Nadungamuwa Raja

Nadungamuwa Raja
Species	Indian Elephant
Sex	Male
Born	c. 1953; Mysore State, India
Notable role	Main casket bearer of the procession of Esala
Years active	2005-present
Owner	Harsha Dharmavijaya
Height	11.5 ft (351 cm)

Nadungamuwa Vijaya Raja (Sinhala:නැදුන්ගමුව විජය රාජා) popularly known as Nadungamuwa Raja is an Indian tusker born c. 1953 in Mysore,he is the current main casket bearer of the procession of Esala held in Kandy Sri Lanka. Nadungamuwe Raja is one of the tallest tuskers in Asia and is one of the two elephant calves gifted by a to the veteran native physician monk resided in Nilammahara Temple Piliyandala in appreciation of curing his relative's long lasted illness, other elephant being late Nawam Raja of Gangaramaya. In 1978 Nadungamuwa Raja was acquired from his second owner (Herbert Wickramasinghe,former MP of Bandaragama) by Dharmavijaya Veda Ralahamy of Nadungamuwa area, an eminent Ayurvedic physician of that time (father of the present owner Dr Harsha Dharmavijaya). Since then the elephant has been named after his residing village Nadungamuwa. Raja is cared for by Wilson Kodithuwakku aka "Kalu Mama"

Nagungamua Raja saying good bye to his second owner. This picture was taken in 1978 at Herbert Wickramasingha's residence in Wawlugala Estate Horana

References[]

Miru (19 August 2012). "Nadungamuwa Raja,A Symbol of Majesty". Sunday Observer. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
Madurapperuma, Ajith (15 July 2012). "අටවැනි වරටත් දළදා කරඬුව වැඩම කරවන නැදුන්ගමුවේ රාජා". Lankadeepa (in Sinhala). Retrieved 12 February 2014.
Wenasa. "Nadungamuwa Raja (Dev Pura Athun)" (in Sinhala). ITN. Retrieved 14 February 2014.

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