හෙට්ටිවීදිය ප්‍රදේශයේ ස්වර්ණාභරණ අලෙවිසල් විශේෂ පරීක්ෂාවකට ලක් කිරීමේදී මෙම වෙළෙඳුන් අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන තිබේ.ඒ අනුව බලපත්‍ර නොමැතිව මිනුම් උපකරණ භාවිත කළ වෙළෙඳුන් දොළොස්දෙනකු හා වංචා සහගත ලෙස මිනුම් උපකරණ වෙනස් කළ වෙළෙඳුන් අටදෙනකු මෙම වැටලීමේදී අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන ඇත.
පාරිභෝගිකයන්ගෙන් ලැබුණු පැමිණිලිවලට අනුව කොටුව පොලිසිය හා ඒකාබද්ධව මෙම වැටලීම ක්‍රියාත්මක කර ඇත.
අත්අඩංගුවට පත් වෙළෙන්දන් විසිදෙනා පොලිස් ඇප මත මුදාහැර තිබේ. ඒ අනුව දෙසැම්බර් 27 වන දින මෙම වෙළෙන්දන් අලුත්කඩේ උසාවියට ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට නියමිතව ඇත.
මෙම සිද්ධියත් සමග ඉදිරියේදී දිවයින පුරා පිහිටි ස්වර්ණාභරණ වෙළෙඳසල් පරීක්ෂා කිරීමට විශේෂ වැඩපිළිවෙළක් සකස් කර තිබෙන බව මිනුම් ඒකක ප්‍රමිති හා සේවා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ වැටලීම් අංශයේ නිලධාරියෙක් පැවසීය.
According to legends Hetti Veediya, also known as Sea Street is the popular location for gold jewellery in Sri Lanka today. Hetti Veediya became popular after the arrival of Chettiars from South India during the colonial era. As Ceylon was a strategic location in the Indian Ocean, the Chettiars focused attention towards commencing business activities here.
The legend also reveals that a group of Chettiars had come to the island during 1830’s. They had known nothing about Ceylon before they stepped into the country. The gondola on which they sailed from South India capsised in the mid sea due to a heavy storm. The tragedy occurred close to the island called Tambapanni. The island was also called the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. Thereafter, it was called Ceylon.
Soon after Chettiars arrived in the country, they realised that the island was an ideal place for business activities. They gradually moved into the country from the coastal belt to commence business activities.
Chettiars mostly used gold for their daily transactions. In addition they used copper and silver for their business transactions. This is how the gold jewellery industry originated at Hetti Veediya during the British rule in the country. Most gold jewellery shops at Hetti Veediya are today run by Chettiars. Some jewellery shop owners at Hetti Veediya are not even aware that their ancestors are from South India.
In addition to South Indian businessmen, some Sinhalese businessmen too run jewellery shops at Hetti Veediya. Many Chettiars are employed in these shops for the convenience of Tamil and Muslim customers.
The Sunday Observer visited Hetti Veediya to meet the owners of jewellery shops and jewellery manufactures to discuss about the traditional business. According to a jewellery shop owner, there are over 300 shops at Hetti Veediya and among them, Swarna Mahal Jewellers, Lalitha, Jaya Nithiyakalyani, Muthukaruppan Chettiar, New Kala Jewellers, Misuho, Ambiga Jewellers, Ravi Jewellers, Ganesha Devi and Star jewellers are some of the popular jewellery shops in the area.Other popular jewellery shops such as Hemachandra Jewellers, Bullion Exchange, Stone ‘N’ String, Visakamals, Pattakannus Jewellers, Unique Jewellers, Eden, Empire and Abdeen Jewellers are located within the city of Colombo.
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