Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Is a newly created city lying immediately south of
ColomboColombo is the largest city and commercial capital of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the capital city of Sri Lanka. Colombo is a busy and vibrant city with a mixture of modern life and colonial buildings and ruins and a city...
, the largest city in
Sri LankaSri Lanka , officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka , is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India...
. It is the result of certain key urban suburbs and communities combined for administrative purposes. The centres include Dehiwala and the beach resort of Mount Lavinia. Population (2001) 209,787. It is also home to Sri Lanka's National Zoological Gardens which remains one of Asia's largest. Dehiwela and Mount Lavinia lie directly south of Colombo along the Galle Road artery which runs along the coast down to the south of the country.
Dehiwala
The town of Dehiwela has seen rapid industrialisation and urbanisation in recent years. Located on the border to Colombo, the cheaper land has resulted in a real estate boom with hyper-markets, department stores and apartment complexes dotting its skyline. There are also many housing schemes surrounding the wild-life inhabited Attidiya Lake further inland - one of these is
Lotus GroveLotus Grove is an enclosed housing complex in Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia which is a suburb just south of Colombo, the commercial capital of Sri Lanka.-occupation:...
which is also reported to be the first enclosed complex of its kind in the country.
The town has also suffered extensive pollution as a result of uncontrolled growth and heavy congestion. Road expansion has been futile and the consideration of over-head roads and Colombo Metro Skytrain line are currently underway to ease the problem.
Mount Lavinia
The town is largely a middle class and mostly residential suburb that had until now escaped most of the damaging industrialisation of neighbouring cities and urban centres. Famed for its "Golden Mile" of beaches, it has often been a hot spot for tourism and laid back nightlife. It is one of the most liberal regions in Sri Lanka and plays host to the island's annual gay pride, including the famed Rainbow Kite Festival.
Mount Lavinia is steeped in history. The city's name is built up around the original residence of Sir Thomas Maitland who was the Governor General of Ceylon from 1805-1811. At a welcoming party held in his honour on his arrival in the island he set his eyes upon Lovina, a local mestizo dancer, whose father was the Headman of the troupe. Sir Thomas was smitten by her smile and charms and soon found himself obsessed by her and took every measure possible to see more of her.
As it was highly unconventional for an unmarried British Officer to be seen associating with a local dancing girl, Sir Thomas and his lover met in secret. Legend says she was smuggled into his mansion through a secret tunnel that led from her father's well into a wine cellar in the house.
In 1811, social convention and duty to his King, led Sir Thomas Maitland to ultimately leave the country for Malta, where he lived and died as a bachelor. The tunnel was eventually sealed up in 1920 and the Gypsy village that surrounded the Governor’s mansion developed into a modern bustling city that took its name from the beautiful Lovina. But the Governor’s home which he named "Mount Lavinia House" and his monument to his only love has been preserved within the walls and high ceilings of what is today the world famous Mount Lavinia Hotel.
The statue of 'Lady' Lavinia, as the girl later became known, is still found in the middle of a water fountain at the entrance of the Mount Lavinia Hotel.
But, there are other explanations too rooted in geography and the natural surroundings, when it comes to the origin of the name Mount Lavinia. The Sinhalese who lived on the coastal belt had for long named the promontory "Lihiniya Kanda" or "Lihiniyagala" meaning the hill of the sea gull or the rock of the sea gull.
The local name for the town today is Galkissa - Kissa being a somewhat obsolete Sinhala word for rock. Legend takes over once again with the story of a large treasure from a shipwreck being hidden among the rocks here.
Whatever the legends, the town came into official recognition when Governor Maitland used the postal address Mt. Lavinia, Ceylon, in 1805, while writing to the British Secretary of State, Lord Castlereagh.
The Governor's House
This historical site situated on short cliff on the beach of Mount Lavinia, built around 1805-1811 by the British
Governor of CeylonThe British Governor of Ceylon was an official who ruled Ceylon during the British colonial period between 1798 and 1948....
(Sri Lanka) Sir Thomas Maitland and later when the governor's house was moved to the current
President's HousePresident's House is the official residence of the President of Sri Lanka, located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It used to be the Queen's House until Sri Lanka became a Republic in 1972.-History:...
, Colombo the house was turned into a hotel. During World War II the hotel was used as a military hospital. Some scenes of the film
The Bridge on the River KwaiThe Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 British World War II film by David Lean based on the novel The Bridge over the River Kwai by French writer Pierre Boulle. The film is a work of fiction but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–43 for its historical setting...
where filmed at the house. In 1947
Mount Lavinia HotelThe Mount Lavinia Hotel, in Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka, is a 275 room star class 200 year old hotel, situated at 100 Hotel Road. It is recognized to be one of the oldest and most famous hotels in the country.-Historical background:...
started operating in this house.
St Thomas' College
Mount Lavinia also houses St Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia,one of the most prestigous schools in Sri Lanka.
Demographics
| Ethnicity | Population | % of Total |
|---|
SinhaleseThe Sinhalese are the main ethnic group of Sri Lanka, constituting 74% of the population. They speak Sinhala an Indo-Aryan language, and number approximately 14 million.-Origin:...
|
158,070 |
75.35 |
| Sri Lankan Tamils |
22,737 |
10.84 |
| Indian Tamils Indian Tamils may refer to:* Tamil people from or living in India* Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka...
|
2,060 |
0.98 |
Sri Lankan MoorsThe Sri Lankan Moors are the third largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka comprising 8% of the country's total population . They are predominantly followers of Islam. The Moors trace their ancestry to Arab traders who settled in Sri Lanka some time between the eighth and fifteenth centuries...
|
20,357 |
9.70 |
Other (including BurgherThe Burghers are a Eurasian ethnic group, historically from Sri Lanka, consisting for the most part of male-line descendants of European colonists from the 16th to 20th centuries and local women, with some minorities of Swedish, Norwegian, French and Irish.Today the mother tongue of the Burghers...
, Malay) |
6,563 |
3.13 |
| Total |
209,787 |
100 |
Source: Government Census
Maps