Walauwa

Walauwa

Regions with significant populations
Sri Lanka
Languages
Sinhala language
Religion
Predominantly: Theravada Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
Sinhalese people, South Asian ethnic groups

Walauwa or walawwa is the name given to a feudal/colonial manor house in Sri Lanka of a native headmen. It also refers to the feudal social systems that existed during the colonial era.

The term walauwa is derived from the Tamil word valavu, which denotes a compound or garden, and by implication, a large house with aristocratic connotations.^{[citation needed]} The pinnacle of walauwas in the Sinhala social stratum is the wasala walauwa. Wasala is derived from the word Wasasathana, meaning residence. In the Sinhalese social hierarchy, a wasala walawa would typically be the ancestral residence of a mudaliyar.

Walauwas vary in style, elegance and uniqueness depending upon the financial resources of the individual families and in the village or area's social structure. Most walauwas tend to incorporate aspects of traditional pre-colonial Ceylonese architecture, as well as Dutch and later colonial influences. A walauwa usually consisted of a cluster of buildings linked by verandahs, with an internal courtyard (medamidula), which separated the private life of the family from the headman's public duties.

The walauwa were traditionally associated with the homes of the courtiers (radala), members of the royal court in Kandy. It was displaced by their colonial equivalents following the dissolution of the Kingdom of Kandy by the British.^[3][4]