| Wennappuwa වෙන්නප්පුව வென்னப்புவ |
|
|---|---|
| — City — | |
|
Wennappuwa
|
|
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Province | North Western Province |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | |
| Time zone | Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone (UTC+5:30) |
| Postal Code | 61170[1] |
Wennappuwa is a town in Puttalam District, located in the North Western Province, Sri Lanka.
Contents |
Wennappuwa was a minor village a few decades ago but has seen a rapid degree of growth and development recently. There has been a huge increase in buildings and a great reduction in trees and green areas. Agricultural lands like paddy fields (still present in the early 1990s) have largely been used for building and development. At present, a number of educational institutes are found here, such as Joseph Vaz College[2], Holy Family Girls' school[3] and the Infamous Rotary Tuition Classes.
Wennappuwa is a consumer hotspot especially during the festive seasons such as Christmas.
Historical evidences extracted from 'The Culavamsa' (pp 97) teach that the inception of the village, Wennappuwa, which was originally, called either 'Wenniarpura' or 'Wenupura' runs back about 850 years at the time, King Parakramabahu the great (1153-1186 AD) ruled Anuradhapura. The original settlers of Wennappuwa were the farmers and similar to other farmers in the country, they too settled down by the tank called "the village" i.e: 'Gangoda.'
An old church made of wattle and daub, consecrated to St. Joseph was put up in Gangoda in 1850. Very Rev. Fr. Contentious Chounavel (OMI) a French Missionary the founder of the new St. Joseph's church arrived at Wennappuwa between (1861-1863 A.D.) There were only 300 families then. His sole intention was to gather those families whose staunch faith was strong and visible, under one roof. The roads were coming up and he realized that a new church should be built by the main road in order to accommodate the growing population.
The brother of "Uthuwan Kande Soora Saradiel"Mawanella#History, lived with his family at Haldanduwana [1] and learnt sculpture under Very Rev. Fr. Chounavel who was the Parish Priest of Haldanduwana and a master of sculpture. The great historical statue of St. Joseph on the front facade of the St. Joseph's Church Wennappuwa, sculptured by Saradiel's brother is a fine example for Fr. Chounavel's mastermind of sculpture.
The church (1880 AD), which is a symbol of unity and co-existence, stands by the Chilaw-Negombo main road in the heart of Wennappuwa town. The church is a unique feature in many villages and towns in the coastal belt, especially from Colombo to Puttalam.
It's very interesting to note that a considerable amount of people have left the city seeking employment in a lot of European countries , Italy being the top in the list. The effect Italy has created among the lives of people in Wennappuwa is immense. It's a known fact that a large amount of foreign remmitances are flowing in to the city every month making a massive contribution to the city's economy. Because of this, the prices of immovable and movable properties have risen sky-high due to the escalation demand day by day. People who are employed in Italy are buying more and more lands for both residential and commercial purposes. The presence of all the major banks in Sri Lanka, Increase in real-estate investments in the city by large property developers, Development in infrastructure facilities such as schools(Both local and international), roads, commercial facilities etc etc. are the visible indications of the city going towards the prosperity and may become the capital of Puttalam District, Sri Lanka in very near future.