Lankapura Divisional Secretariat

When decentralizing the administration,Polonnaruwa district has been divided into 07 divisional secretariats. Lankapura divisional secretariat, which owns a 184km² of  entire land area is one of them.

This divisional secretariat is bounded by Medirigiriya divisional secretariat and river Mahaweil (Trincomalee District) on North, by river Mahaweli and Welikanda divisional secretariat on East, by Thamankaduwa divisional secretariat on South and by Hingurakgoda and Thamankaduwa divisional secretariat on West. During the British rule in Sri Lanka,Thamankaduwa divisional secretariat was considered as a separate divisional secretariat andLankapura was also known as Thamakaduwa as well as there was a separate administrative agent known as “Rate Mahaththaya” for Thamankaduwa. Later, duringthe same rule the Anuradhapura was named as a separate district and Thamankaduwa was turned into a Sub-Service Division which is again started to call by its traditional name Polonnaruwa.The sub agent in Anuradhapura was responsible for the sub agent inPolonnaruwa.

After 1953 Polonnaruwa was separated into separate administrative district and was divided into two separate revenue administrative division. At that time Lankapura was belonged toThamankaduwa revenue administrative division.After 1973 Lankapura became a separate regional assistant government secretariat and from 1992 it became a divisional secretariat.

According to legends, the birth place of a great warrior “Lankapra” who was a valiant officer in King Prakkarambahu’s army was considered to be situated in this area. Therefore, that area was called as Lankapuraand when separating the regional assistant government secretariatandnaming the divisional secretariat, the name Lankapura was used.

Historical background

This area which was inhabited and prosperous until the 13^th century was become a less crowded and forgotten in the thick jungle after the invasion of Kalinga Magha.

The ruins of then colonies even can be seen in the villages such as Sungawila, Devalagodella, Patunugma, Pansalgodella, Kirimetidamana, thambana which are situated in Lankapura secretariat division. After the experiments it has been confirmed that the “clay pot” that was found from Kirimetidamana village during an archeological excavation was older than 3000 years. Also the presenceSomawathi Stupa that enshrines the Right Tooth Relic of the Lord Buddha was another reason for “Lankapura” to become world famous.

Though there was a less population in the villages such as Tambala, Onegma, Muslimgama, Patunugama before the colonization process in 1948, with the commencement of ParakkramaSamudra Development Project in 1948 and Kaudulla development Project in 1956, again the Lankapura area began to getinhabited.

Social and Political background.

As it is a divisional secretariat where Sinhalese and Muslims live together in harmony it has been gazetted as a bilingual divisional secretariat.

In the process of colonization,paddy cultivation was the main livelihoodof the people who came and settled down in Polonnaruwa from various regions of the country. In addition to the paddy cultivation the cultivations such as coconut, banana and cattle rearing take a major place. At present, there is a successful business community who have detached from the traditional occupations.