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Sri Jayewardanapura or Kotte is the legislative capital of Sri Lanka. It is located at 6° 54' north, 79° 54' east, in the southern suburbs of the business capital Colombo. The Parliament of Sri Lanka has been based here since the formal inauguration of its new building on 29 April 1982.
Kotte has been the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kotte from 13th to 16th centuries. Situated in a marshland it was found on the banks of the diyawanna oya (a stream) as a fortress against the South Indian invaders in the 13th century by a provincial ruler named Alagakkonara. Later the city became the capital of the island and was named Sri Jayawardanapura, "meaning the great city of victory". After the Portugese Arrived in the Island in 1505, they took control of the city by 1565. Failing to withstand the assalts by the forces of th neighbouring kingdom of Sitawaka(Avissawella) the city was abandoned by the portugese who made Colombo their new capital.
Kotte was again developed as a city in the 20 th Century. After being choosen as the new capital by the new government of 1977, a massive lake was formed by dredging the marhlands through whiuch the stream Diyawanna oya flows. An island was created in the middle of the lake and on it the new parliament buildings was built. The process of relocating the government institutions from the former capital of Colombo is stillnot completed. The population of the city now stands at about 110000 (2001 census)
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