One of Asia's grandest botanical gardens, spread over 60 hectares in a loop of the Mahaweli River.

Overview

The Peradeniya gardens hold more than 4,000 species, including a celebrated orchid house, a towering avenue of royal palms, a giant Javan fig with a canopy spanning 1,600 square metres, and trees planted by visiting royals and dignitaries. A vast colony of fruit bats roosts in the riverside trees.

History

Formal gardens were established here in 1821, on land that had been a royal garden of the Kandyan kings. During the Second World War the site served as the South-East Asia Command headquarters of Lord Mountbatten.