Nelum Pokuna Mawatha back to Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha

by Ranil Wijayapala

Nelum Pokuna Mawatha will be once again known as Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha from February 10, 2015 a spokesman for the Colombo Municipal Council told the Sunday Observer.

He said Colombo Mayor A.J.M. Muzammil has extended an invitation to President Maitripala Sirisena to be the chief guest at the ceremony to rename the road Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha on February 10 at 10.30 am.

The section of Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha (formerly known as Green Path) from Horton Place roundabout to the Public Library which was named Nelum Pokuna Mawatha on December 15, 2011 on a Gazette notification issued by former Commissioner of the Colombo Municipal Council Badrani Jayawardhana on December 8, 2011 following a request from the Presidential Secretariat in view of the opening of Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Performing Arts Theatre.

The Horton Place roundabout was also renamed Nelum Pokuna roundabout.

Many people expressed displeasure over the name change of the road as Nelum Pokuna Mawatha as it was named in memory of Sri Lankan-born art historian Ananda Coomaraswamy, a well-known philosopher and writer on visual arts, aesthetics, literature and language who brought fame to Sri Lanka. Many aesthetic centres such as the Art Gallery and Mahaweli Centre are also located on this section of the road.