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Viharamahadevi Park ( si, විහාරමහාදේවී උද්‍යානය; formerly Victoria Park, si, වික්ටෝරියා පාක්) is a public park 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 Gar ...
,
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 ...
, situated in front of the colonial-era Town Hall in Sri Lanka. It was built by the British colonial administration and is the oldest and largest park of Colombo. The park was originally named "Victoria Park" after
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
but was renamed after Queen Viharamahadevi, the mother of King Dutugamunu on July 18, 1958. 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 ...
it was occupied by the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
with Australian 17th Brigade based at Victoria Park. After the war the park was restored and open to the public in 1951. There used to be a cricket ground in the park, which was used for
first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...
between 1927 and 1995. Ceylon played against a touring English team there in 1927 and against an Australian team in 1935. The park features include a huge
Buddha statue Much Buddhist art uses depictions of the historical Buddha, Gautama Buddha, which are known as Buddharūpa (literally, "Form of the Awakened One") in Sanskrit and Pali. These may be statues or other images such as paintings. The main figure i ...
which replaced the statue of Queen Victoria which originally stood there, and a series of water fountains. It also includes a mini zoo, a children's play area and a
BAC Jet Provost The BAC Jet Provost is a British jet trainer aircraft that was in use with the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1955 to 1993. It was originally developed by Hunting Percival from the earlier piston engine-powered Percival Provost basic trainer, a ...
. There are Muscovy ducks in the park. They swim in the artificial lake and walk on the grass beside it. Viharamahadevi Park is the only large-scale public park in Colombo, and is maintained by the
Colombo Municipal Council The Colombo Municipal Council is the municipal governing body of Colombo, the largest city and financial centre in Sri Lanka. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of Colombo, current elect is Rosy Senanayake, and 119 elected 119 muni ...
. Located at its western end is the
Cenotaph War Memorial, Colombo The Cenotaph War Memorial in Viharamahadevi Park, Colombo, Sri Lanka is a war memorial dedicated to the military personnel from Ceylon killed in action during the two world wars. It was designed by the architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens. It c ...
and the
Colombo Public Library Colombo Public Library is the largest public library in Sri Lanka, located in Colombo 07, Sri Lanka. History The first public library in the country was the 'United Service Library', which was established in 1813. It was exclusively used by civ ...
. The ''Vihara Maha Devi Park Open Air Stadium'' is a venue for concerts and public events.


See also

* Victoria Park, Nuwara Eliya * Jubilee Post, Nugegoda


References


Maps


Map location of Viharamahadevi Park
Urban public parks Parks in Colombo Cricket grounds in Colombo {{Colombo, state=collapsed