Nedungamuwe Raja Hasthiya, who was honored by all those who carried the Sacred Tooth Relic in the Esala Perahera and many other hopy arksnin different occasions, has passed away this morning.
Raja was 69 years old at the time of his death.
Born in Mysore, India around 1953, Raja, an Indian tusker, was named as a national heritage in Sri Lanka.
Nendungamuwe Raja is considered to be one of the two baby elephants from two other baby elephants that were offered by the Maharaja of Mysore to a avurvedic medic thero lived in 5Neelammahara Temple, Piliyandala as a gift for curing a chronic illness of a relative of the Maharaja of Mysore. The other elephant was the Navam Raja of the Gangarama temple.