Viharamahadevi Park, Colombo

Viharamahadevi Park, Colombo, Sri Lanka (3 September, 2005)

Viharamahadevi Park (GPS: 6.91339, 79.86174), located at Cinnamon Gardens, is a lovely patch of greenery in the middle of Colombo. It is on the opposite site of the road from the Colombo Town Hall.

Like many roads and places in Colombo, the Viharamahadevi Park is a rename of a park created by the British. Originally named Victoria Park after Queen Victoria, it was renamed in 1958 in honour of a different queen, a Sri Lankan one rather than a British. This is quite similar to what happens in former British colonies. I suppose the name Viharamahadevi was chosen so that the initials V.P. can be retained. I visited the park with members of AsiaExplorers during our tour of Sri Lanka.

Viharamahadevi, the girl who would be queen, was born poor, and was cast adrift as a sacrifice to favour the gods. she was rescued off the coast at Kirinda by King Kavantissa, who took her as his wife. Her only significance in history is for having a son, Dutugemunu, who managed to wrestle Anuradhapura back from the conquering Cholas of South India and united Sri Lanka for the first time.