Viharamahadevi Park

Viharamahadevi Park Viharamahadevi Park Viharamahadevi Park

Once widely known as Victoria Park, Viharamahadevi Park is Colombo’s oldest and largest public park. Situated within an older section of the city it lies close to historical monuments such as the colonial-era Town Hall building,National Museum, and the Colombo Public Library. Having received extensive renovations recently, it is now an essential location where the city’s residents relax and enjoy themselves.

The Park’s History

The park was built, by Charles Henry de Soysa during the British rule of Sri Lanka, on land donated to the Colombo city; and was named "Victoria Park" after Queen Victoria.

It was occupied by the British Army during World War II, and was where the Australian 17th Brigade was based. After the war the park was restored and open to the public in 1951,  and at the time it was named Viharamahdevi Park after the ancient Queen Viharamahadevi. This queen was the mother of King Dutugamunu who was an important figurehead of Sri Lanka’s history.

The Park’s Features

A couple of decades ago the park was still much-loved by the residents of Colombo, especially  its children. However, it was not as beautiful or as neatly arranged as it is now. It comprised mostly of woodland thinly spread with trees and occasional paths meandering through.  Amongst the dark shadows of the bows romantic couples met for their dalliances, which they could not have under the keen eyes of the public. Flowers, grass and other undergrowth grew wild and rampant; with the groundskeepers barely able to control them. There was a murky lake, with a damaged bridge over it. The park had three entrances at the time; and close to one of the entrances was a small amusement park. This park was the delight of the local kids in Colombo as it had quite a few popular rides, such as a Merry-go-round and a bumper car ride; fair food like cotton candy; and many other wonderful things. Therefore that entrance was especially popular during the weekend and stayed open till late unlike the other gates.

However as computers, phones, televisions and other modern devices appeared throughout Colombo, heralding an era of technology in Sri Lanka, Victoria Park was slowly forgotten. Its rides were unlit and silent, barely any children visited the place, the leafy avenues were empty and haunted by the memories times long past. The park was almost ready to disappear.

But then in 2013, fortune favored it. The 23rd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting happened in Colombo; and the government did some extensive sprucing up of the city to make it look more attractive. Viharamah

Om Colombo-distriktet

Colombo er Sri Lankas største by og handelshovedstad. Den ligger på øens vestkyst og støder op til Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, Sri Lankas hovedstad. Colombo er en travl og pulserende by med en blanding af moderne liv og koloniale bygninger og ruiner og en bybefolkning på 647.100. Colombo Metropolitan Region, defineret af distrikterne Colombo, Gampaha og Kalutara, har en anslået befolkning på 5.648.000 og dækker et areal på 3.694,20 km². Colombo er en multietnisk, multikulturel by. Det er den mest folkerige by i Sri Lanka med 642.163 mennesker, der bor inden for bygrænsen. Befolkningen i Colombo er en blanding af adskillige etniske grupper, primært singalesere, maurere og tamiler. Der er også små samfund af mennesker med kinesisk, portugisisk, hollandsk, malaysisk og indisk oprindelse, der bor i byen, samt adskillige europæiske udlændinge. Langt de fleste srilankanske virksomheder har deres hovedkontorer i Colombo. Nogle af industrierne omfatter kemikalier, tekstiler, glas, cement, lædervarer, møbler og smykker. I byens centrum ligger Sydasiens næsthøjeste bygning - World Trade Center.

Om Vestprovinsen

Vestprovinsen er den tættest befolkede provins i Sri Lanka. Den er hjemsted for den lovgivende hovedstad Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte samt Colombo, landets administrative og forretningsmæssige centrum. Vestprovinsen er opdelt i 3 hoveddistrikter kaldet Colombo (642 km²), Gampaha (1.386,6 km²) og Kalutara (1.606 km²). Som Sri Lankas økonomiske centrum er alle de store lokale og internationale virksomheder til stede i byen, ligesom alle de store designer- og detailhandlere, så vær klar til at forkæle dig selv med lidt shoppingterapi i den vestlige provins. Med den højeste befolkning i alle provinser er næsten alle de førende uddannelsesinstitutioner på øen placeret i den vestlige provins. Universiteterne i provinsen omfatter University of Colombo, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, University of Kelaniya, Open University, Sri Lanka, Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University og University of Moratuwa. Den vestlige provins har det største antal skoler i landet, herunder nationale, provinsielle, private og internationale skoler.

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