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, 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
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
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 -designed house belonging to
Upali Wijewardene (since been demolished) and the Flower Drum Chinese Restaurant.
A roundabout at the junction between Kumaratunga Munidasa Mawatha, Flower road and
Rajakeeya Mawatha Rajakeeya Mawatha (Sinhalese: රාජකීය මාවත) (English: ''Royal Avenue'' formerly ''Race Course Avenue'') is a street in Colombo, Sri Lanka, named after Royal College Colombo, whose grounds border it on the southern side. Located in ...
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>
See also
* ''''
References
{{reflist
Streets in Colombo
Royal College, Colombo