Peradeniya Botanical Gardens (in Kandy)

Peradeniya Botanical gardens, the finest of its kind in Asia, the largest of the three botanical gardens in the island, couldn't be better located. In the Mediterranean climate of Kandy, the gateway to the central highlands, the Gardens were bounded on three sides by a loop of river Mahaweli.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya occupy a horseshoe shape peninsula around which flows the main river of Sri Lanka, the Mahaweli. The total area is 147 acres. The mean elevation above sea level is about 1550 ft (473m), the climate is hot, moist and very equable. The mean temperature being about 76°F (25°C). Rain falls at frequent intervals averaging 90 inches (229 cm) per year falling on nearly 170 days. April and May are calm and hot months, with a mean temperature of about 79°F. towards the end of May the South West Monsoon begins to blow, bringing much rain and wind, with a lower mean temperature of 75°F as it progresses the weather becomes gradually finer and warmer through the months of July, August and September. In October the North East Monsoon begins with much rain but less wind than the South West and the last ten weeks - of the year are usually wet, the temperature falling in the end of the year to a mean of about 74°F. January to April is the driest season of the year. 

The history of the park
Then again, the history of the park wouldn't take a backseat to its geography. Conceived originally in 1371 as the Queen's pleasure garden, it was developed by King Kirti Sri Rajasinhe (1747-1778) where royal visitors were entertained. It was converted into Botanical Gardens in 1821, by the British, six years after fall of the last Kandyan King. That was during enterprising governorship of Sir Edward Barnes, who had Sri Lanka's first tea trees planted here in 1824, though the full commercial potential wasn't to be realized for another half a century. All prime imported crops - Coffee, tea, nutmeg, rubber & cinchona - were tested in these gardens. Imported crops Tea & Rubber together with the local crop of Coconut became mainstay of the economy of the island.

4000 labelled species
A signboard at the entrance, with a map, feature a numbered circuit from 1-30. The corresponding numbers are placed at strategic points on the route, black on a yellow background. 60 ha (150 acres) gardens, where you can easily stroll around a whole day, are stuffed with a bewildering variety of local & foreign tree & plant species. There are around ten thousand plants & trees inclusive of 4000 labelled species. One of the most interesting sites here is bizarre-looking snake creeper, whose tangles area roots look just like a writhing knot of vipers.

The spice garden, Orchid house
The spice garden to the right of entrance is replete with exotic spices. Cardamom, Coves, Pepper & Vanilla. We follow the path to the right, right into the Orchid House with an outstanding collection.

Natural pavilion
Grown from a sapling brought from East Indies, huge Javan fig tree covering 1600 sq. meters of the lawn, with its sprawling roots & branches create a remarkable natural pavilion.

Avenues
The Cabbage Palm Avenue from the South America was planted in 1905. Walking along the stately avenue of Royal Palms (1885) we find fruit bats in large colonies hanging in the trees. Oh! Yes, true to their style, upside down. The River drive goes through a great circle, a large grassy central area around which a remarkably diverse array of dignitaries has planted further specimens.

The Accidental planters
Alongside generations of English royalty, there are trees planted by Indira Gandhi, Yuri Gagarin, Marshal Tito, U Thant & Harold Macmillan. Between the great circle & the great lawn is the Herbarium. Then there is an arboretum.

Lawns, pavilions, sandwiches & a cup of tea
There are extensive well-kept lawns, pavilions, an Octagon Conservatory, fernery, banks of Burmese, Chinese & Japanese bamboos & numerous flower borders with cannas, hibiscus, chrysanthemums, croton & colourful bougainvillaea. You will see unusual exotic species, especially palms (Palmyra, talipot, royal, cabbage) & Ficus elastica (latex-bearing fig or "Indian rubber tree" with buttress roots), an amazing avenue of drunken looking pines & some magnificent old specimens trees. In all, there are about 4000 labelled species.

Cannonball avenue
Cannonball Avenue is lined with beautiful cannonball trees, wreathed in creepers from which hang the large, round fruits. These Sal trees are loved by the Sinhalese. The flowers have a singular shape: a tiny stupa shaped bud in the centre is shaded by a cobra like hood & surrounded by tiny florettes which resemble a crowd of worshipers. It is believed Prince Siddhartha (who was to become Gautama Buddha) was born in a park of Sal trees calledLumbini, near the Sakyan kingdom of Kapilavastu in then north India, now the southern region of Nepal.

Talipot palms
Talipot palms are the easiest to identify with its enormous leaves. The talipot palm is one of Sri Lanka's botanical celebrities, an arboreal oddity which flowers just once in its lifetime, after about forty years, producing the largest cluster of flowers in the world. In Kandyan times the enormous leaves reaching a height of 10 m were used to make tents by sewing a couple of leaves together. "One single Leaf being so broad & large, that it will cover some fifteen or twenty men, & keep them dry when it rains" wrote Robert Knox. Talpot leaves were utilized to produce fine ultra long lasting solid parchments called Ola, in Sri Lanka & India as early as in 500 BC. Young talipot leaves were boiled, dried in the sun, exposed to dew & smoothed & stretched. The treated leaves were then engraved with writing using steel stylus to cut in the characters. Then the engraved leaf was smeared with ink made out of a resin blended with finely powdered charcoal. The great chronicle of Sri Lanka (Mahawamsa) & all other ancient books were written on these treated, cut & loosely bound talipot palm-leaf parchments.

Artificial lake
In the centre of the Gardens is an artificial lake with water plants including the giant water lily & papyrus reeds. Beside the lake is a white-domed rotunda commemorates George Gardener, the Superintendent of the park during 1844-1849. Few Victorian travellers can have been so appropriately named as George Gardener (1812-1849), the botanist. Gardener collected thousands of specimens during his four years of explorations in Brazil & was responsible for importing rubber as well as cinchona. Both of these imports have been blessings to the island; rubber becoming a prime export & bark of cinchona tree producing anti malaria drug quinine.

Coco de Mer
One of the rarest plants in the world, Coco de Mer is on a path leading to this monument of Gardner. This plant has the largest & heaviest fruit or nut in the plant kingdom, weighing an average some10 - 20 kg. They take between five to eight years to mature & are surprisingly productive. It is not unusual to have 20 nuts on a tree. They are all carefully numbered. Native Coco de Mer are only found in Praslin, an island in the Seychelles. Strolling along the path we reach lily tank which is surrounded by giant bamboo, some 40m tall that grows 2-3 cm a day.

Suspension Bridge
Halfway around River Drive is the Suspension Bridge across the River Mahaweli, which takes us to the School of Tropical Agriculture at Gannoruwa, where research is carried out into various important spices & medicinal herbs as well as into tea, coffee, coca, rubber, coconuts & varieties of rice & other cash crops.

Peradeniya campus
Just across the main road from the gardens is Peradeniya campus of Sri Lanka University (1942), built in the old Kandyan style in an impressive setting of a large park with the River Mahweli running through it & the surrounding hillocks.

History and Heritage

The history of the Royal Botanic Gardens dates as far back as 1371 when King Wickramabahu III ascended the thrown and kept court at Peradeniya near Mahaweli river. Later, in the reign of King Kirti Sri from 1747 - 1780 King Rajadhi Rajasinghe resided therein, where a temporary residence was erected for him.

A vihare and dagaba were built in the reign of King Wimala Dhamma which was improved by Kind Rajadhi Rajasinghe. The vihare and dogaba were destroyed by the English when they occupied Kandy. The famous historical battle of Gannoruwa between Rajasinghe II and the Portuguese was fought on the Northern side of the river. A priest resided here till the Gardens were formed by Mr Alexandar Moon in 1821 six years after the final conquest of the Kandyan Kingdom. 

In 1810 under the advice of Sir Joseph Banks a garden named Kew was opened in Slave island and Mr William Kerr was appointed as its Superintendent. In 1813 the garden was moved to Kalutara for the reception of economic plants which could be cultivated there on a larger scale than was possible at Slave island. Kerr died in 1814 and under the rule of his successor Mr Alexander Moon this Garden was finally moved to Peradeniya in 1821 as it was found to be favorable and better adapted for the proposed Botanic establishment. The transfer of exotics from the Kalutara Garden was made by successive Superintendents at least up to 1843.

During Moon's superintendent the opening of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, can be said to have commenced though at first only the South West portion of the Gardens was cleared and opened and it was mostly planted with cinnamon and coffee. Moon published his "Catalogue of Ceylon Plants" in 1824 in which was given the Botanical and native names of 1, 127 plants, indigenous to the island. After the appointment of Mr George Gardner in 1844 the institution started upon its more active independent and useful existence that it has since maintained. Only 40 acres of the 147 acres were in cultivation when Gardener took charge and the chief use made of the land was to grow jak, coconuts and vegetables for sale by the Government Agent in Kandy. Gardner effected many important improvements in the condition of the Gardens but his chief work was the exploration of the country for the collection and preparation of its flora. He died at Nuwara Eliya in 1849 and was succeeded by Dr Thwaites who for over 30 years maintained the Gardens in a high state of efficiency, added largely to our knowledge of the flora of the Colony and gave the establishment its worldwide reputation. Botanic Gardens at Hakgala was established in 1861 for introduction of Cinchona into the island and in 1876 Gampaha (Henarathgoda) Botanic Garden was started for the introduction of Rubber.

Thwaites was succeeded by Dr Henry Trimen, under whose rule and capable management the beauty and usefulness of the Gardens were very considerably advanced. He established the Museum of Economic Botany, opened branch Gardens at Badulla and Anuradhapura and began the publication of his work, "The Flora of Ceylon" which however was finished by Sir Joseph D. Hooker after Trimen's death in 1896. In 1896 Trimen was succeeded by Dr J.C. Willis and from that date a new extension of scientific work took place. In the early years work was mainly directed towards the introduction and acclimatization of useful and ornamental plants but in later years activities developed towards Economic, Botany and Agriculture and led to the development of the Department of Agriculture in 1912. Mr H.F. Macmillan who was appointed Curator in 1895, was made the Superintendent of Botanic Gardens in 1912 and Mr T.H. Parsons the Curator in 1914. During Macmillan's superintendent the Gardens were improved and extended and his great work "a Hand Book of Tropical Planting and Gardening" was published. Macmillan retired in 1925 and Mr T.H. Parsons continued as curator till 1945.