Contact Us
New Ranweli Spice Garden, Gannoruwa- Muruthalawa Road,
Sri Lanka
Email spicegardencli@gmail.com
Watsapp +94-7799-59-135
Directions New Ranweli Spice Garden is located in close proximity to Peradeniya Royal Botanical Garden.
It is much easier to visit New Ranweli Spice Garden for those who visit Peradeniya Botanical Garden. Simply take the SUSPENSION BRIDGE inside the botanical garden and make it to the other side of the river, take the road (Gannoruwa Muruthalawa RD) right opposite the SUSPENSION BRIDGE, from there it is just around 800m to New Ranweli Spice Garden.
Historical Importance of The Location of New Ranweli Spice Garden
Gannoruwa
About
374 years ago the famous Gannoruwa battle was fought between the
Portuguese and the Sinhalese. Many historians say if the Portuguese were
able to defeat the Sinhalese in this battle, the year that the
whole of Sri Lanka was captured by a Western Power wouldn't be 1815 but
1638. It was because the Gannoruwa battle was so decisive and brutal and
can be labelled as one of the bloodiest battles fought in Sri Lanka.
Ever since the Portuguese landed in Sri Lanka in 1505 the locals were
trying to find a way to drive them away from the country. Portuguese on
the other hand always were planning on capturing the entire country. To
fulfill their goal they had to defeat the kingdom of Kandy because Kandy
had always been independent and the thick jungle surrounding Kandy
always provided protection. In fact many foreign nations tried to
capture the kingdom of Kandy and failed miserably. Portuguese too with
the leadership of a valiant general named
Diogo De Mello made an attempt to capture the Kingdom of Kandy and
become the masters of the whole country. But when the portuguse entered
Kandy they found to their amazement the entire place abandoned. This was
similar to what happened to Napoleon and his army when they went to
Russia. The Kings' men knowing that they did not stand a chance against
the trained Portuguese soldiers had abandoned Kandy and gone into the
jungles. De Mello and the Portuguese soldiers thinking that the
Sinhalese have escaped out of fear, looted the whole Kandy city and
started marching towards Danture and Gannoruwa. These areas were thick
jungles and the Sinhalese who were hiding in these areas started to
attack the Portuguese. Here in the Gannoruwa battle, it is said that the
Portuguese were severely defeated and only a few could escape and
return to Colombo.