When today’s armies of the world use modern technology to attack the enemy forces, the entire living system is destroyed. Today’s armies have not recognized the existence of the world, which destroys even the attacking armies.
Even today, in the past, the armies of the world have faced enemy attacks while protecting nature well. The destruction of Sri Lanka also begins because of the strong armies in the world in the past. However, it was the people of this country who betrayed the land to the foreigners at that time. The present is different from the past. In this video, you can see the “Sinhalese Balana Balakotuwa”, a fort unknown to many in Sri Lanka, born in that glorious past.
Many invasions aimed at the Kingdom of Kandy took place around the Alagalla mountain range. Many decisive military campaigns and battles took place centered around the kingdoms of Kotte and Sitaka and the European colonial powers. Most notable were the defeats of Sita’s army in 1593 and the Portuguese in 1603.
The first description of a Balana fort built by King Wimaladharmasuriya I dates from the mid-1590s. During the weak reign of King Senarat, the Portuguese managed to capture Balana (circa 1615-1616) and are reported to have built it. Wooden fort. During the 17th and 18th centuries no major battles took place in the area as it was abandoned to invading armies and was part of a larger upland strategy – allowing an invading army to enter and block their retreat. The last record of a fort in Balana was in 1765 when the Dutch narrowly missed Balana. The two expeditions launched by the British in 1803 and 1815 were also unsuccessful. After the collapse of the Upland Kingdom in 1815, the Balana fort and junction were abandoned forever, with the British establishing a new military post at Amunupura, about a mile east of Balana.
When the British established themselves in Kandy, the colonists established tea and coffee plantations near the Colombo-Manuwara railway line that runs below the fort. And with the construction of the present Colombo-Nuwara road through Kadugannawa, its importance was completely lost.
The present ruins consist of the foundations of an upper fort and a lower fort. The upper fort, located on the top of Balana Hill, is a square structure with three circular bastions and a narrow entrance facing east. This section was preserved in the mid-1980s.
Analysis of the ruins shows that the defenses of the fort were directed towards the east as opposed to preventing invasion from the west.This suggests that the fort was designed to prevent an enemy from fleeing upland rather than stopping an enemy during the invasion of Kandy. This is in line with the overall upcountry strategy.
Balana Fort is now a historical site managed by the Sri Lanka Department of Archaeology.
