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Ceremonial tusker · privately owned

Heiyantuduwa Raja

හෙයියන්තුඩුවේ රාජා ஹெய்யந்துடுவ ராஜா

Deceased

Heiyantuduwa Raja
Sumudusoyza007 · CC BY-SA 4.0
A photo of a Sri Lankan Elephant — not this animal

A tusker captured in the Hambantota district and bought at auction in 1945 by William Gunasekara of Heiyantuduwa, Biyagama; he was later owned by Henry Gunasekara of Kandy. Each of his tusks was about 7 feet 6 inches long. After the death of the Maligawa’s Raja in 1988 he carried the Sacred Tooth Relic casket in the Kandy Esala Perahera, sharing the role with Ruwan Raja until 2002, and he also carried relics at the Kelaniya Duruthu, Bellanwila and Gangaramaya Navam peraheras. He died in 2002; his skeleton has been on display at the Colombo National Museum since 2013.

Sources

  1. Heiyantuduwa Raja — Wikipedia
  2. Gangaramaya Tuskers were privileged to have carried the Dalada Sacred Casket — Daily Mirror, 13 Aug 2016