Kumaratunga Munidasa Mawatha ( Sinhala:කුමාරතුංග මුනිදාස මාවත) (formally ''Thurstan Road'') is a road in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Located in

Cinnamon Gardens Cinnamon Gardens ( si, කුරුඳු වත්ත ''Kurundu Vaththa'', ta, கறுவாத் தோட்டம்) is an affluent neighbourhood in Colombo, Sri Lanka located 3 kilometers south-east from Colombo's centre. Cinnamon Gard ...

, it was named after Rev. J. Thurstan, a missionary from the

Society for the Propagation of the Gospel United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG) is a United Kingdom-based charitable organization (registered charity no. 234518). It was first incorporated under Royal Charter in 1701 as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Part ...

. In the 1970s, it was renamed after the Sri Lankan poet

Kumaratunga Munidasa Kumaratunga Munidasa ( Sinhala: කුමාරතුංග මුනිදාස; 25 July 1887 – 2 March 1944) was a pioneer Sri Lankan ( Sinhalese) linguist, grammarian, commentator, and writer. He founded the Hela Havula movement, wh ...

. It separates

College House, Colombo College House is the administrative center of the University of Colombo, situated in the Cinnamon Gardens suburb of Colombo, it is a national heritage site.

from the main campus and sports grounds of the

University of Colombo (Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate) , mottoeng = ''Wisdom Enlightens'' , established = , endowment = Sri Lankan rupee, LKR 1.461 1,000,000,000 (number), billion

and it forms the western border of

Royal College Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...

and its junior cricket grounds. The Senior Government School located on the road, was named after the road as

Thurstan College Thurstan College ( si, තර්ස්ටන් විද්‍යාලය) is a National school (Sri Lanka), national school for boys in Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka, Western Province, Sri Lanka, providing primary and secondary education ...

. Located on Kumaratunga Munidasa Mawatha are India House, Colombo,

Saifee Villa Saifee Villa (previously known as Lakshmigiri) is a mansion at 102, Thurstan Road in Colombo 03, Sri Lanka, located between Thunmulla Junction and College House, Colombo. History and Alfred Joseph Richard de Soysa Lakshmigiri (built in 1910) wa ...

, the

Geoffrey Bawa Deshamanya Geoffrey Manning Bawa, FRIBA (23 July 1919 – 27 May 2003) was a Sri Lankan architect. He was among the most influential Asian architects of his generation. Early life Geoffrey Bawa was born in Colombo on 23 July 1919, the younges ...

-designed house belonging to

Upali Wijewardene Philip Upali Wijewardene (17 February 1938 – 13 February 1983: si, උපාලි විජේවර්ධන) was a Sri Lankan business magnate. Considered one of the best-known entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka, he had accumulated a net worth of ...

(since been demolished) and the Flower Drum Chinese Restaurant. A roundabout at the junction between Kumaratunga Munidasa Mawatha, Flower road and Rajakeeya Mawatha was removed after Kumaratunga Munidasa Mawatha was made a one way road in 2006. Located at this junction is the Ministry for Power and Energy. Since the late 1980s, this building and its grounds housed the Joint Operations Command (JOC) of the

Sri Lankan Armed Forces The Sri Lanka Armed Forces is the overall unified military of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka encompassing the Sri Lanka Army, the Sri Lanka Navy, and the Sri Lanka Air Force; they are governed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Th ...

. In 1991, the

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

detonated a van filled with explosives in a

suicide bombing A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...

targeting the JOC.My journey with Anton, Adele Balasingham and Yogi in 1991
/ref>

References

{{reflist Streets in Colombo Royal College, Colombo

See also

References