Colombo's oldest and largest public park, a green oasis of flowering trees and lawns opposite the Town Hall.

Overview

Viharamahadevi Park is a leafy retreat in the middle of the city, filled with mature rain trees, flowering blooms, a large golden Buddha statue and open lawns. A favourite with families, joggers and courting couples, it offers a shady counterpoint to the surrounding traffic, with the white colonial-era Town Hall rising at its edge.

History

Laid out during the British colonial period and originally named Victoria Park after Queen Victoria, it was renamed in the 1950s after Viharamahadevi, the revered queen mother of the ancient warrior king Dutugemunu.