Colombo Sights

  1. Dehiwala Zoo

    The major attraction here is the elephant show where the gentle giants troop on stage in true trunk-to-tail fashion and perform a series of feats of elephantine agility. The zoo has a wide collection of other creatures, including a fine range of birds and an aquarium, though the big cats and monkeys are still rather squalidly housed.

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  2. Dutch Period Museum

    The Dutch Period Museum was originally the 17th-century residence of the Dutch governor and has since been used as a Catholic seminary, a military hospital, a police station and a post office. The well-restored mansion contains a lovely garden courtyard. Exhibits include Dutch colonial furniture and other artefacts.

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  3. Fort Clock Tower

    A good landmark in Fort is the clock tower at the junction of Chatham St and Janadhipathi Mawatha (once Queen St), which was originally a lighthouse.

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  4. Gangaramaya Temple

    An important Buddhist centre is the sprawling Gangaramaya Temple, near Beira Lake. Run by one of Sri Lanka's more politically adept monks, the ever expanding temple complex has a library, a museum and an extraordinarily eclectic array of bejewelled and gilded gifts presented by devotees and well-wishers over the years.

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  5. Gotami Vihara

    The modern Gotami Vihara, 6km southeast of Fort near Cotta Rd train station in Borella, has some outstanding Jataka (Buddha life stories) murals by modern artist George Keyt.

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  7. Grand Mosque

    The Grand Mosque is the most important of Colombo's many mosques.

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  8. Independence Hall

    Critics lambast this modern recreation of a Kandyan audience hall as a concrete nonentity, but it's a rather impressive structure nonetheless, and makes a good photo opportunity. As the name suggests, it was built to commemorate Sri Lanka's independence in 1948. The parkland surrounding it is painstakingly well kept.

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  9. Isipathanaramaya Temple

    The Isipathanaramaya Temple has particularly beautiful frescoes.

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  10. Jami-Ul-Alfar Mosque

    The decorative 1909 Jami-Ul-Alfar Mosque has candy-striped red-and-white brickwork.

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  11. Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara

    Most of Colombo's Buddhist temples date from the late 19th-century Buddhist Revival, a period when Sri Lankan Buddhists resisted the flooding of the island by Christian missionaries. The most important Buddhist centre is the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara. Even if the thought of seeing yet another temple sends you reaching for the arrack, this one is worth the effort.

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  13. Lionel Wendt Centre

    The stylish Lionel Wendt Centre has contemporary art and craft exhibitions. It stages musical performances and has occasional sales of antiques and other items.

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  14. Mt Lavinia Beach

    The only Colombo beach where you'd consider swimming is in Mt Lavinia, a somewhat faded resort area 11km south of Fort - and even that's borderline, with a severe undertow at times and some foul waterways issuing into the ocean just to the north.

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  15. National Art Gallery

    The National Art Gallery stands next door to the Natural History Museum in Viharamahadevi Park. The permanent collection mostly consists of portraits, but there are also some temporary exhibitions by Sri Lankan artists.

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  16. National Museum

    Housed in a fine 1877-vintage building in Viharamahadevi Park, the museum displays a collection of ancient royal regalia, Sinhalese artwork (sculptures, carvings and so on), antique furniture and china, and ola (leaves of the talipot palm) manuscripts. There are fascinating 19th-century reproductions of English paintings of Sri Lanka, and an excellent collection of antique demon masks.

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  17. New Kathiresan Kovil

    Known as kovil , Hindu temples are numerous in Colombo. On Sea St, the New Kathiresan Kovil (along with the old Kathiresan Kovil) is dedicated to the war god Murugan (Skanda), and is the starting point for the annual Hindu Vel festival held in July/August, when the huge vel (trident) chariot is dragged to various kovils on Galle Rd in Bambalapitiya.

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  19. Old Kathiresan Kovil

    Known as kovil, Hindu temples are numerous in Colombo. On Sea St, the goldsmiths' street in Pettah, the Old Kathiresan Kovil and the New Kathiresan Kovil are dedicated to the war god Murugan (Skanda), are the starting point for the annual Hindu Vel festival held in July/August, when the huge vel (trident) chariot is dragged to various kovils on Galle Rd in Bambalapitiya.

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  20. Old Town Hall

    Colombo's white-domed Old Town Hall overlooks Viharamahadevi Park from the northeast.

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  21. Sapumal Foundation

    The Sapumal Foundation is located in what was once the home of artist Harry Pieris. Today this rambling tile-roofed bungalow is packed with some of the best examples of Sri Lankan art from the 1920s onwards.

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  22. Seema Malakaya

    The small but captivating Seema Malakaya on Beira Lake consists of two island pavilions, designed by Geoffrey Bawa in 1985 and run by Gangaramaya Temple. The pavilions - one filled with Thai bronze Buddhas, the other centred on a bodhi tree and four Brahmanist images - are especially striking when illuminated at night.

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  23. Sri Kailawasanathar Swami Devasthanam

    Reportedly the oldest Hindu temple in Colombo, the Sri Kailawasanathar Swami Devasthanam has shrines to Shiva and Ganesh.

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  25. Sri Muthumariamman Kovil

    Hindu temple.

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  26. Sri Ponnambalam Vanesar Kovil

    The Sri Ponnambalam Vanesar Kovil is a Hindu temple built of South Indian granite.

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  27. Sri Shiva Subramaniam Swami Kovil

    A huge hindu temple.

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  28. St Anthony's Church

    One of Colombo's most interesting shrines is St Anthony's Church. Outside it looks like a typical Portuguese Catholic church, but inside the atmosphere is distinctly subcontinental. The queues of devotees offering puja (prayers or offerings) to a dozen ornate statues behind glass cases recall a Hindu temple; a statue of St Anthony endowed with miraculous qualities is the centre of devotions.

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  29. St Lucia's Cathedral

    The enormous St Lucia's Cathedral lies in the Catholic heart of the Kotahena district. The biggest church in Sri Lanka, it can hold up to 5000 worshippers. The interior is rather plain but the immense domed mass of the church is quite impressive.

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