Stories Behind Names of Places in Sri Lanka How places in Sri Lanka got their names – PALAGALA – By Nimal Sedera
Source : Qld Sri Lankan Newsletter – Dæhæna – April 2025
“Palagala” is a small village in the North Central Province near Anuradhapura. Obviously, Anuradhapura being the first Kingdom of the nation, all the places around it have some influence to a ruler that lived in Anuradhapura .
Our Kings were generally so close to the people and worked for their benefit and wellbeing. Some Kings have disguised and moved among common people to find out the true living standard of them.
King Dhatusena is a great character among our rulers, who was a key figure in the development of agriculture. “Kala Weva” stands as a symbol to date of his contribution to the nation. Building this huge tank took several years and the King was visiting this site very often to see the on going work and encourage the people.
It is believed that the country was very prosperous and the masses were healthy. The food for people who worked was provided by the King. So, one day when he visited the work site he looked into the lunch served to them and noticed that there was more green-leaf in their plates. They were all seated under the shade of trees. The King looking at the food made a comment .
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“Why so much green leaf in food?”
The person showing around the place to the King said “Your honour this land is so rich with edible green leaf that help nourishing our meal. In Sinhala it was told as below.
“මෙරාතුමනි,රම්පක වාසනාවන්ත මිමියක්.රම්ප අපි වාඩිරවලා ගසේ රසවරන් බත් කන ගල වර්ටචම තිරයන්රන් වටිනා පලාරකාල. ඒවා කාය ක්තිය ඇති කරනවා”.
The King himself knew the benefit of consuming green leaf and was so happy. Referring to the place he said. “Palagala”. To-date the name is being continued. King Dhatusena reigned from 455 AD 473AD.
