Queen Victoria’s statue to be placed at Victoria Dam

11 January 2024 12:00 am Views - 560

The larger than life statue of Queen Victoria was brought into the country in 1879 to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee. It was placed in the former Gordon Gardens, behind Queen’s House for public exposition

Will the Royals who are on a visit to Sri Lanka make a trip to the Victoria Dam? The visit by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence coincides with the diplomatic ties between England and Sri Lanka which mark 75 years this year. Sri Lankan authorities over here in the central hills are making elaborate arrangements to place a statue of Queen Victoria on the Bund of the Victoria Dam. The Governor of the Central Province Lalith U. Gamage is eagerly supervising arrangements done by the State for the event.
The idea of beautifying the area near the Victoria Bund, which is a tourist attraction, is to facilitate the placing of the statue of the queen. It is better to place the statue here and not at a place which is less frequented by foreigners. 
So the statue of Queen Victoria will be placed near the bund of the Victoria Dam; which many opine is the rightful place to place such a precious object.
The Victoria Dam is named after the Queen. A wandering British servicemen once found a ten-foot water fall right down at the bottom of the present dam and thought it fit to name the fall ‘Victoria Fall’. 

But, Geologist and one time Vice Chancellor Prof. Vithanage was of the view that the markings for the Dam is right over a ‘ living vein’ , now buried under the Butterfly Dam.
This writer received an opportunity to travel down to the Dam area when he was invited by the then Engineer who was in charge of the Dam. 
One encounters a sense of eeriness when visiting the Dam and the thought of what would happen if the water falls on you is sure to engulf your mind. 
However when climbing up the steps the writer noticed some brass pendulums which were hung there. This writer was then informed by an Engineer working there that some of the pendulums had been removed from the place. 
Prof. Vithanage mentioned that a ‘living vein’ was running underneath the markings of the Dam. This fact was revealed at a meeting which was arranged  at the Vihare in Teldeniya which was presided by the then Ministry of Power Minister Gamini Dissanayake. Prof. Vithanage pointed out that that there is silver and copper at this very place.  These observations are written by a Dawasa newspaper reporter Ariyawansa Jayaweera in his book the ‘Great Divide’.
But no one took any notice of this warning though they themselves were aware of the concerns associated with the dam.
The larger than life statue of Queen Victoria was brought into the country in 1879 to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee. It was placed in the former Gordon Gardens, behind Queen’s House for public exposition. Gordon Gardens was open to the public and was situated behind Queen’s House; or now this place is known as Janadhipathi Mandiraya. Port workers sometimes have their lunch at this beautiful garden.

The government of Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike shifted the statue to Coomaraswamy Mawatha and placed it at the rear entrance to the Museum. It is this statue that has now been shifted to the bund of the Victoria Dam.
So once again this writer reiterates that the Victoria Dam is the rightful site to place the statue of Queen Victoria. During her reign there was goodwill between Sri Lanka and England.