Kandula
Encyclopedia
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
mentioned in the Sinhala chronicle Mahavamsa
Mahavamsa
The Mahavamsa is a historical poem written in the Pali language, of the kings of Sri Lanka...
.
According to the chronicle, when Dutthagamani of Sri Lanka (101 - 77 BC) was born, many items of value were said to have appeared spontaneously, which were found and brought in by various people as gifts to the newborn. Among them a fine elephant who was found by a fisherman named Kandula. The elephant was named for its finder and became the companion of Dutthagamani, serving as his mount during the wars that led to the unification of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. The climactic dual
Dual
Dual may refer to:* Dual , a notion of paired concepts that mirror one another** Dual , a formalization of mathematical duality** . . ...
between king Elara and Dutugemunu is said to have been occurred near Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura, , is one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka, famous for its well-preserved ruins of ancient Lankan civilization.The city, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies 205 km north of the current capital Colombo in Sri Lanka's North Central Province, on the banks of the historic...
where the two kings mounted on elephants; Dutugemunu mounting Kandula and Elara mounting Maha Pambata
Maha Pambata
Maha Pambata, or 'Big Rock' is a famous war elephant belonging to the Tamil King Elara .In Sri Lanka, it was not uncommon in antiquity for kings to use war elephants to lead their men personally into battle. Maha Pambata was King Elara's mount in his battle with King Dutugamunu, who rode the...
. King Ealara is said to have been slain in this elephant mounted dual.
An Asian Elephant
Asian Elephant
The Asian or Asiatic elephant is the only living species of the genus Elephas and distributed in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognized — Elephas maximus maximus from Sri Lanka, the Indian elephant or E. m. indicus from mainland Asia, and E. m....
born in 2001 at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. was named after Kandula. He is only the second Asian elephant
Asian Elephant
The Asian or Asiatic elephant is the only living species of the genus Elephas and distributed in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognized — Elephas maximus maximus from Sri Lanka, the Indian elephant or E. m. indicus from mainland Asia, and E. m....
to be conceived by artificial insemination.
The mascot of the Sri Lanka Light Infantry Regiment is also named Kandula, after the royal elephant of Dutthagamani.