|Dambana is a village bordering the Maduru Oya Sanctuary where a few surviving members of Sri Lanka’s aboriginal people live. They are called ‘Veddahs’. you have to turn from the 90 th Km post of A26,Kandy-Padiyathalawa Road and drive another four Kilometres to Dambana. The nearest town is Mahiyangana. there are hundreds of people who visit Dambana every day. The Veddahs are very small ethnic group as most of them have intermarried with Sinhalese folk and moved to other agricultural areas. The meaning of ‘Viddah’ is ‘hunter’, but at present they have moved from a hunting lifestyle to chena cultivation.Visitors gift them many items, including money, and they probably like to purchase consumer items from shops nearby. They also sell a few handicraft items and bees’ Honey. They have their own cultural values, songs and dances.
The leader of the Veddahs is called “Nayaka Attho”, others are called ‘Vanniyala Attho”.