Kurunegala

Kurunegala, the chief town in the north-western province of Ceylon. Pop. of the town, 6483; of the district, 249,429. It was the residence of the kings of Ceylon from A.D. 1319 to 1347, and is romantically situated under the shade of Adagalla (the rock of the Tusked Elephant), which is 600 ft. high. It was in 1902 the terminus of the Northern railway (59 m. from Colombo), which has since been extended 200 m. farther, to the northernmost coast of the Jaffna Peninsula. Kurunegala is the centre of rice, coco-nut, tea, coffee and cocoa cultivation.