Location | Queen Victoria Dam, Sri Lanka |
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Designer | George Edward Wade |
Material |
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Height |
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Opening date | 1901 |
A statue of Queen Victoria was originally erected in front of the Passenger Jetty of Colombo Harbor and at the junction of York and Church Streets in 1897. The first monument to Queen Victoria in Ceylon, the marble statue was commissioned and unveiled in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The statue was commissioned to British portrait sculptor George Edward Wade. It was one of the only statues of Queen Victoria to be sculpted by him. [1]
The statue was at its original location until mid-1920s and then it was moved to Gordon Gardens adjacent to the Queen's House. The statue moved from Gordon Gardens to Victoria Park and then to the Colombo Museum site in 2006. The statue was given a facelift ahead of the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in 2013 and was reinstalled facing Green Path. [2]
The statue was removed and reinstalled at Queen Victoria Dam as part of the plan to make the surrounding area of the dam a tourist attraction. [3] [4]
If anything were to compensate a people for the loss of their national independence, it is to be governed by such a sovereign as Queen Victoria. Every one of us now and in the future may look upon her face and say that this has been the greatest and best Queen that we have ever known.
The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated in 1897 and many celebrations were held all over the colonies of the British Empire. The Ceylon Legislative Council, which met on June 22, 1897, passed a resolution stating that a statue of the Queen be erected on the island at the cost of the public revenue, and as a commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty's accession to the throne. [6] This resolution was proposed by the Governor of British Ceylon and seconded by P. Coomaraswamy, the Tamil representative and it was taken as carried unanimously.
It will be an effigy that at which the Colony will have reason to be proud
— The Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph West Ridgeway, Governor of Ceylon, addressing the Legislative Council, 1901
It took a few years to complete the statue. The state of the statue was once questioned at the Legislative Council in October 1901. That revealed the progress of the work and the acting Colonial Secretary, who was in London a few months ago, said that he inspected the model. The marble block, which was imported to London from Italy, was on its way to London at that point. The artist was the famous London-based sculptor, George Edward Wade.
The statue finally arrived in Colombo in mid-1902, after the death of the Queen. It was ceremonially unveiled on June 25 in 1902 by Lieutenant Governor Everard F. im Thurn. [7] A large number of state and military officials, religious sector representatives, MC members, and local elites participated.
A news report of the day provided a good description of the statue:
"it was made out of Carrara marble, imported from Italy. This marble is a type of white or blue-grey marble used for sculpture and building decoration from the ancient times. The statue of the queen was in coronation robes. It was mounted on a square pedestal of grey granite with an octagonal base. The total height was 21 feet and the weight was 13 tons."
Don Stephen Senanayake was a Ceylonese statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of Ceylon having emerged as the leader of the Sri Lankan independence movement that led to the establishment of self-rule in Ceylon. He is considered as the "Father of the Nation".
Sir Everard Ferdinand im Thurn was an author, explorer, botanist, photographer and British colonial administrator. He was Governor of Fiji in the years 1904–1910.
The governor of Ceylon was the representative in Ceylon of the British Crown from 1795 to 1948. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in Ceylon. The governor was the head of the British colonial administration in Ceylon, reporting to the Colonial Office.
Mudaliyar was a Ceylonese colonial title during Portuguese and British rule of the island. Stemming from the native headman system, the title was usually hereditary, made to wealthy influential families loyal to the British Crown.
Viharamahadevi Park is a public park located in Cinnamon Gardens, in Colombo, situated in front of the colonial-era Town Hall in Sri Lanka. It was built by the British colonial administration and is the oldest and largest park of Colombo. The park was originally named "Victoria Park" after Queen Victoria but was renamed after Queen Viharamahadevi, the mother of King Dutugamunu on July 18, 1958.
Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, was a Ceylon lawyer and politician who served as Solicitor-General of Ceylon.
Tamil Union Cricket & Athletic Club is a first-class cricket team based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They play their home games at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium.
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.
President's House is the official residence and workplace of the President of Sri Lanka, located at Janadhipathi Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Since 1804 it had been the residence of British Governors and Governors-General and was known as the "King's House" or the "Queen's House" until Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972.
Sir Muthu Coomaraswamy was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, writer and member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon.
The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of representative government in the island. The 1931 Donoughmore Constitution replaced the Legislative Council with the State Council of 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.
The Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka (RASSL) is based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is one of the oldest learned societies in Sri Lanka with a history of over 160 years. It was established on 7 February 1845, paralleling the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland to further oriental research as the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. In 1977 it was renamed the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka.
The Old Parliament Building, is the building that houses the Presidential Secretariat of Sri Lanka. Situated in the Colombo fort area facing the sea, it is in close proximity to the President's House, Colombo and adjacent to the General Treasury Building. The building housed the island's legislature for 53 years until the new parliamentary complex was opened at Sri Jayawardenepura in 1983.
The Ponnambalam–Coomaraswamy family is a Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu family that was prominent in politics in former British Ceylon and later Sri Lanka from the colonial era to 1972. Many members received imperial honours such as knighthood by the British Crown.
Justice Sir Harry Dias Bandaranaike was a Ceylonese barrister and judge. He was the first Sinhalese and native acting Chief Justice and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. He was an Unofficial Member of Legislative Council of Ceylon.
Edmund Rowland Jayathilake Gooneratne, Gate Mudaliyar, JP, was a Ceylonese British colonial-era administrator and a literary figure. He was also a scholar, intellectual, social worker, planter and a Buddhist revivalist. A resident of Atapattu Walawwa in Galle, E. R. Gooneratne served as the Atapattu Mudaliyar of Galle and as the Mudaliyar of the Governor’s Gate Later he was appointed as the acting Maha Mudaliyar. E. R. Gooneratne was the most influential native official of Southern Ceylon during the British colonial rule in the country.
Ponnambalam Coomaraswamy was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer and member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon.
Simon Casie Chetty was a Ceylonese civil servant, author and member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon.
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