Unknown stories about the ruined city of Dedugala

Dedugala is a town belonging to Kegalle district which had become a very populous city by 1970. There were also many shops to deal with in this town located on the slopes of Dolosbage hill. Dedugala is a city that is deserted and ruled by ghosts without people in western movies. Gradually this city disappeared. We are trying to find that dead city

How to get to Dedugala?
This place is a wonderful mountain tourism event that not many people know about. Bulathkohupitiya town is located not far from this village. The distance from Colombo to Bulathkohupitiya via Karavanella is 84 km. Or you can come from Colombo to Kegalle (78 km) and from there go to Bulathkohupitiya (25 km).
Dedugala is 11 km from Bulathkohupitiya. Another beautiful mountain road starts from the Ampagala Junction, which is 2 km from Bulathkohupitiya. It is Yatianthota road through Parussella.
Dedugala borders Kandy district on one side. Dedugala and nearby Palampitiya villages border Sabaragamuwa province with Central province or Kandy district. Udapalampitiya, the highest point in the area, is 4000 feet above sea level. Dedugala village is 2000 feet high. It is a heavy and cool place with frequent frosts.

A road from Bulathkohupitiya to Nawalapitiya via Dedugala, Palampitiya has also fallen. Although the road is narrow, it has been carpeted. On the winding road, you can see waterfalls such as Nalagana Falls, Ritigaha Falls, Rukmal Falls, Rikilla Falls, etc.

Dedugala location
We have seen how small villages sometimes become cities. Any city develops over time and the shops increase and become busy. The other side is happening in this city. When going along the Palampitiya road from Bulathkohupitiya, you can see a side road to turn south at Dedugala.

It is the old road built in 1960s. After a short distance on that road, you will find the deserted town of Dedugala. It belongs to 131 C Dedugala Village Service Domain. It is said that when the road to Palampitiya was built in the seventies, the road was built bypassing Dedugala town. Palampitiya is located another 2000 feet above Dedugala. It is a village located at the top of Kegalle district.

Dedugala was a highly developed plantation town. In the past, buses ran daily from Dedugala to Colombo. People from different provinces came to work in the city. No buses or people come to Dedugala today. A government office has only a sub post office.

The two-storied buildings used for decades since the English rule have been abandoned there. It can be seen that the asphalted road is also falling apart in places. It can be seen that the grass and trees are growing wildly around. After Dedugal, the vehicular road ends. After that, the roads to the villages have fallen through footpaths.

150 shops Elders say from their memories that there were about 150 shops in Dedugala Town by 1970. There were three cloth shops and there were five barber shops. There were grocery stores as well as nightclubs. People came to this city from nearby villages like Neluakkana, Gangaveraliya and Nangala. Today there are only 5 shops. They also do not see a large number of customers coming. Instead of a town full of cars, seeing deserted shops without any cars creates a mysterious feeling.

S. K. Shop, Bawa Shop, Kochi Mohideen Shop, A. R. P. Elderly villagers mention that the shop is one of them. “S. K. Hamidiya Mudalali was in the shop. Mudalali writes in the book from morning till evening. When I was young, when I went to the shop with my father, the cashier would give me dates. Various shops like Mohideen’s shop, Mr. Liyan’s shop. A villager had said once while awakening his memory.

The once densely populated city has turned into ruins
Other cities we know are growing day by day. Small shops become big buildings. But none of this happened to Dedugala. The people who gathered there have moved away, the buildings have fallen into disrepair and the once populated city has turned into ruins. Instead, Bulathkohupitiya, which was a small village at that time, has grown into a big city and road facilities have improved.

In the 1970s, the cities around here were Dedugala and Undugoda. Undugoda also had the police. Dedugala, which was on a difficult road far away from Bulathkohupitiya, was the developed trading town. The distance from Dedugala to Palampitiya is 9 km. 6 km from Palampitiya to Dolosbaghe. Some say that the development of Bulathkohupitiya town is one of the reasons for the collapse of Dedugala.

Lots of buses Before Palampitiya Road was built in the seventies, it takes about an hour to walk from Palampitiya to Dedugala. The people of Palampitiya also came to Dedugala town to catch the buses. Buses ran from Dedugal to many parts of the country. In the 1950s, a Colombo bus used to run from Dedugal at six in the morning and it is said to reach Petaling Jaya by 9.00 in the morning. In the fifties, the bus fare from Dedugala to Colombo was one rupee and eighty cents. 25 cents to Bulathkohupitiya. The fare from Dedugala to Kegalle is 80 cents.

Dedugala estate empire
At that time, thousands of acres of large tea estates were spread near Dedugala. All these large estates were owned by whites. Dedugala was considered as the center where their products were transported to Colombo. 999 Acres Kelvin Estate, Centgrain Estate, Gangaveraliya Estate, Avilan Estate, Muscle Oya Estate are some such estates. Thousands of Tamil plantation workers worked in these plantations. They bought the goods from Dedugala town. It is a fact that old elders say that goods are cheap in Dedugala town. Similarly, rubber and tea products were transported to Colombo through Dedugala. The town was a carriage stop in the early 1900s and later became a lorry and bus stop. Vehicles coming from cities like Koloma, Ratnapura and Nuwara Eliya were parked here for the night. Because of this, even nightclubs have been run in the town. Even today, small teapots as well as large teapots are found around here.
The city is deserted.

Why such a busy city was gradually abandoned is a problem that arises for everyone. According to the facts told by the elderly villagers, it can be aligned as follows.
Around 1970, there was a decline in the price. In 1972, Ceylon became the Republic of Sri Lanka and the British owned tea and rubber estates were nationalized and the Janata Vatu Development Board was established. Because of this, the whites had to leave their property here and go to their mother countries. Some estates may also be closed. Along with that, the diligence of the plantation has gone away. Due to this, the number of vehicles that came to the stream of tea leaves also decreased. Due to these reasons, most of the large Tamil population in the vicinity left the area.

The Tamils used to buy most of the goods from Dedugal, so when they disappeared, the tattoo trade declined. A small Sinhalese population lived around Dedugala and Palampitiya. They depended on hay and fields. They are not people who often go from shop to shop. At that time, hay farming took place in the surrounding hills and grains such as al-vee, kurahan, and amu were cultivated. Vegetable cultivation was also done. Because of this, the Sinhalese people are not a group that often buys goods from shops.
Many people in the village have also left the village due to difficulties. Today there are about 50 families in the village.The nearest town is Bulatkohupitiya.

During the era when Dedugala was a thriving bazaar, a Muslim community also lived there. They were engaged in business activities here. They left Dedugala after the trade became weak. The mosque built for them has become ruins today. Outside the city, there is also a Bodhi tree which is worshiped by the Buddhist people. A water pool with a beautiful waterfall can also be seen nearby.

Today the people of Dedugala have to go to the nearest town Bulathkohupitiya for their needs due to transportation difficulties. Because buses do not come to the town for that, they have to walk to Pelampitiya Road and catch the bus. That trip has become a day-long task. Dedugala, which went backwards when the world developed, is still a place where people live a good life because of tea plantations.