Showing 1-17 of 17 results
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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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Grand Mosque
The Grand Mosque is the most important of Colombo's many mosques.
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Isipathanaramaya Temple
The Isipathanaramaya Temple has particularly beautiful frescoes.
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Jami-Ul-Alfar Mosque
The decorative 1909 Jami-Ul-Alfar Mosque has candy-striped red-and-white brickwork.
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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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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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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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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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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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Sri Ponnambalam Vanesar Kovil
The Sri Ponnambalam Vanesar Kovil is a Hindu temple built of South Indian granite.
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Sri Shiva Subramaniam Swami Kovil
A huge hindu temple.
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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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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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St Peter's Church
Converted from the Dutch governor's banquet hall, St Peter's was first used as a church in 1804 and has been one ever since.
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Vajiraramaya Temple
The Vajiraramaya Temple has been a centre of Buddhist learning since 1901. From here monks have taken the Buddha's message to Western countries, and on Sundays the complex is thronged with thousands of children taking Buddhism school.
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Wolvendaal Church
The 1749 Wolvendaal Church is the most important Dutch building in Sri Lanka. When the church was founded, this now-crowded inner-city district was a wilderness beyond the city walls. The Europeans mistook the packs of roaming jackals for wolves, and the area became known as Wolf's Dale, or Wolvendaal in Dutch. The church is in the form of a Greek cross, with walls 1.5m thick, but the real treasure is its Dutch furniture.
Showing 1-17 of 17 results
