The Our Lady of Assumption’s Church in Bolawatta, has been a place of worship with a history of over 300 years. The church is one of the oldest churches in the Puttalam district. The recent discovery of an unmarked grave, during construction work carried out in the new Bolawatta church has, ignited a heated debate on the identity of the grave. The reason for the euphoria, and the reason why the discovery ended up on mainstream media was the claim by certain parties that the discovered grave was that of the blessed Joseph Vas.
The original Bolawatta Church had been built by a Karava family of the region, the de Rowel family, a connected family of the De Fonsekas. They carry the same clan name Warunakula Aditiya Arasanilaitta. Many believe that this is the grave of Gate Mudaliyar Ambrosius de Rowel, a descendant of that family and a great benefactor of the Church. The Mudaliyar’s grave had been in the old church, but the epitaph has disappeared when the historic church was demolished in recent times to re-build the new one.
Joseph Vaz (21 April 1651 – 16 January 1711) was a missionary who arrived in Ceylon during the Dutch occupation, when the Dutch were imposing severe restrictions on the practice of the Catholic faith. He travelled throughout the island rebuilding the Catholic Church on the island during his lifetime. In his later years he was based in Kandy, and carried out his work with the full support of the King of Kandy. He died in Kandy, and it is highly unlikely that his body was transported all the way to Bolawatta. Fr. Joseph Vaz was beatified by Pope John Paul II in Colombo. He was canonized on 14 January 2015 by Pope Francis in an open-air Mass ceremony at the Galle Face Green in Colombo.
The Bolawatta church has served as a place of refuge to Catholics who were persecuted during the period of Dutch colonial rule. One of the priests who had done a lot to safeguard Catholics in the area during this time was Fr. Jacome Gonsalves, who was based at this church. Fr. Gosalvez was an assistant to Fr. Joseph Vaz in Kandy, and he carried forward the good work of Fr. Joseph Vaz.
Fr. Jacome Gonsalves came to Bolawatta church in 1740, where he wrote and published many books. He is known as the “Father of Catholic Literature in Sri Lanka” because of his tremendous literary output. He had written many books, prayers, hymns and translated many Latin hymns into local languages. These include ‘Namo Mariyani’, the Sinhalese version of The Hail Mary. He died on 17 July 1742, at an age of 66. He was buried in the Church of Our Lady of Assumption, Bolawatte. To date, a large headstone can be found within the church. Many believe that the recent discovery is the original grave of Fr. Gonsalves.
His tomb was opened in 1852, by Fr. Florentine Gracia. Some of his bones were found there and a bone was kept in the altar of the new church. And then the tomb was sealed. When it was opened again, his cross and a tooth were taken out. The tooth has been kept in the church of Our Lady of Sorrows, Nainamadama. Today a special demarcated place in the new church carries his epitaph to indicate his burial. However there is no guarantee that he is buried in the exact place, as the church was demolished and rebuilt over the years.
The accepted burial practice in the church is that when a priest is buried, it is buried in a way that the head points towards the pulpit, as if the priest was celebrating mass. When a lay person is buried, it is the other way around and the feet point towards the pulpit. The grave discovered recently is in line with the latter prompting many to believe this is the grave of the principal benefactor of the church, Ambrosius de Rowel.
The church is also home to the graves of Rev. Orasio Bethakini, Rev. Francis Xavier, and Fr. Garcia. These epitaphs have been removed and moved to the chapel of the new church. However as per information available, the original graves still remain below the floor of the new church.
The Department of Archeology too has sent officers to inspect the tomb found during the construction of the Our Lady of Assumption’s Church at Bolawatta, Wennappuwa. The analysis and results may finally throw some light on the origins of the grave.
The Rowel Family
The de Rowel family descendant, Gate Mudaliyar Ambrosius de Rowel (1844 – 1906) had been a great benefactor of the Bolawatta Church. As such, he and his wife Maria Florentina Lowe (1856 – 1913) from Marawila, had been buried within the church, respectively in 1906 & 1913. The Mudaliyar’s marble slab has been engraved in four languages, Latin, English, Sinhala and Tamil. It is customary to bury the main benefactors of the church, within its premises.
In 1763, Dutch Governor, Lubbert Baron Van Eck, appointed Anthony Rowel as Maha Vidane and Mohandiram of Alutkuru Korale. In the same year he was made Mudaliyar of Alutkuru Korale, for his role in the Kandyan expedition. Anthony’s third son Miguel, succeeded Anthony as Mohandiram of Alutkuru Korale. Miguel’s son Carolis was a Notary Public.
Ambrosius de Rowel was Carolis’ son (see family Tree of De Rowel extracted from The Karawa of Ceylon)
After being educated privately, Ambrosius supervised the family’s coconut and tobacco plantations and assisted his father in his notarial work. In 1871 he succeeded his father as Notary Public, and was appointed Mohandiram of Pitigal Korale South in 1876, Titular Mudaliyar in 1887, Mudaliyar in 1895, Justice of the Peace and Unofficial Police Magistrate of Chilaw in 1897 and Mudaliyar of the Governor’s Gate in 1902.
In 1872, Ambrosius had married Maria Florentina Lowe ( 6th February 1856 – 13th July 1913 ) daughter of Robert Lowe, of Marawila. Their graves are at the Bolawatta Church. Ambrosius and Maria’s eldest daughter, Dorothy Juliana, married F A Wijeyesekere, Justice of the Peace, Unofficial Police Magistrate (J.P., U.P.M.) and President of the Village Tribunals of Salpiti Korale. Ambrosius and Maria’s second daughter Rosalind married W. Martin Daberera, Mudaliyar of Pitigal Korale South.
Information and Photo Credits:
- Karava of Ceylon
- Karava of Sri Lanka Facebook page
- TCIC pgs. 741, 742, 745, 746
- Wikipedia
- Thushani Dabrera, Open Source Media.