Kayman’s Gate Archives

Forgotten Dutch monuments in Pettah-BY MAHIL WIJESINGHE Source:Sundayobserver If, like me, you are a lover of Sinhala songs, you will no doubt have been mesmerised by Sunil Edirisinghe song Kayman dorakada indapan mama enathuru Selesssina (Selessina, please wait at Kayman’s Gate till I come). Since this song is about the various old landmarks of Colombo, I was always curious to find out where this actually is. Then I found out that it is actually in Pettah. Once Colombo’s smartest residential area, Pettah is now the city’s bazaar, a jungle of streets jammed with bargain-hunters, herds of trucks, lorries, carts and the ubiquitous three-wheelers where the Dutch colonial facades still survive proudly besides gleaming new mercantile shops. After visiting Colombo’s Dutch Period Museum (featured couple of weeks ago), our next visit was to Kayman’s Gate bell tower and Wolfendhal Church. A visit to Pettah isn’t complete without at least visiting these ...

Kayman’s Gate – historic bell tower in Colombo City By Arundathie Abeysinghe Located at the intersection of Main Street and Fourth Cross Street in Pettah, the commercial hub of Colombo City, Kayman’s Gate (in Sinhala, Kaiman Dorakada) is a historic solitary grey bell tower which was an entrance to former Colombo Fort. St. John’s River, a canal that connected to Beira Lake was located outside the Gate. Waste from Colombo Fort had been dumped to this river. An integral symbol of Old *Ceylon, “Kayman’s Gate” is derived from the Dutch word “Kaaiman” meaning crocodile as a large number of mugger crocodiles (who flocked in large numbers to eat leftover meat and bones thrown out by Colombo City dwellers who lived inside the fortified bastion) swarmed the moat of Beira Lake. Colombo Fort was built and consolidated by the Portuguese during the Portuguese Colonial Era in 1554 as a defensive ...