Last Update: 03 July 2023
Bolawatta
Bolawatta is the final resting place of Fr. Jacome Gonsalvez, where his remains have been interred in the Church of Our Lady of Assumption. The church is said to be 295 years old. However, it was demolished and a new church has been constructed at the very same site, a few years back. Action is being taken now to reconstruct the façade of the church in its original form.
Bolawatta, is now a developed town, about 40 km from Colombo and 20 km from the Bandaranaike International Airport ( aka Colombo International Airport). Bolawatta is located in the North Western Province of Sri Lanka, and can be easily reached by train and road. The journey by road from the international airport takes about 40 minutes.
It is also about 18 km from Negombo which is known as the ‘Little Rome’ for its Catholic population, churches, monasteries and other Catholic monuments.
This area is predominantly Catholic, and is now mainly Sinhala speaking, but there are Tamil speakers, too.
It is said that St. Francis Xavier, visited this area during the Portuguese occupation and converted large numbers to Catholicism. They withstood persecutions during the Dutch rule, and were blessed and encouraged by the apostolic work of Fr. Gonsalvez.
Most people in this region are engaged in occupations associated with the sea, due to its proximity to the coast.
Catholics in Bolawatta and surrounding areas are devoted to the veneration of Fr. Gonsalves. His feast is celebrated on a grand scale every year. The Bolawatta parish comes under the Diocese of Chilaw.
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