Battaramulla: Emergence of a new city
A video about it sent by Dr. Lakshman Abeyagunawardene
This blog (created in March 2011 by Lucky) is about new entrants to the Colombo Medical Faculty of the University of Ceylon (as it was then known) in June 1962. There were a total of 166 in the batch (included 11 from Peradeniya). Please address all communications to: colmedgrads1962@gmail.com. Header image: Courtesy Prof. Rohan Jayasekara, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo (2011 - 2014). Please use the search bar using a keyword to access what interests you
The creator of the blog has emerged from hiding at last with a very enticing video !
ReplyDeleteThank you Lucky - I am so happy you love the beautiful place where you live.
Mahen thank you for posting it. Cheers
Rohini ,Lucky was not only the Creator but also the fatherly figure of the blog until such time health took the toll.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, there was an Aficionado, among us who continued to sustain the immense job.
Battaramulla was a haven for the middle class families to get away from the city life.
I am sure, Lucky can enjoy the walks around the parks at leisure times. I enjoyed the vide from the beginning to the end.
Hope to see more videos of new developments, in Sri Lanka.
Readers will benefit by reading this article which appeared in the Island recently. Here is the link
ReplyDeletehttps://island.lk/battaramulla-of-the-1940s-paradise-lost/
It is Excerpted from the memoirs of Edward Gunawardena, Retd. senior DIG Police and refers to CHILDHOOD MEMORIES (1939). An excerpt from the article:-"Nestled amidst lush paddy fields and marshland of mangroves and reeds was the small, quiet and homely village of Battaramulla. One square mile in extent it was bounded in the West by the Diyawanna, the South by the ancient Korambe Ela canal, the East by a stretch of paddy lands called The Deniya and the seventh mile post of the main road from Colombo; and on the North by the marshes bordering the village of Kalapaluwawa. The most pleasing natural features of the village were the clean and perennial waterways and the vast extents of marshland with an abundance of flora and fauna of different species".
Lucky
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you with a lovely video which I enjoyed very much. I was educated with so many places of interest in Battaramulla which were highlighted. You must be proud of the new developments in your place you love so much. Thanks for sharing it with your batch mates.
Lucky let me thank you for creating this Blog which makes us batchmates to publish our articles and contact each other via comments.
I must thank Mahendra for publishing our articles, keepng our batchmates together and in the process keeping the Blog alive.
Chira
Lucky
ReplyDeleteThank you for the video. I lived in Battaramulla for 4 years in the early 1970's. It was truly rural. I walked in the fields in my shorts and sat by the Diyawanna Oya enjoying watching the many migrant birds who settled there. Some enjoyed boat trips and fishing those murky waters. The waterways have been dredged and the houses nearer the river dont get flooded anymore.
The roads were so very quiet. It is lovely to see the new developments which the residents enjoy. Progress certainly brings its own problems. As an expat I still yearn for the tranquil little town of my youth.
I was interested to find out the origin of the name Battaramulla. According to the Wikepedia, "Battaramulla is adjacent to Kotte, which lay on the opposite side of the Diyawanna Oya. At the time of the Kotte Kingdom, the cooks at the royal palace would travel there daily by ferry across the Diyawanna Oya. The place they embarked was called bat-tota-mulla ('cooked rice-landing-corner', 'cooked rice' being a synonym for a meal), which became 'Battaramulla'
ReplyDeleteThe origin of Nugegoda is interesting too. During the Kotte regime Nugegoda was a combined area of a Nuga forest and a swamp. Apparently when the King wanted the prisoners sent beyond Nugegoda he asked his soldiers to take them NUGEN-EGODA which later became known as Nugegoda.
ReplyDeleteSuperb Video! I think Battaramulla is much more attractive than Cinnamon Gardens now!
ReplyDeleteLucky, thank you for contributing this video. I think it may have been at one of the SLLS sessions organized by Mahen that Battaramulla was described as the "Lungs of Colombo" by one of the speakers, because of the important wetlands in the area. I hope it does not become overdeveloped, with ugly high-rises as is happening in Colombo.
ReplyDelete