Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, Sri Lanka

Sri Jayawardenapura (or Jayewardenepura) Kotte, also known as simply Kotte, is the governmental capital of Sri Lanka, an island nation located near the southern coast of India. Although Kotte is a modern city, having been designated as the administrative capital in 1982, it was once the site of one of Sri Lanka's largest historic kingdoms, the Kingdom of Kotte. Though Kotte houses the nation's governmental and administrative facilities, the nearby and more densely populated city of Colombo serves as the country's economic capital, while the city of Kandy is the nation's cultural capital and contains a majority of Sri Lanka's restaurants and recreational venues.

Landscape

Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is located in a low-lying flood plain in Sri Lanka's western province. Kotte was formerly considered a suburb of Colombo and is located approximately 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the eastern borders of Colombo's urban area. Numerous lakes, rivers, and marshes surround the city, which is located at the bank of Diyawanna Oya, one of the nation's largest freshwater lakes.

The city sits at an average elevation of 7 meters (23 feet) above sea level and enjoys a semi-tropical climate with average temperatures of 26 degrees to 28 degrees Celsius (78 degrees to 80 degrees Fahrenheit) and high year-round humidity. The nation experiences two monsoon seasons from May to October and from December to March. Though Kotte has been largely urbanized, trees and plants grow around and between all converted land and wildlife remains abundant, even within the urban area.

Kotte covers an area of approximately 17 square kilometers (6.6 square miles), which includes the growing suburban areas at the periphery of the urban center. It has ten administrative divisions, which are further divided into residential and commercial districts. Most of the buildings in the city are of modern design, though there are a few remnants of the city's cultural heritage, most of which are Buddhist temples. Most of the city's ancient buildings were converted during the construction of the new capital in the 1970s and 1980s.

People

The population of the urban area of Kotte was estimated at approximately 103,000 in 2023. However, including both urban areas and suburbs, the population exceeds 2 million. The total population of Sri Lanka was estimated at 23.3 million in 2023, with a modest annual growth rate of 0.7 percent. Approximately 75 percent of Sri Lankans are Sinhalese, an ethnic group native to the island. Sri Lankan Tamils and Sri Lankan Moors, which are the largest minority groups, account for approximately 11.2 percent and 9.2 percent of the population, respectively, and Indian Tamils make up another 4.2 percent (2012 estimates).

Tamil and Sinhala are the nation's official languages. Approximately 75 percent of the population speaks Sinhala as a primary language; Tamil is the second most popular language, and Hindi and English are also common in urban areas. A Malaysian creole language is spoken in some parts of Sri Lanka and is occasionally encountered in the cities. Approximately 92.3 percent of the nation's population is literate (2019 estimate), with literacy rates being highest in the urban centers and lowest in rural areas.

Sri Lanka has a diverse religious heritage, as centuries of immigration from East Asia and India brought various religious traditions to the nation. Buddhism is the most popular religion, accounting for approximately 70.2 percent of the population as of 2012. Some estimates indicate that around 7 percent of the population practices some form of Christianity, mostly Catholicism, which is more popular in urban areas. Most members of the Tamil ethnic group practice Hinduism, while Sri Lankan Moors are typically Muslim.

Recreation in Kotte is centered on sports, such as cricket and football, and nightlife, which may include visits to restaurants and nightclubs. Kotte's residents often travel to nearby Colombo, Sri Lanka's former administrative and current economic capital, to enjoy the city's vibrant nightlife. Sri Lankan cuisine blends elements of Malaysian and Indian cuisine with the addition of local ingredients. Traditional Indian and Muslim cuisine is also available in most of the cities.

Economy

Though Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is Sri Lanka's administrative capital, the nation's economy is concentrated in nearby Colombo. Agriculture is one of Sri Lanka's primary employers; an estimated 27 percent of the nation's labor force worked in the agricultural sector in 2017, and agriculture contributed approximately 7.8 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) for that year. Primary agricultural products include fruits, vegetables, rice, poultry, milk, and plantation products such as rubber, tea, sugar cane, plantains, and coconuts. Industrial manufacturing and the services industry also have a significant impact on the city's economy. The unemployment rate in Sri Lanka was estimated at 5.39 percent in 2021. An estimated 4.1 percent of the population was living below the poverty line as of 2016.

Sri Lanka also has a profitable mining industry, which accounted for approximately 5.7 percent of the GDP in 2015. The mining industry produces mica, feldspar, and precious stones. The manufacturing industry contributed 28.9 percent to the 2015 GDP. Primary manufacturing exports include textiles and clothing, chemicals, and petroleum products. Sri Lanka's primary export partners as of 2019 are the United States, the United Kingdom, India, the United Kingdom, and Germany, and its primary import partners are India, China, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Malaysia.

The University of Sri Jayewardenepura is one of the nation's leading universities. It was founded in 1873 as the Vidyodaya Pirivena, a center for Buddhist studies, and was reestablished in 1958 as the Vidyodaya University of Ceylon, a public university. It was renamed the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in 1978, four years before the city was designated as the administrative capital. The university receives thousands of students each year from across Sri Lanka, as well as international students from India and other Asian nations.

Landmarks

The new parliament building, constructed in 1982, is one of the most popular attractions in Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte. The building sits on a converted marsh that was dredged to create a small island surrounded by a manmade lake and dense trees. The building is constructed of iron-topped pavilions that appear to float on the surface of the lake. Renowned Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa designed the building to be reminiscent of the nation's ancient palaces. Though the parliament is not open to the public, the surrounding area has been designated as a park and has become a popular recreational location for residents and tourists.

The Kotte Museum, which is located between Kotte and Colombo, provides examples of the stone, metal, and pottery work found in the ancient Kingdom of Kotte. Primarily an archaeological museum, it is open for public tours and admission is free. The museum's notable collection includes a number of metal and clay coins, which are examples of the earliest currency systems used in Sri Lanka.

Though many residents and visitors travel to nearby Colombo for entertainment, the downtown area of Kotte contains several small entertainment districts with restaurants and other recreational venues. The area surrounding the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in Gangodawila contains a variety of shops, restaurants, and recreational establishments that cater to students and visitors.

History

Since the island was first occupied by immigrants from India, Sri Lanka has been under the control of at least twenty separate dynastic lineages generally representing the nation's two primary ethnic groups, Sinhalese and Tamil. In addition, groups of Indian and Malaysian ancestry repeatedly invaded the nation, adding ethnic and cultural diversity to the island.

Modern-day Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte was the seat of the powerful Kingdom of Kotte between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries CE. The city was established in the mid-1300s by Nissanka Alagakkonara, a Tamil military leader. He chose the name "Kotte" based on the Tamil word kottei, meaning a castle or fortress. The location was chosen because of its strategic advantages—the area was surrounded by marshes and bordered the sea.

The first military installation at Kotte took over twenty years to complete. By the mid-fourteenth century, the king of Jaffna, a Tamil city in northern Sri Lanka, had conquered most of the Sinhalese leaders in Sri Lanka and declared himself the undisputed ruler of the nation. Nissanka Alagakkonara allied with Sinhalese king Vickramabahu III and challenged the authority of the Jaffna kingdom. To protect Kotte, a moat filled with crocodiles and a rampart wall were built around the city.

In 1414, after the king of Jaffna was defeated and the Sinhalese regained control of Sri Lanka, Sinahlaese king Parakramabahu IV made Kotte the nation's capital. The king's palace and religious temples were constructed within the fort while the surrounding area was converted into residential and agricultural land.

The Portuguese entered Sri Lanka in the sixteenth century and established a fort at the city of Colombo. The Sinhalese leadership had become divided, and several dynastic lineages existed in different parts of the nation. In 1521, the western Sinhalese dynasty at Kotte fractured into three separate kingdoms, and many residents left for the safety of distant regions. King Dharmapala of Kotte, who came to power in 1551, allied with the Portuguese to protect the city against invasion by the Kingdom of Sitavaka, a group from western-central Sri Lanka that Kotte had faced in repeated military engagements. In 1565, Rajasinha I of the Sitavaka invaded Kotte and Colombo simultaneously, leaving the Portuguese unable to defend both territories. Though the Sitavaka were eventually defeated, Kotte was no longer used as the capital of the kingdom.

From the sixteenth to the late twentieth century, the city of Kotte was largely uninhabited, with only small settlements of people living near the coast. Colombo became the economic center of Sri Lanka, and Kotte was largely forgotten until the region was occupied in the twentieth century as a suburb of Colombo. In the 1970s, the government debated moving the administrative headquarters of the nation from Colombo, and some suggested the former site of Kotte as an appropriate location for the new capital. In 1979, the decision was made to develop Kotte into an administrative capital.

Throughout the 1980s, large areas of marshland were dredged and filled to accommodate the building efforts. New court buildings and a new parliament were constructed. The new parliament opened in 1982. Urbanization continued throughout the city. Residential blocks were constructed to the south and west of the administrative center. Many of the buildings and structural elements used to create Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte were taken from the ruins of the former Kotte fort, though much of it had deteriorated and been buried under vegetation. The city was renamed in honor of the second Sri Lankan president, Junius Richard Jayewardene (also spelled Jayawardene), who held office from 1978 until 1989 and who initiated the capital relocation project.

Bibliography

"About." Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Municipal Council, 2013, www.kotte.mc.gov.lk/?page‗id=3. Accessed 8 Dec. 2016.

"History." Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Municipal Council, 2024, www.kotte.mc.gov.lk/index.php?option=com‗content&view=article&id=26&Itemid=176&lang=en. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.

"History of University of Sri Jayewardenepura." University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, www.sjp.ac.lk/about/history/. Accessed 8 Dec. 2016.

"Sri Lanka." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 21 Feb. 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/sri-lanka/. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.

"Sri Lanka: Economic Indicators." Trading Economics, 28 Feb. 2024, www.tradingeconomics.com/sri-lanka/indicators. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.

Weiss, Gordon. The Cage: The Fight for Sri Lanka and the Last Days of the Tamil Tigers. 2011. Bellevue Literary Press, 2012.