National Museum

Built in monumental Italian architectural style in 1877 and founded by Sir William Henry Gregory, the British Governor of Ceylon, the Colombo National Museum was initiated with just 800 exhibits but today the majestic museum proudly hosts over 100,000 exhibits and is the most important library of the county. The building comprises of two floors with numerous viewing galleries and a multitude of artifacts, sculptures and armaments giving an insight into the glorious history of Sri Lanka.
Set in a wonderful location adjoining the Nelum Pokuna Theatre in the high class area of Colombo 7, the white building is skirted with beautiful manicured lawns dotted with large banyan trees which are breathtaking and unique. Welcomed by a calm and serene Buddha stone statue upon entry into the lobby of the museum, one can notice the best preserved ancient statues of the island.
The ground floor of the museum consists of exhibiting displays of relics and antiques from the historic periods of ancient Anuradhapura, medieval Polonnaruwa to the last kingdom of Kandy and colonial Ceylon. The upper floor has amazing paintings, rock inscriptions, pieces of pottery and ceramics, old textiles, coins and currency, art and crafts, arms and armaments and more. This floor also has the D.S Senanayake Memorial Gallery and presentations of traditional agricultural civilizations and rituals of Ceylon. It is home to valuable possessions such as the ornate crown and red velvet throne of the last king of Kandy which was the last kingdom of Sri Lanka.
The library has a plethora of publications that have been collected for over 129 years. Among these extensive collections, there are palm leaf manuscripts which have been written in many languages dating back centuries ago, based on various subjects such as Astrology, Architecture, folklore and demonology. There is an amazing collection based on Natural History which is hosted in a separate building on the same site. These include a blend of exhibits of cave paintings, fossils of Homo erectus hominins, an extinct human ancestor, huge bones of blue whales and more.
The Colombo National Museum is open daily from 9am – 6pm expect on public holidays. Entry Tickets for Foreign Nationals are Rs 500.