Maduwanwela Walawwa

Maduwanwela Walawwa is a Walauwa located in Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. The Walawwa is in the town of Maduwanwela, which lies between Embilipitiya and Suriyakanda, approximately 207 km from Colombo.

History
Maduwanwela Walawwa dates back to the reign of King Wimaladharmasuriya II (1687-1707 AD). It was built by Maduwanwela Maha Mohottala in the 1700s and was expanded numerous times by the Maduwanwela family until 1905 when the final expansion was undertaken by Maduwanwela Maha Disawe.

Building
During 1877-1905 period, the Walawwa had 121 rooms, 21 inner courtyards (Meda Midula) and 80,000 acre of land surrounding it, at present there are on 43 rooms left. Located on in the grounds is a courthouse with seating space for 100 people, furniture and the equipment used for punishments are still present. Following the death of Maduwanwela Maha Disawe, the last of the Maduwanwela family, the house was transferred to Sir Francis Molamure. In 1974, the Maduwanwela Walawwa and its estate, the Maduwanwela Nandigama Watte was taken over to the state by the Land Reform Commission and administrated by the Department of Archaeology as a museum. In 2023, the Government of Sri Lanka leased 87 acre of land from the estate to Ceylon Tobacco Company for forest farming.