The Maduganga river is a shallow water body in south-west Sri Lanka, which enters the sea at Balapitiya.
Soon after their return to the island they established a udakhupkhepa sima (a flotilla of boats moved together to form a platform on the water) on the Maduganga river, Balapitiya and, under the most senior Burmese monk who accompanied them, held an upasampada ceremony on Vesak Full Moon Day.
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In 1799, Ambagahapitiye Gnanavimala Thera a monk from the Salagama caste, from Balapitiya on the south western coast of Sri Lanka, departed for Burma with a group of novices to seek a new succession of Higher ordination.
The community was traditionally associated with the cultivation and management of cinnamon, and also as soldiers,and are found mostly in Southern coastal areas, especially in the villages around Rathgama (Rajgama), Boossa and Balapitiya in Galle district.