ARCHITECTURE, ARTS & CRAFTS OF SRI LANKA

Image Credit : www.geoffreybawa.com

Geoffrey Bawa is Sri Lanka’s most prolific and influential architect. His work has had a tremendous impact throughout Asia. Bawa was a genius at blending buildings with their natural environment, interconnecting outside spaces with the inside. You can see his work at the Parliament of Sri Lanka and hotels such as Lunuganga (his own garden in Bentota that he designed over a 40-year period), Club Villa, the Villa Bentota, the Heritance Ahungalla, Jetwing Lighthouse, and Heritance Kandalama. You can also enjoy a guided tour of Bawa’s Colombo Residence, still as he left it.

Among the most historic forms of Sri Lankan art are the rock paintings found on the Sigirya rock fortress and the religious paintings found in the Dambulla’s rock temples and the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy. Villages and towns boast their own skilled artisans: lace makers, woodcarvers, Bras-etchers, reed weavers  Batik painters, mask makers and jewelers. The National Crafts Council runs centers in Battaramulla (Colombo), Sigiriya and Galle where you can learn more about (and buy) traditional Sri Lankan crafts.