Puran Appu

Weerahennadige Francisco Fernando alias Puran Appu (Sinhala පුරන් අප්පු) is one of the notable personalities in Sri Lanka's history. He was born on November 1812 in the coastal town of Moratuwa. He left Moratuwa at the age of 13 and stayed in Ratnapura with his uncle, who was the first Sinhalese proctor, and moved to the Uva province. In early 1847, he met and married Bandara Menike, the daughter of Gunnepana Arachchi in Kandy. He was captured by the British after the failure of Matale Rebellion along with Gongalegoda Banda and Ven. Kudapola Thera. He was executed by a firing squad on August 8, 1848. His body barred in Matale.

The Hero

He is the only personality to emerge from Sri Lanka's history, clad in the garb of folk hero. He rose from among the common people and he dared to challenge the might of British imperialism at its peak of power and glory during the Victorian era. On 28.07.48 Puran Appu led an attack on Matale. This was successful. However, the other leaders who attacked Kurunegala and Wariyapola failed. Governor Viscount Torrington in a letter to Earl Grey, the Colonial Secretary in London dated October 9, 1849 “I remind you of the last words of Puranappu. He held up his hands and said if there had been half a dozen such men as me to lead, there would not be a white man living in the Kandyan Province. This is true. If there had been such leaders without doubt for a time we should have lost the country.”