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Stories of Our National Heroes

February 2018

Wariyapola Sri Sumangala Thero

Sri Lankans are strong and determined. During colonial rule, there were many who bravely defended the country and her people.
Featured are the stories of some of our National Heroes from the 19th Century who had stood up against colonial powers before the island
gained Independence.

Wariyapola Sri Sumangala Thero

On the day the Kandyan Convention was to be signed in 1815, the Union Jack (UK flag) had been hoisted. Seeing this, Wariyapola Sri Sumangala
Thero had taken down the Union Jack and hoisted the ‘Lion Flag'. He said until the convention was signed, the country belonged to Sri Lankans.
Later in 1817, the Thero supported the Uva-Wellassa rebellion against the British. He took the Sacred Tooth Relic, the symbol of the right to rule
the island, and gave it to the leader of the rebellion Monarawila Keppetipola Disawe.

Monarawila Keppetipola Disawe

In 1817 Monarawila Keppetipola Disawe was sent to defeat rebellions against the British in Uva. But when he met the Sri Lankans rebelling
against the Empire, Keppetipola Disawe joined them and led the Uva-Wellassa rebellion. As civilians faced great hardships under British Martial
Law, the rebellion disbanded. Keppetipola Disawe was caught and executed at the Bogambara prison in 1818. His skull was sent to England.
Declared a hero, the skull was returned to the island in 1954.
Weera Puran Appu

He was a charismatic hero and one of the leaders of the Rebellion of 1848 in Matale against the British, during the peak of the Empire. Despite a
successful raid in Matale, the rebellion was defeated. Weera Puran Appu was arrested and found guilty of waging war against HRH Queen
Victoria. He was executed on the banks of the Bogambara Wewa.

Gongalegoda Banda

Gongalegoda led the protest rally against taxation by the British in Kandy. He was crowned as Sri Wickrama Siddapi at the Dambulla Viharaya,
leading to the 1848 Rebellion. He led his troops from Dambulla through Matale, where they seized Fort MacDowell and destroyed the tax records
at the Kachcheri. Betrayed, Gongalegoda Banda was arrested and found guilty of treason for declaring himself king. He was exiled to Malacca.

There are many more National Heroes including those of the Independence Movement (20th Century). They led a peaceful struggle that
resulted in the island receiving her Independence from Britain on February 4, 1948. We celebrate 70 years of Independence this year.

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