The National Museum of Kandy in

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

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 ...

is located next to the

Temple of the Tooth The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic or Sri Dalada Maligawa, ( si, ශ්‍රී දළදා මාළිගාව) is a Buddhist temple in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which ho ...

in part of the former

Royal Palace of Kandy The Royal Palace of Kandy (known as ''Mahawàsala''), located to the north of the Temple of the Tooth (Daladà Màligàwa) in Kandy, was the royal residence of the Sri Lankan monarchy of the Kingdom of Kandy in Sri Lanka. The last king to resid ...

. The primary exhibits are housed in the ''Palle Vahala'' building, which was the former home of the King's

harem Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...

. A secondary exhibition is located in the main palace building. The museum is maintained by the Department of National Museums. The ''Palle Vahala'' (lower palace) or ''Meda Vahala'' (middle palace) was constructed during the Sri Vickrama Rajasingha era and was used as the quarters of the queens of

King of Kandy The Kandyan monarchs ruled the Kingdom of Kandy on the island of Sri Lanka from 1469 to 1815. The Kingdom was first established by Senasammata Vikramabahu, a royal from the Kingdom of Kotte, when he led the secession of the Kande uda pas rata (� ...

. This building has been built according to the architectural features of Kandy period. It was used as a depository for historical artifacts made by the Kandy Art Association which was established in 1882 and artisans of

Matale Matale ( Sinhala: මාතලේ, ta, மாத்தளை, translit=Māttaḷai) is the administrative capital city of the Matale District. It is the most urbanised and populated centre in the district. Matale is also the second largest muni ...

. The museum was opened to the public in 1942. The museum has over 5,000 artifacts on display consist of weapons, jewelry, tools and other artifacts from the Kandian era (17-19th Century) and post

British Colonial The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

era, including a copy of the 1815 agreement that handed over the Kandyan provinces to the British. In the grounds of the museum is a statue of

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

Henry Ward a former

Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of Captain-majors of Portuguese ...

(1855–1860), which was originally located in front of the Queen's Hotel.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:National Museum Of Kandy Cultural buildings in Kandy Museums in Kandy District National museums of Sri Lanka History museums in Sri Lanka

See also

References

External links