Denipitiye Nuga Ruka

by Sumana Saparamadu

Denipitiya is a village off Weligama in the Matara district. It is like any other village in the area, but it is a famous village. Its claim to fame is a giant banyan tree that stood there. Mention the name Denipitiya and the banyan tree Nuga Ruka, comes to mind at once.

This banyan tree, stood about a quarter mile from the Denipitiya bazaar on the Denipitiya-Weligama road and by the side of the Pol-atu-Oya.

What is so special about this tree to become so famous?

The poet Gajaman Nona admired this tree so much that she was inspired to write a poem about the tree. She describes the spreading branches that were a feast to the eyes of the beholder, and gave shade to passers-by.

It was then a tree of great height and girth and its branches covered a few acres of land.

This poem titled Denipitiye Nuga Ruka is included in some text books. Students in grades 7 and 8 must be familiar with this poem. Your school library should be having a copy of Gajaman Nona's poems. Long after Gajaman Nona wrote this poem, a branch of the tree had fallen horizontally across the Pol-atu-oya and was used as a foot-bridge for years until it was replaced by a wooden bridge and later by a concrete bridge.

I went to Denipitiya about 20 years ago especially to see this famous tree. The tree was not there but another tree - an off shoot of the original tree was growing, if I remember right, on the other bank, to remind us of the famous Nuga Ruka that Gajaman Nona described so beautifully.

Gajaman Nona lived in the latter half of the 18th century upto 1814.

I will tell you about Gajaman Nona on another day.