Saturday, December 17, 2011
Bandarawela (Sinhala :Bandarawela in sinhala.jpg, pronounced [ˈbandarawela]; Tamil: பண்டாரவளை) is the second largest city in Badulla District which is 28 km away from Badulla. Due to higher altitude, Bandarawela has a mild weather condition throughout the year hence, it is popular among the citizens to spend the vacations with their family members. Bandarawela is 200 km away from Colombo and about 125 km away from Kandy, Colombo and Kandy being two major cities in Sri Lanka. Both roads and railway transportation facilities are available to reach the area within a few hours. Bandarawela town, tinted with a colonial past resting among lush forestation has found its niche among its visitors as a base for eco-tourism.
History
History of the Bandarawela area is coming from the time of great Sinhalese King Valagamba who fell back and regrouped in the Dhowa region to fight against Chola invaders.
During the period of British colonial era, the city occurred rapid development of the infrastructures and human resources due to tea plantations and migration of the British and local people to the area. A lot of past evidences can be seen there belongs to that colonial period. There is few buildings remaining which were built in the British colonial period with British architectural influences such as the Bandarawela Hotel, the Cargilles building, the Tennis club, etc.
Bandarawela is one of the Sinhalese majority territories in Sri Lanka before the establishment of tea plantations under British administration. Nowadays there is a mix culture due to the migration of Tamils to the tea plantation sector as laborers from India under British colonial times. Those Tamil community had been got their full citizenship during the UNP Government period in 1978 to 1988 by Affidavit Act no 39 of 1988.[1] The records of the other ethnic groups in this area are negligible.
Bandarawela famous as having been the camp in Ceylon of the Boer prisoners of war and some of the buildings erected for the temporary accommodation of the captives are now used in connection with the permanent camp health recuperation established here for the Navy , military and volunteers.
Politics
The town is ruled by the municipal council headed by a mayor. The council is elected by popular vote and has 9 seats. There were 16,673 registered voters in the 2011 local authorities elections.[2] Currently the municipal council has been governed by the United National Party which is one of the largest political parties in Sri Lanka.
Out side of the municipal area is governed by the "Pradeshiya saba" which is also similar to the urban council. The pradeshiya saba is elected by popular vote as well and it has 10 seats. In the 2006 local authorities election, 37,972 voters were registered for the election.[3]
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