Sin: ශ්රී ජයවර්ධනපුර කෝට්ටේ śrī jayavardhanapura kōṭṭē Tam: ஶ்ரீ ஜெயவர்த்தனபுர கோட்டை śrī jeyavarttaṉapura kōṭṭai
‘Victory City Fort’ WP, Sri Lanka
From Skt/Pali: sri, ‘prosperous’, ‘resplendent’; Sin: jaya, ‘victory’; vardhana, ‘increasing’, ‘growing’; pura, ‘city’; and kotte, ‘fort’.
Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is the official political and administrative capital of Sri Lanka. It is a ‘new’ satellite city within the bounds of Colombo, Sri Lanka;s largest city.
It sits on reclaimed land close to the site of the Kotte kingdom, founded in the 13thC by Nissanka Alagakkonara. Following the capture of the Jaffna kingdom in 1391, Kotte was additionally called ‘Sri Jayawardenepura’ (‘the resplendent city of increasing victory’). It became the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Kotte, which it remained until the end of the 16th century.
Parliament moved here in 1982, opened by the president, J. R. Jayewardene: the similarity of names is accidental, allegedly.
