Kurunegala
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Kurunegala, Sri Lanka කුරුණෑගල குருணாகல் |
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| City | |
| City of Kurunegala | |
View of Kurunegala from the top of Ethagala.
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| Nickname(s): Ethugalpura (ඇතුගල්පුර) Hasthi Shailapura (හස්ති ශෛලපුර) |
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 Kurunegala, Sri Lanka
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| Coordinates: 7°29′N 80°22′E / 7.483°N 80.367°ECoordinates: 7°29′N 80°22′E / 7.483°N 80.367°E | |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Province | North Western Province, Sri Lanka |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal Council |
| • Mayor | Gamini Peramunage |
| Area | |
| • Total | 11 km2 (4 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 116 m (381 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 30,315 |
| • Density | 2,817/km2 (7,300/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Kurunegalians |
| Time zone | Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone (UTC+5:30) |
| Postal code | 60000 |
| Area code(s) | 037 |
Kurunegala (Sinhalese: කුරුණෑගල, Tamil: குருணாகல்) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, from the end of the 13th century to the start of the 14th century. It is at the junction of several main roads linking to other important parts of the country. It is about 94 km from Colombo and 42 km from Kandy.
Located at an altitude of 116 meters above sea level, Kurunegala is surrounded by coconut plantations and rubber estates. There are eight very noticeable large rocks that encircle and dominate the city. Kurunegala's rocks rise from the plain below and have characteristic names, six of which come from the animals that they are imagined to represent. The largest among them is Ethagala or the "Elephant Rock" (though the translation is actually tusker), reaches 325 meters. The shape of Ethagala resembles an elephant.
Kurunegala has been named after the Elephant rock (ඇතුගල). "Kurune" means tusker or an elephant with protruding teeth and gala in Sinhala means rock. Kurunai means tusker or an Elephant and gal in Tamil means rock or hill. Kurunegala's old name was Hasthishaila-pura, which can be translated as 'The City of the Elephant Rock' in Sanskrit. In some ancient literature the word Athugal-pura (ඇතුගල්පුර) is employed to describe the city of Kurunegala.
Nearby are three archeological cities — Parakramapura (Panduvasnuwara, පඬුවස්නුවර) (northwest) with remains of a moated palace and monasteries from the 12th century, Dambadeniya (දඹදෙනිය) (southwest, mid-13th century) and Yapahuwa (north).
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