Page 331 - Proceedings book

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historical records. The unfortunate death of Ehelepola Kumārihāmi and her children

have been considered by Sri Lankans as one of the most tragical situations in the Sri
Lankan history. A narrative of events which have been written by a gentleman on the

spot to the Island of Ceylon, which was cited by Peiris (2002) as follows,

“Heads of the children of Ehelepola Adikar had been cut off while the

youngest child had been torn from its mother’s breast for the same purpose.

The heads were put into the mortar and the mother of the children, Ehelepola
Kumārihāmi has been given the pestle and forced her to pound on the heads of

her children. She would have been given to marry a low caste person while
reducing the power of her Ehelepola family. The Ehelepola Kumārihami was

fainted. The hands and the feet of Ehelepola Kumārihāmi had being bound and
a stone tied a stone round the neck and thrown into the lake. The final words

of the Ehelepola Kumārihāmi are as follows, “Am I and my children to answer

for the wrong of my lord and husband! May the blessing of the gods be with
my lord and husband, Ehelepola Adikar. May the country pass before long

from the wicked cruel and worth…”

The unfortunate death of the Ehelepola Kumārihāmi has been depicted by the

contemporary historical Sri Lankan Sinhalese novelist, Priyanka Amarathunga. She

has used the point of view of Ehelepola Kumārihāmi with the narration of the
massacre of Ehelepola family. The narration is as follows,

I am standing on Nātha Dēvalaya. It is the time that me and my children are
supposed to get punish due to the disappearance of my husband, Ehelepola

Adigar. If he gets caught, surely will be killed alive. It was a relief that he

escaped otherwise, I do not want to see he has been punished. I was worried
about the punishment. There were no historical records that which reveal the

family has punished because of the fault of the man in the family. I am brave
to accept any of the vicious punishment for the sake of my husband and the

children. The children seem to be hungry because they rejected the food which
was given at last night in the prison. The king, Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe

shouted angrily, your husband is a traitor. He is a traitor, not only to me but

also to the entire Kandy kingdom. “Where’s he? Tell me at once.” I knelt
down on the thin sand and repeated the fact that I do not know where he is.

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