The Lighthouse is a large

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and Roof window, windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide ve ...

(as mansions are referred to locally) in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. At present it is owned by the Sri Lankan Government and houses the

Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies Lakshmana (, ), also known as Laxmana, Lakhan, Saumitra, and Ramanuja, is the younger brother of Rama in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is considered as an incarnation of Shesha, the lord of serpents. Lakshmana was married to Urmila, and is ...

.THE INSTITUTE
/ref> Located in the

Cinnamon Gardens Cinnamon Gardens ( ''Kurundu Vaththa'', ) is an affluent neighbourhood in Colombo, Sri Lanka located 3 kilometers south-east of Colombo's centre. Cinnamon Gardens is named for the former cinnamon plantation in this area. In the year 1789, there w ...

a suburb of Colombo, it was built by D. D. Pedris, contemporaneity style with a mixture of early twentieth century Ceylon architecture and British colonial architecture. It was acquired by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

in 1933 and was home to the Imperial Lighthouse Service of Ceylon and

Minicoy Minicoy, locally known as Maliku (), is an island in Lakshadweep, India. Along with Viringili, it is on Maliku atoll, the southernmost atoll of Lakshadweep archipelago. Administratively, it is a census town in the Indian States and territories ...

until 1976, when it along with all of the lighthouses run by the Imperial Lighthouse Service was transferred to the

Sri Lanka Navy The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) (; ) is the navy, naval arm of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is classed as the country's most vital defence force due to its island geography. It is responsible for the maritime defence of the Sri Lankan nation and its ...

. Since the Navy came under the overview of the

Ministry of External Affairs and Defence The Ministry of External Affairs and Defence was a cabinet ministry of the Government of Ceylon that conducted and managed all of Ceylon's relations with other countries and its military matters from 1947 to 1977. History The ministry was for ...

, when the ministry was split in 1977 the house was transferred to the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. Since then it has been used for many functions, including serving as the official residence of then Lt Col

Ranjan Wijeratne General Ranjan Wijeratne (4 April 1931 – 2 March 1991) was a Sri Lankan planter and politician. He served in the Premadasa cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs and then Minister of Plantation Industries, while holding the office of Stat ...

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

until his assassination. Since 2006 it has been used for the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lighthouse, Colombo Government buildings in Colombo Houses in Colombo Former official residences in Sri Lanka British colonial architecture in Sri Lanka Manor houses in Sri Lanka