Piliyandala Clock Tower

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Piliyandala Clock Tower
Piliyandala Clock Tower.jpg
General information
Type Clock tower
Location Piliyandala, Sri Lanka
Construction started 11 September 1952
Completed 30 April 1953
Height 24m

The Piliyandala Clock Tower is located in the Piliyandala, Sri Lanka. The clock tower is a popular landmark of the Piliyandala. According to local residents and documentation, this clock tower is one of the tallest on the island rising to a height of 23.8 m (78 ft) with a 4.9 m (16 ft) girth. The clock tower in existence for more than sixty years, is considered to be of archaeological value, thus providing the Piliyandala town with a historical background. [1]

Piliyandala suburb in Colombo District, Western Province, Sri Lanka

Piliyandala (Sinhala:පිළියන්දල) is a suburb of the city of Colombo in Sri Lanka. which is situated approximately 18 kilometres (11 mi) south of Colombo. It is one of the relatively more populated suburbs located in the Colombo District of the Western Province, Sri Lanka and it is surrounded by the suburbs of Moratuwa, Kesbawa, Maharagama, Pannipitiya, Bandaragama and Kahathuduwa. Piliyandala has a thriving market in the town centre and the Kesbewa Urban Council is also located in Piliyandala.

Sri Lanka Island country in South Asia

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean to the southwest of the Bay of Bengal and to the southeast of the Arabian Sea. The island is geographically separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. The legislative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the commercial capital and largest city, Colombo.

Contents

History

Late D. Simon Samarakoon erected this clock tower in memory of his parents Cornelis Wijewickrema Samarakoon and his wife. The foundation stone for the erection of the clock tower was laid by the then Minister of Local Government C.W.W. Kannangara on 11 September 1952. The construction was completed in seven months and the clock tower was commissioned on 30 April 1953, and has been running ever since. [2]

Features

The three-tiered clock tower has been built with brick and cement and has a concrete layer on the topmost floor complete with an iron staircase within to reach it. At the top of the iron staircase, there is a box (1.52m x 1.2m) which houses three operating machines of the clock. These three winding-mechanisms simultaneously operate with a key' once a week to power the clock. Each of the four faces of the clock is over 1.52 m (5 ft 0 in) wide.

The minute hand is two-and-half feet long while the hour-hand is 0.61 m (2 ft 0 in) in length. A 0.3 m (1 ft 0 in) broad round butte' hangs from a five-foot long supporting bar. The clock tower is also equipped with three large chimes, each 0.92 m (3 ft 0 in) tall and 0.61 m (2 ft 0 in) broad to announce the hour. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 Wickramage, Florance. "Homage to 50 years old clock tower". Daily News. The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  2. Sri Lanka Telecom. "Sri Lanka Telecom Pura Varuna - Piliyandala Clock Tower". Youtube. Sri Lanka Telecom PLC. Retrieved 21 June 2015.

Coordinates: 6°48′4″N79°55′22″E / 6.80111°N 79.92278°E / 6.80111; 79.92278

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.