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Gajaman Nona
A charming small statue, barely five feet tall, of Gajaman Nona dressed in a Dutch style evening dress holding in her hand a quill is seen at Nonagama junction, on the main highway between Tangalle and Hambantota. Gajaman Nona had exceptional good looks and was a legendary figure because of her ability to write and recite impromptu vibrant Sinhala verse.
According to a Dutch Thombu at the Bambalapitiya Milagiriya Church, she was born on March 10, 1746 and was baptised Dona Isabella Koraneliya Perumal. She was the second daughter of Don Fransisco Senaratne Kumara Perumal who lived near Hakmana. He became the Gajaman Aratchi of the Matara District and had much to do with the capture and taming of elephants.
Gajaman Nona learnt her Sinhala from the famous Pandit Koratota "Hamuduruwo". She knew the handsome Elapatha Mudaliyar of Ratnapura District, who had been earlier ordained a Samanera bhikkhu and was known as Elapatha Dhammaratna Thera. He resided at the Sapugoda Vihare, and learnt his Sinhala from the same Koratota "Hamuduruwo." It is well-known that Elapatha Mudaliyar and Gajaman Nona wrote to each other (after the demise of her husband who met with an accident) in lovely verse, using warm language. Often did the handsome Mudaliyar refer to her charming ways, and she replied him in unforgettable verse always with a pun or two.
Another who came into the life of Gajaman Nona was Sir John D'Oyley, a Cambridge educated scholar who arrived in Ceylon around 1800 and soon mastered Sinhala. He served as G.A. and Fiscal Collector of the Matara-Hambantota districts between 1802 and 1806. By that time Gajaman Nona who appeared to be impoverished had in beautiful verse petitioned him seeking an audience and relief to end her poverty. D'Oyley who read the petition having much respect for her literary ability granted a Nindagama (several acres of land), now known as "Nona-gama" where her beautiful statue stands. The poetess of Matara died aged 56 on December 15, 1814.
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