Ganegala Metal Queary

Sri Lanka / Colombo / Mulleriyawa /
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Ganegala is a large stone mountain that stands as the landmark for Mabima village with a history running up to the last Sinhalese kingdoms and believed to bare treasures buried by the kings of Kotte. Ganegala is known to be used by the kings as an organizing point in the battles against Portuguese.

It is a beautiful mountain with identical cactus and "akkapana" plants and capturing the scenic beauty of the vast expansion of greenery, meadows and the river. There was a time where the large growth of vegetation on the mountain was able to hold a large quantity of rainwater. In 1980s, I could remember, a small rain is enough to make little water ways appear from the mountain. Driven by a half a day rain, the crystal clear water ran down by the side of Ganewela road for days with a lulling sound.

The Mountain has been blasted from 1970s for metal and a large portion of the original rock has already been taken away leaving an ugly pit of a metal quarry. Greatest damage to the rock was done in 1980s (at the time of President JR Jayawardana and the introduction of open economy) where international companies were given permission to blast the rock at mega scale. When the great damage to the environment and the ancient monument was stopped by the few villagemen who stood against the crisis, half the mountain was gone.

However the remaining part of the rock still stands as a place of scenic beauty - a place for little ones to climb up and enjoy the sweep of the breeze and the vast expansion of panorama.

Nirodha Gunadasa
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Coordinates:   6°56'36"N   79°58'14"E

Comments

  • Ganegala is a large stone mountain that stands as the landmark for the Mabima village. Ganegala has a history running up to the last sinhalese kingdomes and believed to bare treasures burried by the the kings of Kotte. Ganegala is a beautifull mountain with identical cactus and "akkapana" plants and capturing the scenic beauty of the vast expansion of greenary, meadows and the river. The mountain has been blasted for the past 30 years for metal and 80% of the original rock has been already been taken away leaving an ugly pit of a metal quarry. However the remaining part of the mountain still stands as a place of scenic beauty.
This article was last modified 17 years ago