Born into the royal palace of Kandy around the year 1578, Kusumāsana Devi was the only daughter of King Karalliyadde Bandara and Queen Santana Devi. Her early years were marked not by the luxury of royalty, but by the looming threat of colonial invasion. When Portuguese forces advanced through the island, her father, fearing for their lives, fled with his family to Mannar. There, the young princess was taken under the protection — or rather the control — of the Portuguese. She was baptized and renamed Dona Catharina, losing her Sinhala name, her culture, and her identity to foreign hands. Raised away from her motherland and molded by Western customs, she became a pawn in a game of power.

After the death of her father in 1581, the Portuguese saw in her a convenient symbol — someone who could legitimize their influence in the central kingdom. At just three years old, she was crowned Queen of Kandy. But her reign was in name only. Real power lay with the colonizers, and her royal status was nothing more than a mask for colonial ambition. That same year, the Sitawaka Kingdom, led by Rajasinha I, swept in and overthrew her rule. The little queen was dethroned, forgotten by the land that once awaited her leadership.

Years passed. Sri Lanka’s kingdoms fell into deeper conflict, and the Portuguese grew bolder. But a new force was rising from within. A former ally of the Portuguese, a young Sinhalese noble named Konappu Bandara, turned against them. Rejecting his Christian upbringing, he embraced his Sinhala heritage and began a rebellion. His military strength and charisma led him to seize the Kandyan throne under the name King Vimaladharmasuriya I. And in a move that stunned both his enemies and his allies, he chose Kusumāsana Devi — now Dona Catharina — as his queen.

Their union was more than a marriage. It was the reunion of a nation with its rightful rulers. For Kusumāsana Devi, it was a return not only to her homeland, but to her birthright. No longer a puppet, she now stood as Queen Consort beside a king who had defied the odds and reclaimed Sinhala sovereignty.

As queen, Kusumāsana Devi embraced her role with dignity and grace. She and Vimaladharmasuriya reestablished Buddhism in the kingdom, strengthened cultural roots, and brought stability to a nation scarred by colonization. Together, they had three children, including a son, Mahastane, who would later become King Rajasinghe II — one of the most influential monarchs of the Kandyan era.

But fate had more trials in store. After her husband’s death in 1604, Kusumāsana Devi briefly became consort to his successor, King Senarat. Though she remained a figure of royal dignity, the years were not kind to her. The tragic death of her son in 1612 broke her spirit, and she withdrew from public life. On July 10, 1613, at just 35 years old, she passed away quietly at her estate in Wellatota, near present-day Kegalle.

Her body was taken to Kandy and laid to rest with full royal honors. But history often forgets the women behind the throne. Kusumāsana Devi, once manipulated by empires, had become a powerful symbol of resilience, identity, and cultural rebirth. Though her reign as queen regnant lasted mere months, her legacy as queen consort and mother of a nation lives on in the soul of Sri Lanka.