Life is in the city of the commercial capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo is convenient, modern and exhilarating. However, there are times when you want to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and want to spend some time in calm and quite surrounded by Nature. So when one feels this need, where can one go to? Enter the Viharamahadevi Park, lush gardens where you can go and relax, enjoy nature, jog, cycle or even play.
Where is it? The Viharamahadevi Park is situated in the heart of Colombo in Colombo 07. This is an elite area where you can find a cluster of heritage sites like the great Gangaramaya Temple and some of the finest of luxury apartments in Sri Lanka the likes of the Capitol TwinPeaks; as well as shopping precincts like the Arcade Independence Square. On one side of the park is the grand Nelum Pokuna theatre while on the other side is massive colonial building that houses Colombo’s Municipal Council.
The park was formerly known as Victoria Park as a tribute to Queen Victoria, during the time of Sri Lanka’s colonization from the British. After the country gained independence, the park was named Viharamahadevi Park as a tribute to a great Sri Lankan queen who sacrificed herself to save the country from a tsunami. There’s a statue of her in the park in case you’re interested.
Today, the Viharamadevi Park happens to be the oldest park in Colombo and also its only large-scale public park. These sprawling gardens feature many delights including an open-air theatre, a cycle track, jogging trails, an aquarium, a massive gold statue of the Buddha, and large square fountains. There’s also a lake here with a wobbly bridge over it which is quite popular among the younger crowds as it presents a sort of thrilling experience to go on it. There’s one section of the park called the Sathutu Uyana meaning the ‘pleasure garden’, which is a children’s play area featuring slides, tunnels, a water play zone, food stalls and even pony rides.
Fritzjames Stephen is a travel writer, who writes content based on the myriad of experiences and indulgences that the world has to offer travellers across all walks of life.