National Museum, Colombo

The largest Museum in Sri Lanka, established in 1877.

 

Housed in a fine colonial-era building on Albert Crescent, the National Museum is the first public Museum to be established in Sri Lanka (1877). It is the best known for its collection of ancient royal regalia, Sinhalese artwork (carvings, sculptures and so on), antique furniture, china, and Ola manuscripts. 

It includes the national treasures and art facts from all parts of the island. A section of the first floor houses the Puppetry and Children's Museum. It also houses a library with a collection of about 500,000 books including very valuable and rare ones and more than 4,000 ancient palm leaf manuscripts. Open daily from 09.00 hrs to 17.00 hrs except on Fridays when it is closed to the public for cleaning.