Old Park ( ''Paḻaiya Pūṅkā'') is a 27

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

in the city of

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

in northern

Sri Lanka 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, ...

. It was originally built in the 19th century as the gardens and grounds of the residency of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Government Agent for the Northern Province.

History

British Government Agent Percival Ackland Dyke purchased a 27-acre land in Jaffna using his own funds to serve as his residency and gardens/grounds. Dyke served as Government Collector for Jaffna for four years (1829–33) and Government Agent for the Northern Province for 32 years (1833–43; 1843–60; 1861–67). Dyke was known as the "Raja of the North". He was buried at St. John's Cemetery at

Chundikuli Chundikuli (; ''Cundikuli'') is a suburb of the city of Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka. Chundikuli means "the pond of the cunti plant" in Tamil and is derived from the Tamil words ''cunti'' (several aquatic plants from the mimosa ''Mimosa'' is ...

, Jaffna after his death on 9 October 1867. Dyke

bequeathed A devise is the act of giving real property by will, traditionally referring to real property. A bequest is the act of giving property by will, usually referring to personal property. Today, the two words are often used interchangeably due to thei ...

Old Park, via an irrevocable

deed of gift A deed of gift is a signed legal document that voluntarily and without recompense transfers ownership of real, personal, or intellectual propertysuch as a gift of materialsfrom one person or institution to another. It should include any possibl ...

through

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, to his successors rent free. The residency building was in one corner of the land and the rest of the woodland consisted of trees. Old Park had some rare trees (

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...

, nedun,

ironwood Ironwood is a common name for many woods that have a reputation for hardness, or specifically a wood density that is denser than water (approximately 1000 kg/m3, or 62 pounds per cubic foot), although usage of the name ironwood in English ma ...

baobab ''Adansonia'' is a genus of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). The eight species of ''Adansonia'' are native to Africa, Australia, and Madagascar but have also been introduced to other regions of the world, including Barb ...

lignum vitae Lignum vitae (), also called guayacan or guaiacum, and in parts of Europe known as Pockholz or pokhout, is a wood from trees of the genus '' Guaiacum''. The trees are indigenous to the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America (e.g., Co ...

) as well as trees common to the region (

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

tamarind Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this spe ...

). The income earned from the mango and tamarind fruits was used to maintain the park. The park also contained a variety of fauna including bats and butterflies. As

militancy The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Lat ...

increased in northern Sri Lanka in the late 1970s/early 1980s the

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

stationed troops at Old Park. When the rebel

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

controlled Jaffna in the late 1980s/early 1990s they occupied Old Park. A large army camp was once gain based at Old Park after the

Sri Lankan military The Sri Lanka Armed Forces is the overall unified military of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka encompassing the Sri Lanka Army, the Sri Lanka Navy, and the Sri Lanka Air Force; they are governed by the Ministry of Defence (Sri Lank ...

recaptured the city in 1995. After the end of the

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

the provincial administration was moved from Varothayanagar,

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; , ; , ), historically known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee District and major resort port city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Located on the east coast o ...

to Old Park in Jaffna. In July 2011 Minister of National Heritage Jagath Balasuriya declared the old

Kachcheri A kachcheri or district secretariat is the principal government department that administrates a district in Sri Lanka. Each of the 25 districts has a kachcheri. The main tasks of the District Secretariat involve coordinating communications and ac ...

building in Old Park to be a "Protected Monument". In September 2011 it was alleged that parts of Old Park had been destroyed on the orders of Major General G. A. Chandrasiri, the Governor of the Northern Province. Chandrasiri denied the allegations. It was also alleged that Chandrasiri was building himself a

Rs. Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Afri ...

190 million bungalow at Old Park. The renovated Old Park was opened to the public in July 2012.

Notes

References

* * {{refend Parks in Jaffna Archaeological protected monuments in Jaffna District