Royal Botanical Gardens

As I see it now...

I remember going to see the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens as a child, and all we did was speed walk through the gardens without much knowledge and stare at couples at shady corners while giggling and making fun of them.

‘I have seen many actors in my life..’ the flower garden has been the background for many movie scenes.

‘The Hanging Bridge’ was built in 1937 and creates a scenic view across Mahaweli River

I believe that is what most visitors still do; they browse through the giant tress and smallest plants, flowery beds and scenic views beyond the lake and marvel saying ‘beautiful’, then take photographs and go home.

After many years I once again visited the Royal Botanical Gardens, which is the official name for the gardens since 1821, and of course we still did what we did as children, laughed and made fun of the couples ducking for darker corners, but while doing so observed the place that has been seen by millions of pairs of eyes over hundreds of years in a way that I have never done before.

The mention of ‘hundreds of years’ may be a surprise some, but the true history of the gardens runs as further as 14th century. In 1371, King Wickramabahu III becomes the first king associated with the gardens, as historians believe he built his court at Peradeniya near Mahaweli River. Then came the time it was formally turned in to a Royal Garden by King Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe around 1747.

At that time it was used as a pleasure garden for the Kings, for what kind of pleasures we exactly do not know, but as most gardens it may have served the purposes of hunting, games and ceremonial uses for sure. It is believed that the pleasure gardens for the kings ran as further as the University grounds today, making it almost as twice the size of the current gardens.

Anyone who has visited the gardens or has heard of it knows of the vast varieties of plants and trees on display and of the breathtaking beauty of them.

But most may have not heard much of the famous people from all over the world that has taken time to visit the Royal Botanical Gardens. The most famous of them all would be Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space.

Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin planted ‘Saraca Thaipinengensis’ a tree from ‘Asoka’ family there and I noticed that after half a century it is still a small tree, perhaps its slow growth is a sign of its grandeur to come just like the 5 feet 2 inches tall Yuri who later became a ‘giant’ to mankind.

‘The ever popular Orchid House’ it houses many species of Orchids including hybrids.

Konrad Adenauer was the German Prime Minister who took his nation from the ruins of World War II to the most prosperous nation in Europe. He was the first chancellor (top official) of the Federal Republic of Germany, and he also has paid a visit there to plant a tree.

The first known celebrity to plant something there was King Edward VII in 1875. The Tsar of Russia Nicholas has planted a ‘Na’ tree there while Queen Elizabeth II during her famous 1954 visit planted a ‘Gotu Nuga’.

King George and Queen Mary were there in 1901, while Indira Gandhi and Prime Minister of United Kingdom Harold McMillan are amongst many famous politicians from all over the world that has marvelled over our Botanical Gardens.

Another very famous trio came to this place in 1970 and each made a contribution to this long list of famous plants, and they were the Apollo 12 Astronauts.

Astronauts Alan Bean, Richard Gordon and Charles Conrad were on Apollo 12, which was the second to land on the moon. D. S. Senanayake and President Mahinda Rajapaksa are amongst many Sri Lankan politicians that have left a mark at this ‘Memorial Tree Section’ of the Royal Botanical Garden.

Although it was kept as a garden for centuries, it was the British management that turned it into an attractive place that started to draw tourists from all over the world.

Previously there were a few designed gardens around the country but Alexander Moon was the pioneer in turning Peradeniya gardens in to the Royal Botanical Garden.

At first it was mostly occupied by cinnamon and coffee but as its superintendent Moon published ‘Catalogue of Ceylon Plants’ in 1824 which identified more than 1127 native plants.

Yuri was here’ first man in Space left his mark in Sri Lanka by planting this tree

Needless to say, his efforts have done Sri Lankan flora and agricultural field an immense service. Many of his successors also worked tirelessly to make the Royal Botanical Gardens a popular place and eventually it gained worldwide fame.

According to the Director Research Yapa Nanayakkara, today, it has more than 4,000 taxans of plants and many specialized areas such as the Orchid House, Spice Garden, Bamboo Collection and Fernery.

The beautiful green lawn with the Umbrella tree runs for seven acres and anyone who visits there cannot resist walking through it or running across it. During the Second World War, Lord Mountbatten had an office there and there also was a temple in the garden area that was supposed to have been built a few hundred years ago.

Yapa Nanayakkara says that currently the main focus is being given to planting local and native trees while in the past the gardens was a seedbed to plants from all over the world. Royal Botanical Gardens is visited by over 1.2 million of people annually and out of that over 200,000 is from foreign countries.

Spread across 147 acres, our Botanical Gardens has been seen by some of the greatest people in the world and even men who conquered space and landed on Moon once walked through those foot paths enjoying the same views that we see today. Therefore, next time you visit this place, please remember it is no average ‘flower garden’.

Text and Pix: Chamari Senanayake