page_title: Mahatma Gandhi's visit to Ceylon
section_title: The Corea Family of Chilaw
hierarchical_section_title: Mahatma Gandhi's visit to Ceylon / The Corea Family of Chilaw
caption_attribution_description: English: The historic Corea Family home called 'Sigiriya' in Chilaw, Sri Lanka. Maatma Gandhi, his wife Kasturba and entourage stayed here in 1927 during his first and only visit to Ceylon. Gandhi was invited to Chilaw by C.E.Corea and Victor Corea - both brothers were freedom fighters and national heroes of Sri Lanka.
context_page_description: Mahatma Gandhi the 'Father of India,' paid a historic visit to Ceylon in 1927. On his first and only visit to the island, he was invited to Chilaw by the famed freedom fighters of Sri Lanka, Charles Edgar Corea and his brother Victor Corea. In addition to Chilaw, Mahatma Gandhi had visited Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Jaffna, Nuwara Eliya, Matale, Badulla, Bandarawela, Hatton and Point Pedro during his three-week-long visit to Sri Lanka and made many speeches to Sri Lankan audiences. During his stay in Ceylon he also visited the schools established by the Buddhist Theosophical Society in Ceylon namely Ananda College in Colombo, Mahinda College in Galle and Dharmaraja College in Kandy.
context_section_description: The Corea family who hail from the west coast town of Chilaw in Sri Lanka are direct descendants of King Dominicus Corea, also known in the Mahavamsa as the 'war hero,' Edirille Rala who was the King of Kotte and Sitawaka. The warrior king, rebelled against the colonial Portuguese forces and waged war against them.He was eventually captured by the Portuguese and executed on July 14, 1596, at the age of 31 in Colombo.
  The Sri Lankan author, Kumari Jayawardena, writing about the Coreas noted: 'Unconnected to the liquor trade but making their money on plantation ventures was the Corea Family of Chilaw, an influential goyigama group with a history going back to Portuguese rule when they were warriors to Sinhala kings. During Dutch and British rule, members of the family were officials serving the state in various ways and rewarded with titles.Some members of the family took to the legal and medical professions, most notably the sons of Charles Edward Corea (a solicitor), who were active in local politics and in the Chilaw Association which campaigned against British land policies - especially the Waste Lands Ordinance, and for political reforms. The most active of Corea's sons was C.E.(Charles Edgar) who spoke up for peasant rights and was militant in his stand against the government. He was President of the Ceylon National Congress in 1924. C.E.Corea's brother, Alfred Ernest, was a doctor and the youngest Victor Corea was a lawyer who achieved fame for leading a campaign (and going to jail) in 1922 to protest the Poll Tax on all males; he was the first President of the Ceylon Labour Union led by A.E.Goonesinha and was active in the Ceylon Labour Party. While being professionals and political activists, the Coreas were also important landowners. '
caption: Mahatma Gandhi, his wife Kasturba and entourage stayed with the Corea Family in this historic home called 'Sigiriya,' in Chilaw, on the west coast of Sri Lanka.
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