Obeyesekere Walauwa, also known as Maligawa, (Sinhalese: Palace) is a large bungalow (as mansions are erroneously referred to locally) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. A stately home in the tropical Neoclassical style, it was used as a town house by the Obeyesekere family. At the time of its construction, it was situated on a marsh at the edge of Cinnamon Gardens, a suburb of Colombo.
The house was built in the 1890s and contains a 5-acre garden and extravagant interior fittings. It was built by the wealthy Obeyesekere family and headed by Sir James Peter Obeyesekere II, Kt, MA who was the First Mudaliyar, one of the highest posts available for a Ceylonese in the British Colonial Administration of Ceylon at the time.
In 1939, on request of the Royal College Colombo, Sir James granted the use of the house with its furniture for the school to use as a hostel after the school had attempted to reestablish one for students for several years. However, in December 1941 with the outbreak of World War II in the far east, the house and the Royal College premises were taken over by the British Army. The school was turned into a military hospital and the house soon became the officer's mess for the Royal Air Force, who had turned the Colombo Race Course into a temporary airfield.
Several years after the war, the house was returned to the Obeyesekere family, and it became the home of DeshamanyaJ.P. Obeyesekere III, former senator and minister of health & finance along with his wife Siva Obeyesekere, a former minister of health.
External links
Related Research Articles
Addington Palace is an 18th-century mansion in Addington located within the London Borough of Croydon. It was built close to the site of an earlier manor house belonging to the Leigh family. It is particularly known for having been, between 1807 and 1897, the summer residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury. Since the 1930s most of the grounds have been occupied by Addington Palace Golf Club. Between 1953 and 1996 the mansion was occupied by the Royal School of Church Music. It was later used as a wedding and events venue.
Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Square. The street is recognised as the centre of the Government of the United Kingdom and is lined with numerous departments and ministries, including the Ministry of Defence, Horse Guards and the Cabinet Office. Consequently, the name "Whitehall" is used as a metonym for the British civil service and government, and as the geographic name for the surrounding area.
Kandy is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city is situated in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is both an administrative and religious city and the capital of the Central Province. Kandy is the home of the Temple of the Tooth Relic, one of the most sacred places of worship in the Buddhist world. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. Historically the local Buddhist rulers resisted Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonial expansion and occupation.
Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth, England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne.
Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, commonly known as Kotte, is the legislative capital of Sri Lanka. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is located adjacent to the urban area of Sri Lanka's de facto economic, executive, and judicial capital, Colombo.
Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, also known as "The Silver Bell of Asia", was a Ceylonese statesman who served as the fourth Prime Minister of the Dominion of Ceylon, serving from 1956 until his assassination. The founder of the left-wing and Sinhalese nationalist Sri Lanka Freedom Party, his tenure saw the country's first left-wing reforms.
After the outbreak of the Second World War, in the British Crown Colony of Ceylon, the government of Sir Don Baron Jayatilaka assured the British King and his government of its continued support.
General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala was a Sri Lankan statesman, who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon from 1953 to 1956.
Sir Solomon Dias Abeywickrema Jayatilleke Senewiratna Rajakumaruna Kadukeralu Bandaranaike, was a Ceylonese colonial-era headmen. He was appointed as Head Mudaliyar and the aide-de-camp to the British Governor of Ceylon, therefore he was one of the most powerful personalities in British colonial Ceylon.
Sir Don Baron Jayatilaka, KBE known as D.B. Jayatilaka was a Sri Lankan Sinhalese educationalist, statesmen and diplomat. He was Vice-President of the Legislative Council of Ceylon; the Minister for Home Affairs and Leader of the House of the State Council of Ceylon; and Representative of Government of Ceylon in New Delhi. Sir D. B. Jayatilaka is also considered as a flag bearer of Buddhist education in Sri Lanka.
Deshamanya James Peter Obeyesekere III was a Sri Lankan politician and aviator. A Senator, he was also a Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and Finance.
Donald Obeyesekere, MBE (1888–1964) was a prominent colonial era legislator from Ceylon. He was a member of the State Council of Ceylon, the Legislative Council of Ceylon and was the President of the National Olympic Committee of Ceylon.
Rajakeeya Mawatha is a street in Colombo, Sri Lanka, named after Royal College Colombo, whose grounds border it on the southern side. Located in the prominent residential area of Cinnamon Gardens in Colombo 7, it is home to many notable residents and old mansions.
Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in January 1836, as part of the implementation of the recommendations of the Colebrooke Cameron Commission (1833), and was the first government-run secondary school for boys in the island.
Glendale Bungalow was a country house near Bandarawela, Sri Lanka. It is now part of the Bandarawela Central College.
The Old Court House is a Grade II* listed house located off Hampton Court Green in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames; its origins date back to 1536. The architect Sir Christopher Wren, who lived there from 1708 to 1723, was given a 50-year lease on the property by Queen Anne in lieu of overdue payments for his work on St Paul's Cathedral. The lease passed from Wren's son to his grandson. It was purchased from the Crown Estate in 1984.
Sir James Peter Obeyesekere II, Maha Mudaliyar, JP (1879–1968) was a Ceylonese colonial-era headmen. He was the last Head Mudaliyar and served as aide-de-camp to the British Governor of Ceylon and Governor General of Ceylon.
Sir Paul Edward Pieris Deraniyagala Samarasinha Sriwardhana, was a Ceylonese civil servant and historian. He served as Ceylon's Trade Commissioner and a District Judge and held multiple appointments as president of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka. Although his academic and early career was in the legal field, he is best known for being one of the country's foremost experts on the history of European occupation of Sri Lanka.
The Maha Mudaliyar was a colonial title and office in Ceylon. Head Mudaliyar functioned as the head of the low country native headmen and native aide-de-camp to the Governor of Ceylon.
Deshamanya Sivagami Verina "Siva" Obeyesekere was the Cabinet Minister of Health (1976-1977) and a Member of Parliament from Mirigama. She is known as the founder of the Laksala and Lakpahana.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
