Saifee Villa (previously known as Lakshmigiri) is a mansion at 102, Thurstan 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 m ...

03, Sri Lanka, located between Thunmulla Junction and

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.

History and Alfred Joseph Richard de Soysa

Lakshmigiri (built in 1910) was the stately home of Hon. A. J. R. de Soysa, Member of the

Legislative Council of Ceylon The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of repr ...

, planter and musicianThe day the Queen came to Queen's Road
recalls Stephen Prins Sunday Times Plus. Retrieved 10 December 2014 He was the second son of Sir

Charles Henry de Soysa Charles Henry de Soysa Dharmagunawardana Vipula Jayasuriya Karunaratna Disanayaka popularly known as Charles Henry de Soysa, Justice of the peace#Sri Lanka, JP (3 March 1836 – 29 September 1890) was a Demographics of Sri Lanka, Ceylonese entrepr ...

. Born in 1869 at Brodie House (later gifted to

Ceylon University College Ceylon University College was a public university college in Ceylon. Established in 1921, it was Ceylon's first attempt at university education. The college didn't award degrees under its own name but prepared students to sit the University of Lo ...

) he was educated at S. Thomas' College, Prince of Wales' College and

Royal College A royal college in some Commonwealth countries is technically a college which has received royal patronage and permission to use the prefix ''royal''. Permission is usually granted through a royal charter. The charter normally confers a constitut ...

. He completed his education at Highbury House School St Leonards-on-Sea, where he excelled as a sprinter and pursued a degree in music at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

.Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon, by Arnold Wright, p.543 (Lloyd's Greater Britain Publishing Company) The splendour of an Italian villa
by Shabna Cader (

Ceylon Today ''Ceylon Today'' is an English language Sri Lankan daily newspaper published by Ceylon Newspapers (Private) Limited. It was founded in 2011 and is published from Colombo. Its sister newspaper is the ''Mawbima''. Ceylon Newspapers (Private) Limited ...

Features)A Tribute to my Father : DR. KINGSLEY DE SILVA DEVA ADITYA on his 100th BIRTH ANNIVERSARY
By Niranjan de Silva Deva Aditya (MEP)

The Island (Sri Lanka) ''The Island'' is a daily English-language newspaper in Sri Lanka. It is published by Upali Newspapers. A sister newspaper of ''Divaina'', ''The Island'' was established in 1981. Its Sunday edition, ''Sunday Island'', commenced publishing in 19 ...

Retrieved 15 December 2014 In 1911 he became the second member to be appointed to the Low Country Sinhalese seat of the

. The Alfred House Estate of the De Soysa family covered a large area of about 125 acres stretching from what is now Duplication road to

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 Gar ...

; and Thunmulla Junction to Charles Circus. It is said that Sir Charles de Soysa owned a total of 48 houses in the city of Colombo. Over the years, the 125-acre Alfred House Estate underwent several subdivisions, some major changes being precipitated by the master plan for Colombo which foresaw many new roads across the estate. The earlier subdivisions were however made by the De Soysa family itself, which constructed several stately mansions within the property and gifted the land in front of Lakshmigiri to Royal College, Colombo, now the University grounds (playing fields).Architecture and Nationalism in Sri Lanka: The Trouser Under the Cloth By Anoma Pieris, p.65-81 & 83 (Routledge) The house is an example of the beautiful colonial architecture of the time. In the book ''India House, Colombo'' by Sarvodaya Vishvalekha, Lakshmigiri is described as an extravagant mix of Baroque and

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

architecture reminiscent of a retreat of Queen Victoria with gates inspired by those of Buckingham Palace.Now a showcase of fabulous mansions
by Padma Edirisinghe, Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka), Retrieved 10 December 2014 The Gates of Lakshmigiri are identical to the gates of the

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display a ...

, Cairo. It said that designer of the

gates was inspired by the design of the Gates of Lakshmigiri. A. J. R. de Soysa had a keen interest in horse racing. It is said that he built the western and eastern towers of Lakshimigiri, to be able to observe the races taking part at the Colombo Racecourse Airstrip, situated just down the road. In 1893 he built the Chevaliar Jusey de Silva ward at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children and in 1913 inaugurated the Ceylon School for the Deaf and Blind, Ratmalana. The De Soysa Trophy (formerly for

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles ...

) is awarded for the best cadet platoon from a girls' school by the

National Cadet Corps (Sri Lanka) The National Cadet Corps (NCC) is a youth organisation in Sri Lanka, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence, which operates in schools, and normally includes Army, Navy and Air Force sections. The corp is open for secondary school students on volun ...

in his memory.

Ownership from the Soysa Family to the Adamjee Lukmanjee Family

According to 'Colombo Heritage' as time ran on De Soysa ran into financial difficulties and various properties were sold off, the house was mortgaged, and later foreclosed. It was then bought in and around 1923 by the Dawoodi Bohra "Adamjee Lukmanjee" family, and has remained in their ownership to date under the name "Saifee Villa". During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

was temporarily shifted to the Colombo Racecourse Airstrip. Lakshmigiri is located adjoining the airstrip, therefore it was transformed into one of the RAF headquarters in

. Unfortunately, it was during this time that many ornaments, antiques, chandeliers & valuable furniture was ransacked by these British troops prior to their exodus from Sri Lanka. In 1972 under the

Land Reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

act, a large portion of the land surrounding Lakshmigiri was seized, and the tenants were given ownership rights. What remains today is a portion of the land that once was.

Transformation from "Lakshmigiri" to Saifee Villa

The Adamjee Lukmanjee Family are members of the Muslim

Dawoodi Bohra The Dawoodi Bohras are a religious denomination within the Ismā'īlī branch of Shia Islam. Their largest numbers reside in India, Pakistan, Yemen, East Africa, and the Middle East, with a growing presence across Europe, North America, South ...

community. They were honoured to house the Head of the Community; Syenda

Taher Saifuddin Taher Saifuddin (4 August 1888 – 12 November 1965), also known as Tahir Sayf al-Din, was the 51st and longest serving Da'i al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohras. Saifuddin adapted the modernisation in Western and European ideas, and establishe ...

on all of his five visits to Sri Lanka. Lakshmigiri housed the Syedna and his royal family. It was considered a center for the community in Sri Lanka, as it was the venue for numerous religious and cultural gatherings. On 19 June 1979, after the death of Syenda Taher Saifuddin, his heir Syedna

Mohammed Burhanuddin Mohammed Burhanuddin (6 March 1915 – 17 January 2014) was the 52nd Dā'ī al-Mutlaq of Dawoodi Bohras. He led the community for 49 years in a period of social, economic, and educational prosperity; strengthened and re-institutionalized the fu ...

, in the memory of his fathers' visits, changed the name from "Lakshmigiri" to "Saifee Villa" (where the word "Saifee" is derived from the name Saifuddin). The crown of the gates of Lakshmigiri adorns an "S" that once stood for "Soysa" family, after the name-change to "Saifee Villa", the "S" is still appropriate. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin stayed once at Saifee Villa. The Villa hosts numerous functions, and religious gatherings. During the era of Syenda Taher Saifuddin, as a child,

Mufaddal Saifuddin Mufaddal Saifuddin () is the spiritual leader and 53rd Da'i al-Mutlaq of one million Dawoodi Bohras, a subgroup of the Tayyibi, Mustaali, Ismaili Shia branch of Islam. He is the second son of the 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq, Mohammed Burhanuddin, w ...

, began the recitation of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

in Saifee Villa. In the year 2007 and 2008, Syedna

held the 9 sermons of Ashara Mubaraka in Colombo, Sri Lanka. On both occasions, Saifee Villa was chosen as the venue for his arrival reception. Dignitaries such as Mr A. H. M. Fowzie were present at this event. In 2007, in the first sermon of Ashara Mubaraka, he stated that Saifee Villa is a "Historical House" (''tareekhi makaan''). Mufaddal Saifuddin arrived in Sri Lanka from

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

on Monday 17 September 2012 and his arrival reception was held in Saifee Villa at 10pm. A large gathering of

community of Colombo was present at this function. On Saturday 9 June 2013 Mufaddal Saifuddin arrived in Sri Lanka from

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. His arrival reception was held at Saifee Villa where a crowd of about 3,000 people were present. He also solemnized 7 wedding Nikahs on that day. Since then, he has visited at least once on each of his 15 visits to Sri Lanka.

In popular culture

The house was featured in the 1981 film Kaliyugaya by

Lester James Peries Sri Lankabhimanya Lester James Peries ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකාභිමාන්‍ය ලෙස්ටර් ජේම්ස් පීරිස්; 5 April 1919 – 29 April 2018) was a Sri Lankan film director, screenwriter, a ...

. The mansion is also described in the books; ''Architecture and Nationalism in Sri Lanka: The Trouser Under the Cloth'' by Anoma Pieris and ''India House Colombo'' by Sarvodaya Vishvalekha.

References

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External links