Child hero Madduma Bandara to be commemorated

BY M. W. Somaratne

The child  hero seven year old Madduma Bandara who was beheaded mercilessly as part of revenge taking against  his father Ehelepola Maha Adikaram 211 years ago is to be commemorated on May 17 at Ehelepola Raja Maha Viharaya in Matale.

The seven year old Madduma  Bandara was beheaded on May 17, 1814 at the location known as Devasanhitha near Welbodiya in the Natha Devalaya grounds.  This child hero  sacrificed his life for the sake of  his father’s campaign to save the country from the wicked king Sri Wickrema Rajasinhe.

The Kandyan monarch Sri Wickrema  had ordered the execution of the Ehelepola family including two teenage children, an infant child and their mother to avenge the Maha Adikaram’s secret communications with the British.

The eldest in the family Loku Bandara was frightened at the sight of the executioner holding the sabre and he attempted to hide behind his mother. However Madumma Bandara the younger brother who braved the king’s wrath, faced death unflinchingly and said: “Brother, don’t be frightened, I will show you how to die.” He walked calmly to the executioner and wasn’t daunted by impending death.   

Their mother Ehelepola Kumarihamy stepped forward  and told her elder son Loku Bandara: “Children, we are doomed to die, don’t be frightened. Let the blood thirsty Wadigaya be satisfied with our blood, and let’s hope this sacrifice of our lives will bring your father all success.” 

The elder boy ran round his mother and the executioner hesitated to touch the woman of rank.  The king shouted out his order. The next movement the boy’s head rolled down to the ground.

The next was the tiny  baby girl whom the mother was breast feeding. The executioner took the toddler by the leg and cut off the head.  

The king ordered the mother to crush the head of each of the children in a mortar and threatened that she would be made the wife of a low caste man if she refused. She fell unconscious. After she was revived,  she carried out the order as it was better than to live a  disgraceful life as  the wife of a low caste man. 

This was the most cruel and inhumane massacre of a family of three children and their mother by a ruler.  The indelible words of bravery uttered by Madduma Bandara have gone down in the annals of Sri Lankan history, making him a shining star in the ranks of national heroes. The execution of a mother and three children in this manner is a uniquely barbaric event in world history. 

Sir Paul E. Peiris has vividly narrated the sad plight of the Chief Adigar Ehelepola in Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe’s court (1788-1815) and his family. 

The execution of Ehelepola Kumarihamy and the three children sent a shock wave across the country and the king earned the wrath of the people that resulted in the Kandyan kingdom coming under the sway of the British.

The 211th year of commemoration of Madduma Bandara organised by the National Organisation to Commemorate the Heroes in Matale will be held at the historic Ehelepola temple on May 17.