4/5 Miyuru J. 5 years ago on Google
The
“Magul
Maduwa”
of
the
Palace
is
where
the
king
met
his
ministers
and
and
carried
out
his
daily
administrative
tasks.
This
was
also
known
as
the
“Maha
Naduwa”
(high
court)
by
the
local
residence
as
this
building
was
used
by
the
king
as
the
court.
This
building
is
also
called
the
Assembly
Hall
or
the
Audience
Hall.
The
construction
of
this
finely
carved
wooden
structure
has
been
started
by
the
king
Rajadhi
Rajasinhe
(1779
–
1797)
in
1783.
but
was
unable
to
complete
it
within
his
reign.
A
number
of
key
events
in
our
history
has
taken
place
in
this
“Magul
Maduwa”.
The
major
one
being
the
handing
over
the
last
Sri
Lankan
kingdom
to
the
British
throne
in
1815
ending
over
2500
years
of
sovereignty.
It
was
at
this
place
that
the
British
handed
over
the
death
sentence
to
the
sri
lankan
patriots,
Madugalle
Disave
and
the
Keppatipola
Disave.
In
the
early
days
of
the
British
occupation,
the
British
Missionaries
used
this
Audience
Hall
as
their
Church
building
in
their
conversion
process.
This
Audience
Hall
which
played
a
key
role
in
the
Kingdom
was
considered
a
place
where
the
‘most
horrid
cruelties
were
exercised’
by
these
missionaries.
The
Lord
Bishop
of
Calcutta,
Rev
Reginald
Herber
describe
a
sermon
held
in
this
hall
in
his
book
‘Narrative
of
a
Journey
Through
the
Upper
provinces
of
India‘
published
in
1829;
”
….
Early
this
morning
the
Bishop
held
a
confirmation;
there
were
seven
native
candidates,
and
twenty
Europeans;
and
he
afterwards
preached
at
the
usual
time
of
morning
service.
There
is
no
church,
but
the
Hall
of
Audience,
where
the
Kings
of
Candy
held
their
courts,
is
used
as
such;
it
is
a
long
room,
of
which
the
wooden
pillars,
having
the
lotus
carved
on
their
capitals,
are
the
only
ornamental
parts
remaining.
It
was
a
most
interesting
and
affecting
sight,
to
see
Christian
worship
performed,
and
a
Christian
bishop
blessing
his
congregation,
a
part
of
which
was
native,
in
the
very
spot
where
the
most
horrid
cruelties
were
exercised
not
more
than
ten
yean
ago.
How
little
could
such
an
event
at
that
time
have
been
contemplated!
….
“
The
“Magul
Maduwa”
we
see
today
is
a
extension
to
the
original
made
by
the
British
to
facilitate
the
welcome
of
prince
of
wales
in
1875.
They
pulled
out
32
carved
wooden
columns
from
the
building
called
“Pale
Vahale”
(which
was
the
Queens
living
quarters
during
the
last
king
of
Kandy,
now
the
National
Museum
building)
and
replaced
them
with
brick
pillars.
Out
of
these,
16
pillars.
were
used
to
extend
the
“Magul
Maduwa”
with
8
pillars.
on
each
side
and
the
old
decayed
bases
have
been
replaced
by
new
wooden
bases.
With
this
addition,
building
has
two
rows
of
elegantly
carved
pillars.
each
row
having
32
columns.
A
Kandyan
style
roof
rests
upon
these
columns.
by
Mahil
Wijesinghe
Sunday
Observer