Batapola, one of the major villages of the Galle district stands between Baddegama and Karandeniya. about 5 miles aweay from the sea. One can reach Batapola within twenty minutes or so by bus from Ambalangoda, Elpitiya or Kahawa.

According to legend Batapola is the place where king´s troops were lodged or trained in the distant past Sinhalese “bata” = solders and “pola” = place therefore suggest that it is the place where soldiers lodged. However, the etymology or the formation of this word has not been confirmed as yet. But one thing is quite certain that Batapola is a place abound in “bata” = bamboo or Bambusidae, a giant woody grass of the tropics. And an equally accepted is that the history of Batapola like that of any place in the island dates back to some thousand years. This fact will be amply proved if an impartial investigation is made of innumerable place names of various villages, hamlets, hills, gardens, etc. of which some stand with in Batapola it self while others belong to adjoining villages or towns. For instance Yahalagoda, a hamlet situated at Uduwila was one time the place where smithies or blacksmith´s workshops stood

Some more interesting information will be available in the near future…..