The Srawasthi Mandiraya is the primary office complex of the Western Provincial Council, located in Cinnamon Gardens, a suburb of

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 ...

. Built in 1913, it saw use for most of its lifetime as a

hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory sleeping 4–20 people, with shared use of a lounge and usually a kitchen. Rooms can be private or shared - mixe ...

for Members of Parliament from outside Colombo who were attending Parliamentary sittings. It is located along Sir

Marcus Fernando Sir Hilarion Marcus Fernando, FRCP (21 October 1864 – 18 December 1936) was a pre-independence Ceylonese statesman, physician and banker. He was a member of both the executive council and legislative council, as well as the chairman of the S ...

Mawatha (formerly Edinburgh Crescent).

History

The mansion was built in 1913 along the lines of a Tuscan

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

by veterinary surgeon and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

W. A. de Silva, member of the

Legislative Council of Ceylon The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of represe ...

and the

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It ...

, and who served as Minister of Health (1936 - 1942). One of the largest houses in Colombo at the time, Dr de Silva hosted many dignitaries such as

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

and Lord Donoughmore. He later gifted the mansion to the nation. With Ceylon gaining independence, the house was converted by the Government of Ceylon as a hostel for Member of Parliament who had to travel to Colombo from their constituencies to attend Parliamentary sittings. Following the construction of the Madiwela Housing Complex (consisting of 120 housing units for Members of Parliament), the functions of Srawasthi as a hostel ceased. It was then taken over by the Western Provincial Council as its office complex.

References

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External links

Western Province Provincial Council

Parliament of Sri Lanka
Former official residences in Sri Lanka Government buildings in Colombo Houses completed in 1913 Houses in Colombo Manor houses in Sri Lanka