According to Robert Knox's An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon, the city had been surrounded by a whitewashed protective wall, which encircled the large two-storied palaces.

Rajasinghe was cremated at Hanguranketha following his death in 1687 and his ashes were deposited at a site near Adahanamaluwa Gedige Viharaya.

In 1814 King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha fled to the safety of Hanguranketha when the Sinhalese aristocracy torched his palace in Kandy.

Following the 1818 Rebellion, the remains of the destroyed palace were used in the construction of the present Viharaya, with a large hall for the library built during 1831-1880.

This Nuwara Eliya District, Central Province, Sri Lanka location article is a stub.