 The great war of the epic Mahabharata is fought over the throne of this city and most incidents in the epic take place in this city.The Sri Lankan chronicle "Rajavaliya" states that the elephant flag was prominent in Mayadunne's son, prince Rajasinghe's battle at Mulleriyawa against the Portuguese.The white shields known as "sak paliha" or conch shields were also important royal symbols in Sri Lanka's history.