Revisiting Parliament after 30 years

When the Portuguese arrived in 1505, the shrewd Sinhalese tried to keep secret Kotte's proximity to the country's port in Colombo. They led the foreigners through a labyrinth of roads and paths on horseback stretching over a seven mile journey. But the Portuguese saw though this, as they could still hear their ships guns boom. Hence saying the popular saying "Parangiya Kotte giya ("Like the Portuguese going to Kotte"."). The building has a huge copper pitched Kandyan roof to disguise its height. In the main pavilion conclave, layers of space on every level are articulated by rectangles of dark wood and glass. Even the stucco columns on the ground floor are unadorned and fuse easily with the simple wooden beams above.

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On a bright April morning in 1982 at an astrologically auspicious hour of 10.13 a.m., Sri Lanka inaugurated its new capital, Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte to a triumphant conch shell sounds and reverberating drums when a third of the construction of the new Parliament was over.

President J.R. Jayewardene following an ancient tradition deposited nine different gems and followed other rituals to invoke the blessings of the deities on the building.

The site known popularly as Kotte has eventually become the sumptuous home of the Sri Lanka's lawmakers. The historic Diyawanna Oya was reclaimed from what was a wasteland of marsh. A 300-acre lake was created on which now stands as one of Asia's most famous architectural buildings - the Parliament of Sri Lanka.

It was designed by Sri Lanka's best-known Architect, Geoffrey Bawa whoconceived and designed the whole complex. It stands as an elegant embodiment of the rich and cultural and aesthetic heritage of this land.

The one ton silver plated chandelier in the main Chamber and the skillfully carved mahogany wall outside the Members' special entrance stand testimony to his work. Once a capital of Ceylon in the 15th century, it will be regarded as a return to the fortified city of Sri Jayawardenapura, Kotte. The idea behind this was to methodically ease the congestion of Colombo.

Today, the city of Colombo is still growing from the original one and half million population living there. The idea was to make it the administrative capital of Sri Lanka and it was so gazetted. The idea was to have the diplomatic missions, Government Ministries and offices, hospitals and schools but sadly this has not happened as originally planned.