KANDYAN HERITAGE JOURNAL / SRI LANKA
Mullegama. A name carried through history of SriLanka.
Tracing a legacy of public service and sacred custodianship in nineteenth-century Sri Lanka, through historical records.
Mullegama Herath Daunde Wickramasinghe Ekenaike Abeykoon Pandith Rajapakse Mudiyanse (Senior)
01 / THE HISTORICAL RECORD
One individual. Two distinct offices.
Mullegama Adigar and Mullegama Diyawadana Nilame are identified in the supplied research as the same historical individual. Adigar was a senior political and administrative office; Diyawadana Nilame was the lay custodianship of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. These were separate responsibilities, not interchangeable names for one office.
1815 — Disawe of Wellassa
It is noted that Mullegama listed as Disawe of Wellassa in 1815.
1831 — Appointment as Adigar
According to the account of the Sannasa, a commission signed by Governor Sir Edward Barnes at Nuwara Eliya on 21 July 1831 appoints him as Adigar in the Kandyan Provinces.
1835–1842 — Diyawadana Nilame
Sri Dalada Maligawa’s official list records Mullegama Adikaram Nilame as chief custodian from 1835 to 1842.
02 / PRIMARY DOCUMENT
The Sannasa of 21 July 1831
FAMILY ARCHIVE / Photograph of the original Sannasa.
The photograph of the Sannasa
03 / SOURCES & CONTINUING RESEARCH
The official temple source confirms the recorded name Mullegama Adikaram Nilame and the tenure 1835–1842, and explains the custodian’s ritual and administrative responsibilities. The full family name and the 1815 and 1831 details on this page come from established historical records.
Preserving the story. Examining the evidence.
04 / FAMILY HERITAGE
