Nadungamuwa Raja

Nadungamuwa Vijaya Raja (Sinhala: නැදුන්ගමුව විජය රාජා, Tamil: நெதுன்கமுவ விஜய ராஜா), also known as simply Nadungamuwa Raja (c.  1953 – 7 March 2022), was an Indian elephant.[1] For more than a decade, he was the main casket bearer of the procession of Esala.[2][3] Nadungamuwa Raja was the largest tame elephant in Asia.[2] When Raja died, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that Raja a national treasure.

Nadungamuwa Raja in 1978

Nadungamuwa Raja died in the early morning of 7 March 2022 at the age of 68/69 from a heart attack.[4] The President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa ordered that Raja's body be preserved as a stuffed body.[4]

References
  1. "සධාතුක කරඬුව වඩම්මන නැදුන්ගමුවේ රාජා" [The relics casket bearer Nedungamuwe Raja]. Dinamina (in Sinhala). Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  2. Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (2022-03-08). "Sri Lanka to hold state funeral for beloved sacred elephant Raja". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  3. "දළදා සමිඳුන්ට උත්තම පූජාවක් සිදුකරන රාජා සැබෑ ලෙසම පාරමිතාවක් පුරනු නොඅනුමානයි.. මේක පාරමිතාවක්. මීට ඉහත ආත්මවල නැඳුන්ගමුවේ රාජා, රජ කෙනෙකු වෙලත් ඉන්න ඇති"" [Raja who performs a great pooja to the Tooth Relic will undoubtedly sign a real parameter .. This is a parameter. Nendungamuwe Raja of the above spirits may have been a king] (in Sinhala). Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  4. "Sri Lanka mourns death of famous Indian tusker". Xinhua News Agency. 2022-03-07. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
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