
BUILDINGS
Independence Memorial Hall
නිදහස් අනුස්මරණ ශාලාව
WESTERN PROVINCE
COLOMBO DISTRICT
6°54'15.1"N 79°52'3.2"E
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Built to remember the fourth of February 1948, in the shape of a Kandyan audience hall.
STAND INSIDE IT — 360°
THE PLACE
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.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS
THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S NOTES
- Viran de Silva
UNIQUE SRI LANKA
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SOURCES
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RECORD
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CONTACT
Photographs © Viran de Silva
info@virandesilva.com
uniquesrilanka.com

