the gable ?ometimes consisted of a triangle 
on the top of a rectangular wall. But there 
was a moulding of some kind along the 
sides, and the three angles were surmounted 
by pedestals with their ornaments. One 
can always, in Ceylon, detect a Dutch gable 
by this peculiarity, as well as by the 
substantial character of the work. 
DONDRA. 
From an archasological point of view Dewi- 
nuwara, or Deuatlara, or Uondra, as we call it 
nowadays can claim some importance. It is, as 
we know, tlie Soatliernraost point of t!ie Island ; 
but few are aware that ii lias much to tell about 
the pasc. 
Tradition assigns it to Dapaliisea, probably 
the Dapula 1. or Dd thapabluiti who wasenjoineil by 
his father Silakala to guard the sea-coa>t. He ruled 
the Knhniia, as the country Soiitli of the Kalu- 
ganga was tlien calleil. After a period of three 
years he succeeded his father A.U. .539, and 
after the very short reign at Anuradhapura of 
only si,K months he is said to have cnraniitted 
suiciile rather than suffar defeat from his brother 
ISIoggalana, who was the rightful heir to the crown. 
Pattayame Lekama, a foet of some eelebiity 
in the 18th century, in his "Kowminikondala," 
the Buddhist Jayaddisa Jataka, records: — • 
DEVINUWAREHI PORANA 
DEVOLKARAWU NARANA 
DAPULUSEM NARANA 
SARAJ^A SEVEN'HHI WEDUNU PURANA. 
In view of its geographical position its sacred 
associations and its being the haven of trading 
vessels from Arabia, Persia, and China, Da- 
puhisen made it his capital. It is ja^t a little hill 
projectini; into the sea, with a Light house at the 
present day. It is in the Weilaboda Pattu of the 
Matara District, four nules from the Railway 
and on the Tan^jalle Koacl, which almost bisects 
it from West to East. It comprises the three 
villages of Dewundara, Kapugama and Wauwa, 
with a pjpulatioc as computed by the last census of 
6,733 souls. The inhabitants fish in the sea except 
a tesv northwards who follow some agri culture 
Eighteen pokunas or reservoirs and a hke 
number of streets, tollokkuwas or lanes are said 
to have adorned the city, which must have 
extended to Gandara, "door of the city." The 
Devala is sacred to the Votaries of Visluiu who 
call it Thenamale, "Honey Hill." Though it is 
the e.\clusive property of the Buddhists, both 
creeds meet here to worship in peace and amity. 
Ship-wreoks on the coast must have been of 
common occurrence as more than one legend seem 
to suggest. The following is one of tliein: — 
A tine log of limber whioh was afterwards 
ideatilied as Kihiri (Tennent calls it Sandal-woD(i) 
lloated on the little bay by the side of the present 
Light-house, whence the name Kihiriwella, cor- 
rupted into Kiralawella. It receded into the 
sea with every attempt to board it. 
" Let a? a'ik soma prophet, priest or prova " 
" Sorae dreina-intarpceter (for dceims are oftea 
seat from jove.") 
In ac3ordance'wItliaus!urie?,the sanctified people 
of the Uavale approached it in fittin;; proces- 
sion, an 1 conveyed it from another little bay, 
Magultotawala to the Devale. Next the sculptors 
are batfljd. Their chisels refuse to carve the idol. 
In this prediciment the old man whom you will 
at once recognise comes to the rescue : — 
*' Slow toUeriag from the hovel where ha hid. 
Crept forth a wretch in rag, haggard and foul, 
An old, old min, whose shrivelled akin sun- 
tamed. 
Clung like a beast's hide to his fleshless bones. 
Bent was his back with load of many days. 
His eyes pits red with rust of ancient tears. 
His dim orbs blear with rheam, his toothless 
jaws, 
Wagging with palsy, ani the fright to see 
To many and such joy. One skinny hand 
Clutched a worn stall to prop his quivering 
limbs, 
Aad one vfas pressei npaa the ridge and ribs," 
The workmen had retired for their rural, and 
the silitary lad forbids entrance. Says he "there 
are the tools. Durst thou, an outcast, sacrilege 
besides ? ' Keplies the spurious old man, " Tools 
want not I. Lo ! one of my legs is already in 
the grave. Prithee, but for once let my eyes 
feast on the blessed one." He entered uttering 
these few words, but only not to be seen again. 
The workmen returned to find their work done 
to perfection. The idol lay carved as only the 
divine could carve it. The Kapuwo soon placed 
the idol ill the sanctum. By a coincidence, 
however, the figure looked right into the sea 
witli the disastrous consequence that every 
vessel crossing in a line with it must be wrecked. 
Ic reminds us of another old friend, Sinbad, the 
sailor. To make the idol look down was the in • 
genuity of two of the Kapuwo. whose descendants 
are known to this day as Devendra and Ddva 
Sureudra. 
The prosperity of the city was thus assured 
and the invaders succeeded in its overthrow only 
by first carrying off this precious idol, nobody 
knows where, perhaps, over the seas. 
That the Divala was everything goes without 
saying. Tliere is a solitary stone slab, probably 
the 'saunas' still remaining, but it is undecipher- 
able. Stone pillars are scattered over the ground 
from the sea- beach and around the Devale. 
Tiiere are signs of a wall enclodng the Maluwa 
or Court yard ; but what is left of the Devale 
proper, is only a huge stone door frame. Pillars, 
evidently forming the carved way north, east 
and south, run as far as the Widij'a. The Southern 
was perhaps, the principal entrance as one may 
judge from the base of a flight ol steps. The present 
Devale and the Vihara are modern structures, 
the ancient buildings having been destroyed by 
tiie Portuguese, who also confiscated the endow- 
ments which are said to have been considerable. 
Not far from tlia Devale is an unpretentious 
artificial rock cave said to have been the abxie 
of Galgane, whose cabalistic feats were unequalled. 
It is said thit he had so much power over the 
unseen that all his servants were demons and 
