Independence Memorial Hall

A hall in Cinnamon Gardens, in the square that used to be Torrington. At its head stands D. S. Senanayake, the first prime minister. It houses the Independence Memorial Museum, and most years the national day is marked here.

It was built on the exact spot. On 4 February 1948, at a podium on this ground, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, opened the first parliament and full governing responsibility passed to an elected Ceylonese legislature. For years afterwards the building served as the ceremonial assembly hall for the Senate and the House of Representatives, until parliament moved out to its new complex.

They put the monument where the thing happened rather than somewhere more convenient, which is rarer than it sounds.