The leader of the Rathugala indigenous village, Danigala Maha Bandalage Suda Wannila Aththo, has passed away at the age of 62, Sri Lankan media reported Wednesday.
Suda Wannila Aththo died while receiving treatment at the Welisara Chest Hospital, Ada Derana said. Newswire confirmed his death and identified him as the leader of the Vedda community in Rathugala, located in the Madulla Divisional Secretariat in the Monaragala District.
Rathugala is one of the few surviving Vedda settlements in Sri Lanka and a centre for the country’s indigenous community, whose lineage predates the Sinhala and Tamil arrivals on the island. Vedda leaders such as Suda Wannila Aththo serve as the public face of their communities in dealings with the state, religious institutions, and visiting researchers, and they have been at the centre of long-running campaigns over land rights inside protected forest reserves.
The Rathugala community has historically been close to the late Uruwarige Wannila Aththo, the most widely recognised Vedda chief in modern Sri Lanka, and members of both villages have shared platforms on cultural-preservation matters. Funeral arrangements had not been announced at the time of reporting.
