Liveramentu Cemetery, also locally known as Jawatta Cemetery or the Torrington Cemetery, is a large municipal
cemetery
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...
, located approximately from the
Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
city centre, on Torrington Avenue. It is also the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in Sri Lanka.
It is one of the six Commonwealth war cemeteries in Sri Lanka, and is maintained by the Department of National Botanical Gardens, with funding from the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...
.
The entrance to the cemetery incorporates a memorial wall, commemorating 346
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
servicemen and one Dutch serviceman who died while serving in
Ceylon
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
(1939–1945), whose graves/bodies could not be found. In addition the cemetery contains the Liveramentu Cremation Memorial which commemorates 165 servicemen of the Hindu faith who died while serving in Ceylon, and who were accorded the last rite required by their religion – committal to fire. The memorial is in the form of a stone pylon crowned with a stone
urn
An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape ...
, with wing walls inscribed with the servicemen's names. The cemetery also has a memorial commemorating 28 Italian
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
who died and were buried in the country between 1939 and 1945.
The cemetery is situated on the site of a Portuguese church, Chapel of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the Virgin of Good Deliverance, from which it derives its name. The church was a well known
Marian shrine
A shrine to the Virgin Mary, or Marian shrine, is a shrine marking an Marian apparitions, apparition or other miracle ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or a site on which is centered a historically strong Blessed Virgin Mary, Marian devotion ...
, with a well whose waters were alleged to perform miracles. The church was subsequently destroyed by the Dutch. The site was declared a
protected archaeological site on 8 July 2005.
See also
*
British Garrison Cemetery
*
Kanatte Cemetery
Kanatte Cemetery, also known locally as Borella Cemetery, is the main burial ground and crematorium in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
It is located at the intersection of Elvitigala Mawatha (Narahenpita Road), Bauddhaloka Mawatha (Bullers Road) and D. S. ...
*
Kandy War Cemetery
*
Trincomalee British War Cemetery
Trincomalee British War Cemetery (also known as Trincomalee War Cemetery) is a British military cemetery in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, for soldiers of the British Empire who were killed or died during World War II. The cemetery also has graves of Dut ...
References
External links
* {{cwgc cemetery, 2000316
Index of War Dead in Liveramentu Cemetery
Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Sri Lanka
Cemeteries in Sri Lanka
Archaeological protected monuments in Colombo District
Tourist attractions in Colombo