Colombo National Museum

Colombo National Museum

Located in a Colonial-era building dating from 1877, the Colombo National Museum was founded by Sir William Henry Gregory, the British Governor of Ceylon. The museum houses a plethora of interesting collections that provide a good introduction to the island’s temples and ancient cities. The most engaging galleries on the ground floor are 2 to 5, which feature exhibits from the Anuradhapura period through to the Kandyan era. The highlight here is the elaborate Kandyan throne, which was used by the last king of Kandy, Sri WickramaRajasinghe. Upstairs, there are several paintings, masks, coins, jewellery, puppets and a skeleton of a blue whale that washed ashore in 1984.