Pettah Archives

History of Colombo Pettah ! -By Sukumar Shan Source : Sri Lankan Planters (SLP) Official FB page ‘Pitakotuwa’ in Sinhala an Pura kottai in Tamil means ‘outside the fort’. That is obviously how the Sinhala term for Pettah was coined to distinguish the area outside Fort. Pettah is an Anglo-Indian word from the Tamil ‘pettai’ introduced by the British to the area, which was identified by the Dutch as the ‘oude stad’ or old town. During the Portuguese period, the roads in Pettah had been narrow and crooked. The Dutch had replaced these with straighter and broader thoroughfares. Main Street had been in existence even during the time of the Portuguese who had called it ‘Straight’. It had linked Fort with Pettah as it does today. The Dutch named it ‘King’s Street’. Pettah market was always a popular place where traders did business, even at the time of the Dutch. Here ...

Colombo Dutch Museum – Colonial Era historical monument By Arundathie Abeysinghe Constructed during the Colonial Era in *Ceylon the two storey colonnaded building on Prince Street, *Pettah among the hustle and bustle of Colombo City is a mine of information that showcases Dutch history and culture and had been constructed during the Dutch Colonial Era in Ceylon (1656 – 1796). The Museum building embodies unique architectural features of a Dutch Colonial town house. During the Dutch Colonial Era, they had built Dutch Forts, hospitals, military barracks, churches as well as residences for the governors. Dutch Hospital in Colombo Fort and Dutch Museum are such resplendent structures that are preserved well to date. Originally, the residence of Governor of Ceylon Thomas van Rhee (1656 – 1701), the building had been used for diverse purposes; an orphanage under the supervision of the deacons financed by Dutch East India Company, army ...