In front of Dalada Palace in 1864
of the white governor
A statue is installed
The youths of the campus have broken down the statue
The plains between Dalada Maliga and Nawa Wahalkad in Kandy are called Mahmalwa. This Mahmalwa is a historical place. There are many statues and monuments here today.
The statues of Prince Danta and Princess Hemamala brought to Sri Lanka, the statue of Prince Weera Madduma Bandara, the statue of Wariyapola Sumangala Thero, who raised the English flag before signing the Udara Agreement, the statue of Sri Lanka's first Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake and the skull of Veera Kappetipola District. Monument with
Now those statues are in the hall, but there was only one statue in the past. It was a statue of an English governor in Ceylon. It was the statue of Sir Henry George Ward who was the governor of Ceylon from May 11, 1855 to June 30, 1860.
Sir William Anderson was the Governor of Ceylon before Ward. Sir Charles Justin McCarthy succeeded Sir Henry Ward.
Among the English governors in this country, the Sri Lankans showed special interest in the governor Henry George Ward. Like him, his wife, Mrs. Steenberg Ward, was also close to the Sri Lankans.
The lighthouse clock tower in Chatham Street, Colombo was built according to the idea of Lady Steenberg Ward. It was her design.
This hour column, which was built under the direction of Assistant Engineer J.F. Churchill of the Government Works Department, was opened by Governor Henry George Ward on March 25, 1857. Even today, the distance from Colombo to other cities in the country is measured from the middle of this hour column.
At that time, the main problem faced by the upland coffee growers was the difficulty of bringing the products to Colombo. Therefore, the upland coffee growers exerted a great influence on Governor Ward to build a railway line from Colombo to Kandy.
Governor Henry George Ward was a student of railway engineering. Because of this, the governor willingly intervened in the construction of the Colombo-Kandy railway line. Accordingly, the work on the Colombo-Kandy railway line began in 1858.
To appreciate the work done by Governor Ward, a street in Colombo Hatta was named after him. That is the place where Sri Lanka's first Executive President Mr. JR Jayawardene visited Ward Place. Similarly, the street leading to Kandy's Clock Tower and Dalada Palace was named Ward Street.
Governor Ward finished his service in Sri Lanka in 1860. After that, he went to Madras, India. However, after a few days, Governor Ward died in Kolorawa. A memorial was built there for him.
Meanwhile, in 1864, the British Youth Association created a metal statue of Governor Ward. They brought it to Sri Lanka. The British Youth Association established the statue on the ground in front of Dalada Palace. At that time, the ground did not belong to the palace. Ward Park in front of the palace (today's Madduma Bandara statue) This statue was installed facing the lake between the ground) and Mahamalwa. It was opened by the then Governor Sir Charles Justin McCarthy.
Now this statue has been there for more than a hundred years. But bad times came for this statue in 1972.
In 1972, a group of university students protested against imperialism and came in front of the Dalada Palace.
Although these people tried hard to break the metal statue of Governor Ward installed in front of the palace, they could not do it, but they could only do one thing, that is to fold the bus on the statue of Governor Ward.
Later, the authorities thought that it was dangerous to place this statue here, so they removed the statue from that place and installed it in front of the Kandy National Museum. Now it is in front of the museum. You can take care of it when you go to Mahanuwara. That can be taught.
When I asked Mr. Nilame Neranjan Wijeratne of Diyawadana about this, he said that the British had built another statue in front of the palace. It was a statue of the unknown soldier. The statue was made of an English soldier on a horse with a gun in his hand. It shows their heroism. Somehow, the statue was removed and installed at the army headquarters in Yatinuvara Street, said Neranjan Wijeratna, the former Diyawadana Nilam.
Now there is a statue of Prince Madduma Bandara in Mahamalawa. The place where the statue is located was called Phoenix Garden. That part does not belong to Mahamalawa. Later it was named after the Ward Governor. After that it was called Madduma Bandara Garden. That is where the statue of the prince is. This statue was established. 17 May 1968 by Madduma Banda Children's Front.
There is also the monument of Veera Cappetipola Disava. This monument was built in 1954. Until then, the skull of the hero Cappetipola, which was in the Edinburgh Medical College in England, was brought and buried here.
There is also a statue of Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake. It was inaugurated on February 4, 1969 by the then Prime Minister Mr. Dudley Senanayake. The statue was built in Ward Park.
Also, before signing the Udara Agreement, the whites hoisted the English flag. At that time, Wariapola Sumangala monk bravely lowered the English flag and raised the lion flag.
