National Museum of Colombo

Sri Lanka National Museum also is known as the National Museum of Colombo is one of the main two museums in Colombo city and it’s the largest museum in the country. Department of National Museum of Sri Lanka has the maintenance authority of the museum. The museum holds collections of valuable and much significance properties of Sri Lanka such as the crown and throne of the Kandyan rulers, the ceremonial objects of the country and many other historical exhibits that tell the story of ancient Sri Lanka.

The National Museum of Colombo was built on 1st January 1877. Sir William Henry Gregory the British Governor of Sri Lanka at the time was the founder of the museum. The museum structure is inspired by Italian Architectural method. The museum was given the name status as the national museum of the country in the ruling period of Prime Minister P. E. P. Deraniyagala. He also opened new branch museums in Kandy. Jaffna and Ratnapura.

The National Museum of Colombo is contained in two floors of an attractively picturesque building. The exhibitions on the ground floor are organized chronologically and on the second floor, it is arranged thematically. The Museum is open for the whole week (seven days) but closed on public holidays such as Full Moon Poya day, Thai Pongal, Sinhala & Tamil New Year, Christmas and Ramazan.