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James Taylor’s seat – birthplace of ‘Ceylon Tea’ By Arundathie Abeysinghe Situated in Loolkandura Estate in Kandy, this rock seat was utilized by *James Taylor, the pioneer of tea plantation in Sri Lanka. With spectacular views of the surrounding mountain ranges, this unique seat is located in the first tea estate in Sri Lanka where the first tea plant was planted by James Taylor in 1867. A unique decision of James Taylor was to name the estate as *“Loolecondera” (original name was Loolkandura in Sinhala), the local name for the area. When all other planters who setup tea estates in Sri Lanka named them with English names close to their hearts, Taylor named his estate “Loolecondera”, by the local name of the area Loolkandura as he was able to pronounce it. Although, not as popular as *Lipton’s Seat, James Taylor’s Seat is also popular among local as well as foreign ...