Isipathanaramaya Buddhist Temple — Attraction in Colombo

Isipathanaramaya located in Havelock Town (Colombo 05) is one such Buddhist Temple that’s one of the oldest within the city. It was built in 1916, by a wealthy merchant named Duenuge Disan Pedris in the memory of his late son Captain Henry Pedris, who had been executed by the British on false allegations of incitement of the racial riots in 1915.

As the story goes, that was the year of the Sinhala-Muslim riots that started in Kandy because of reports of a group of Muslims throwing stones at a Buddhist event. It spread across the island like wildfire, and British governor came to the verge of losing control of the population. He declared martial law, and ordered a death-without-trial order on any person deemed a rioter. Unfortunately the illustrious and well-known Captain Henry, had been the object of envy for many locals. One of them, Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, who was the main native translator decided to use this opportunity to get rid of this thorn that threatened his power. He created false charges that Henry was involved in the riots and the Captain was branded traitor and executed without trial. His body was buried in dishonor, much to the distress of his family. It was only several years later that the truth came out and the late Captain was cleared of...

A quiet temple where one can worship freely. Spread over a beautiful area, the temple also houses a devalaya. A Sunday school is also run here. The Dhamma School is staffed by disciplined students and well-informed teachers. Every Poya day, even the Poya day rituals are performed well. This is the only non-busy shrine...

Usually it's a little bit crowded on a poya day, but most of the time it's a very calm and a quiet place. A nice place for meditation. This place has parking space for around 20 vehicles. Recommended to visit...