page_title: Dutugamunu
section_title: Etymology
hierarchical_section_title: Dutugamunu / Etymology
caption_attribution_description: English: KING DUTUGEMUNU (161 BC – 137 BC) Prince Gamini was born to a royal family in southern Lanka. His parents were King Kakavanna Tissa and Vihara Maha Devi.prince himself being dubbed Dutthagamani, meaning "disobedient". After his death, he was referred to as Dharma Gamini ("righteous Gamini"), but it is as Duttha Gamini or Dutugemunu that he is known to posterity.
context_page_description: Dutugamunu, was a Sinhalese king of Sri Lanka who reigned from 161 BC to 137 BC. He is renowned for defeating and overthrowing Ellalan, the usurping Tamil prince from the Chola Kingdom, who had invaded the Kingdom of Rajarata in 205 BC. Dutugamunu also expanded and beautified the city of Anuradhapura and projected the power of his native Rajarata region across the island of Sri Lanka.
  Due to his significance as one of the most potent symbols of Sinhalese historical power, Dutugamunu's story is swathed in myth and legend. However, many aspects of the accounts of his life have been verified by contemporary inscriptions, and the basic account of his life is generally accepted as accurate.
context_section_description: The Mahavamsa describes how as a youth he mocked his father Kavantissa, king of Ruhuna, for refusing to wage war against the powerful invading Elara, the Chola king of Anuradhapura, who usurped the throne by killing the native kings. The prince stated that "If [his] father were a man he would not speak thus" and sent him a piece of women's jewellery. The resulting fury of the king caused many of his friends to flee to Malaya region and the prince himself being dubbed Dutthagamani,  meaning "disobedient". After his death, he was referred to as Dharma Gamini ("righteous Gamini"), but it is as Duttha Gamini or Dutugemunu that he is known to posterity.
caption: KING DUTUGEMUNU (161 BC – 137 BC)
exif: {"Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-H9", "Image DateTime": "2011:12:10 10:19:35", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "232", "Image CustomRendered": "Normal", "Image ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "Image WhiteBalance": "Auto", "Image SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "Image Contrast": "Normal", "Image Saturation": "Normal", "Image Sharpness": "Normal", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/8", "EXIF FNumber": "9/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:12:10 10:19:35", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:12:10 10:19:35", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "23/8", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "159/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3264", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2448", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed"}