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Ceremonial tusker · Gangaramaya

Ruwan Raja

රුවන් රාජා ருவன் ராஜா

Deceased

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

A tusker gifted to the Hunupitiya Gangaramaya temple in 1996 by the Morawatte Walauwa of Ratnapura; once called ‘Dala kota’, he was renamed after Ratnapura. He carried the Sacred Tooth Relic casket in the Kandy Esala Perahera until 2002, sharing the role with Heiyantuduwa Raja. He died peacefully in 2003, and his skull and tusks were used to make a life-size replica at Gangaramaya.

Sources

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