Tour to Richmond Castle and Thudugala Ella

We had a one day tour to see the Richmond Castle and then Thudugala fall which was famous at that time.  Richmond castle is an amazing place with beautiful architecture. It is also close to the Kalu river and it owns a huge land area as this was the remains of a Sri Lankan history. After we spend 2-3 hours over there, we left for Thudugala fall and it is not so far from this destination. We reached Thudugala Ella within an hour and spent a few hours and finally had a bath and left in the evening.

Richmond Castle – රිච්මන්ඩ් වලව්ව

Richmond Castle, built at the turn of the century in Kalutara, is considered one of the most spectacular architectural works of the period. It was the property of a wealthy landowner turned philanthropist, Padikara Mudali Nanayakkara Rajawasala Appuhamilage Don Arthur de Silva Wijesinghe Siriwardena. The mansion stands majestically at top of a hill, on a 42-acre estate beside the Kalutara-Palatota Road. Once a circuit bungalow for high ranking officers of the British administrative service, today it is a popular tourist attraction and serves as an educational center for less privileged children of Kalutara and the vicinity.

It is said that ‘Governor George Anderson was requested by the royal family of England to appoint a battalion of 40 soldiers to guard the castle and its occupants. Padikara Mudali, as he was known, had a 12-strong staff known as mudaliyars.

Richmond Castle is a two-storeyed building with 99 doors and 34 windows, decorated with glass panes of an exquisite design depicting grapevines. Records indicate that two shiploads of teak were imported from Burma for its construction.

The entire building is characterized by intricate carvings. The timber remains as fresh as at the time of construction. A dancing hall with a stage is another of its features. The architecture shows greater similarity to an English mansion than to an ancient walauwwa.

The gardens which once boasted a profusion of flowers have now given way to trees like coconut, mangosteen, veralu, guava, mango, rambutan, and various citrus fruits. The mudaliyar was a lover of nature and adorned his garden with marble statues, some of which still stand. However, he was not happy in marriage, for he was childless. Having ended his marriage, he bequeathed his properties to the Public Trustee for the welfare of the children of the country. He took up residence in a quiet room at the Queen’s Hotel, Kandy, where he breathed his last in 1947.

The name

The entrance

Path to the Castle

A ticket to be purchased

Here is it

Structure

Owners

Historical character

Old items

Side view

Garden view

The part of the Roof

Structure

Windows

Old photos

Structure

Structure

Door and Windows

Staircase

Inside view

Inside view

Inside view

Corridor

Inside view

See the style

External structure

External structure

External structure

Guards

External structure

Very old then closed

View

Garden area

View

Statues

Full view

Side view

Garden area

External structure

Really nice

Like a giant

Another view

Another view

Time to leave

Another statue

The view

Leaving the castle

Thudugala Ella Falls – තුඩුගල ඇල්ල

The Thudugala Ella Falls is located in the Thudugala Estate in Thudugala village at Kalutara District, Sri Lanka. Once owned by a British national, a derelict bungalow still remains. There is a natural swimming pool surrounded by Ketala plants and a giant pus creeper (fern) that has spread to cover an area of a hectare. Also within the Thudugala Forest Reserve, there are many species of birds. These include the migrant bird ‘Yellow Magta’, with its colorful plumage and yellow underbelly, and ‘Dicaeum Erythornynchos’, the smallest bird in Sri Lanka.

The waterfall drops in two steps The top part is about 8 meters and the lower part 6 meters.

This waterfall is a popular bathing place for locals. An interesting feature here is that a tunnel runs under the waterfall and comes out on top at a side to it. Unfortunately, this area is now being used for an oil palm plantation which has impacted the flow of water on the steam.

The route to the waterfall starts from Katukurunda Junction off the Galle Road; 5 miles (8.0 km) from there on Matugama Road to Thudugala junction and from there 8 miles (12.9 km) to the waterfall. It is said that there is a number of waterfalls along this stream especially a beautiful fall called Sita Ella. The location was unknown.

When traveling from Thudugala junction, you will come to another junction called “Ellagāwa (Near the waterfall) Junction” with a signboard of a rubber plantation so you can easily recognize it. From there, if you want to go to the waterfall and its natural bathing places, you will have to take the left road which runs over a small bridge nearby. The right road will lead you only to an artificially created bathing place which is said to be muddy but used to lure visitors to small hotels nearby. The left road will take you to the dilapidated house of the British owner and from there you need to walk along the river in the estate to reach the Thudugala Ella waterfall and its beautiful bathing pools.

GPS Location – 6.571085, 80.060850

On the way

The stream

View

Cascades

Cascades

Wow

Side view

Nature

The fall

Thudugala Fall

Upper part

Surrounding

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©