The story of 'Thonigala' - We went on a trip to this place. A youngish
girl of the area took us round. I asked her about the origin of the name
'Thonigala'. She repeated the legends related by the elders of the
area. The name 'Thonigala' referred to the 'Lathoni' - 'anguished wail' -
of 'Kuweni' the Veddah Queen, at this rock, when King Vijaya threw her
out of his residence, to accommodate a Princess from Southern Madura.
King Vijaya had brought her to the banks of this lake,
drawn a line on the granite rock by the side of the lake and commanded
Kuweny not to step beyond that line. The heart rending wail of Kuweny,
abandoned with her young son and daughter, gave the name to 'Thonigala'.
Kuweny, who was a queen of the 'Yakkas' had enticed Vijaya and later married him. She had let down her tribe and helped Vijaya to defeat them. When Kuveny after being thrown out of Vijaya's household had tried to go back to her tribe. The Yakkas had stoned her to death. Her son and daughter by Vijaya were rescued by Kuweni's uncle. Legends had it that the son and daughter were the origin of the 'Veddhas' of Ceylon. The young guide corrected this part of the story and claimed that all of us in present Sri Lanka were the descendants of "Yakas'. I was reminded of the epithet 'Yaka' used to refer to any acquaintance in Sinhalese as 'Ey Yaka'. A recently appointed laborer at the Kynsey road Medical Faculty, coming from Bibile, was sent with a letter by a member of the academic staff, to be delivered to the Vice-Chancelor in his office, a short distance away. He came back with the letter undelivered and told the Professor, 'Ey Yaka ehey naa' - that Yaka is not in the office. I think that all of us must accept the fact that we are all descendants of Yakas. Quite a few place names and legends in Sri Lanka are associated withe Yakas eg. 'Yaka bendi Ela' etc. I will leave you to discover them.
Kuweny, who was a queen of the 'Yakkas' had enticed Vijaya and later married him. She had let down her tribe and helped Vijaya to defeat them. When Kuveny after being thrown out of Vijaya's household had tried to go back to her tribe. The Yakkas had stoned her to death. Her son and daughter by Vijaya were rescued by Kuweni's uncle. Legends had it that the son and daughter were the origin of the 'Veddhas' of Ceylon. The young guide corrected this part of the story and claimed that all of us in present Sri Lanka were the descendants of "Yakas'. I was reminded of the epithet 'Yaka' used to refer to any acquaintance in Sinhalese as 'Ey Yaka'. A recently appointed laborer at the Kynsey road Medical Faculty, coming from Bibile, was sent with a letter by a member of the academic staff, to be delivered to the Vice-Chancelor in his office, a short distance away. He came back with the letter undelivered and told the Professor, 'Ey Yaka ehey naa' - that Yaka is not in the office. I think that all of us must accept the fact that we are all descendants of Yakas. Quite a few place names and legends in Sri Lanka are associated withe Yakas eg. 'Yaka bendi Ela' etc. I will leave you to discover them.
The rock where a line was drawn by King Vijaya
The earthh bund of one of the tanks
The longest Brahmi inscription dated to the 1st Century AD at Thonigala
A second Brahmi inscription.
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