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This
article is part of a continuing series on the “Mahavamsa’,
the recorded chronicle of Sri Lankan history
The death of Elara
 Phussadeva,
who witnessed the fate of the warrior Dighajanthu, was extremely
happy. When he glanced at Suranimala, he too smiled. Phussadeva,
then took the conch-shell he had with him and began to blow it
hard. The sound was so deafening, the Tamil soldiers were disturbed.
Then they heard of the death of Dighajanthu. This news broke the
morale of the Tamil soldiers.-
On the other hand, the Sinhala forces were getting boosted. There
was a lot of bloodshed and King Elara was disturbed. He thought
it was pointless continuing to fight, without Dighajanthu. Mounting
on his elephant, ‘Mahaparvata’, Elara fled from the
battle field. King Dutugemunu, who noticed this, ordered his men
to stop fighting. By this time, the water in the tank, near the
battle field had turned red in colour. Thereafter, that tank was
renamed ‘Kalata’.
King Dutugemunu, immediately summoned a tom-tom beater and proclaimed
with the beat of drum, “None, but myself shall slay Elara”.
Then he mounted the armed elephant, ‘Kandula’ and
pursued Elara. The two kings met near the southern gate of Anuradhapura.
The battle began. When King Elara hurled his dart at Dutugemunu,
he evaded it.-
Dutugemunu was quick to act. He threw his dart at Elara, without
missing his target. It hit King Elara’s chest. Meanwhile,
Kandula too, was attacking Mahaparvata – the elephant, with
his tusks. King Elara, who ruled the country, for nearly 40 years,
fell dead. In spite of being an invader, he was a just king. In
our long history, Elara remains the only foreign king, who was
just and kind. Race or religion did not matter to him, when it
came to matters of state. He respected the law, to its very letter
and lived up to his principles.
-
When the Sinhala army surrounded Dutugemunu, cheering over the
victory, the king silenced them. He assembled the citizens, got
them to place Elara’s body in a ‘Ransivige’
and took it for cremation in a beautiful procession. At the place
where he was cremated, Dutugemunu got an inscription installed.
It read thus, “No king, including me, should pass this place,
mounted on horse back or elephant. All music should be silenced
at this point”.
-
King Dutugemunu was able to defeat the enemy completely and become
the sole ruler of the entire island. He was consecrated in 161
BC and ruled over Lanka, in single sovereignty. Only a week passed.
A warrior named Bhalluka, a nephew of Elara, landed here with
sixty thousand men. They came by boat and landed near modern Mannar.
-
When ‘Vijithanagara’ was destroyed, Dighajanthu had
sent a message to Bhalluka asking for more soldiers. Bhalluka
heard of Elara’s death, only when he landed here. He was
so shaken by this sad news that he announced that he would not
go back without killing Dutugemunu. He immediately organized his
army and marched towards Anuradhapura. He pitched his camp near
the village Kolambahalaka.
-
When King Dutugemunu heard of Bhalluka’s arrival, he got
ready for war again. He mounted on Kandula and behind him sat
Phussadeva. He was armed with the traditional five weapons which
included the sword, spear, dart, shield and the conch.
By
Halaliye Karunathilaka
Edited and translated by Kamala Silva
Illustrated by
Saman Kalubowila
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