Royal Botanical Garden located in the town of Peradeniya, in the largest bend on the river Mahaweli. The flora collection of the famous botanical garden is simply unique. Visitors can see more than five thousand species of various plants in the garden, planted on a huge hilly area of ​​95 hectares. , by right, is considered the best in all of Asia. In the Royal Garden you can see rare plant species, amazing giant trees, an orchid greenhouse, numerous cacti, bamboos, a fern grove, a unique exposition of indoor plants and other interesting tropical exhibits. To see all the expositions of the botanical garden in Sri Lanka, visitors need a whole day to explore the vast area.

Royal Botanic Gardens of Sri Lanka - video

Royal Botanic Gardens of Sri Lanka - photo

A bit of history

The beginning of the story Royal Botanic Gardens attributed to 1371, when King Vikremabahu III moved his court to Peradeniya. The best gardeners of Sri Lanka, by decree of the king, created a prototype of a modern garden. Subsequently, the hilly area was divided into park areas, which reflected different types of tropical flora. The garden got its name in the middle of the 18th century, but 1821 is considered to be the year of foundation of the garden. At this time, the king of Sri Lanka was overthrown, and the British took up the garden, paying great attention to the cultivation and study of the local flora. At that time, coffee, rubber, tea, cinchona, coconut and nutmeg were grown in the botanical garden.

What to see

Today, the largest garden in Sri Lanka, located in Peradeniya, is widely known for its unique collection of tropical flora. Particular attention of visitors is attracted by the alley of memorial trees, created with the participation of prominent and famous people who visited Sri Lanka. The first tree in the memorial alley was planted by King Edward the Seventh, and the second (the Ceylon iron tree, which is the national symbol of Sri Lanka) was planted in 1891 by the Russian Emperor Nicholas II. In the memorial alley, you can also see plants planted at one time by I. Gandhi, Yuri Gagarin and other famous visitors.

Another unique exposition is a huge collection of indoor plants (about 750 species), surprising with a variety of colors and interesting leaf shapes. The pride of the garden of Sri Lanka is a collection of orchids, consisting of about 100 varieties of these plants. Noteworthy is also a large palm grove, including enough rare specimens. The most amazing plants are collected in the Royal Botanic Gardens! For example, there is Benjamin's ficus, whose huge crown exceeds an area of ​​​​2,500 square meters.

Royal Botanic Gardens - video

How to get to the Royal Botanic Gardens

Address of the Botanic Garden in Peradeniya: Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. This place can be reached by bus number 644, following from. The bus stop "Clock Tower" is located near the clock tower. Another option is bus number 652 from the Torrington stop in the market area. You can return from the botanical garden by any bus heading towards Kandy.

Opening hours and ticket prices

The Royal Botanic Gardens are open to the public daily throughout the year. Opening hours of the largest garden in Sri Lanka: 7:30 - 17:30, tickets at the box office can only be purchased until 17:00.

The cost of visiting the garden for foreign tourists is approximately 10 dollars or 1,100 rupees. A ticket for a local resident is much cheaper - only 50 rupees.

Royal Botanic Gardens on the map

I liked the Royal Botanic Gardens for its natural beauty, carefully emphasized by a human hand. You may not find the frilly artificial forms and pedantically clear lines of French parks here. Its miracles are created by nature itself in alliance with man, and not as a result of man's subjugation of nature. I consider this circumstance an undoubted advantage of the Royal Botanical Gardens of Peradeniya, known to connoisseurs of flora from all over the world.

Once in this famous landscaping oasis, I got a great opportunity to see the variety of gardening styles. different countries. Here you can admire the beauty of the neighborhood of 5,000 species of plants collected from all over the world, and enjoy the flowering of more than 3,770 species of them. And most importantly, take amazing photos in this kaleidoscope of picturesque landscapes and natural wonders.

Story

Even before the Royal Botanic Gardens became one of the best parks in Southeast Asia, many unexpected twists and turns took place in its fate. From a small garden at the residence of the Kandyan king with a Buddhist monastery, stupas and a small park in the 17th century, it turned into a full-fledged botanical institution with the richest collection plants from all over the world. This path was not easy - initially the British organized a factory for the production of alcohol from fruits and fruits, but in 1821, thanks to the efforts of the English botanist Moon, this place was recorded as a botanical garden with relevant scientific and educational functions.

The British authorities sought to make an economic garden here, solving the problems of coffee export, while scientists have always defended the importance of the scientific use of these places and the collection of rare plant species. Over time, the leaders of the garden still managed to ensure its independence, and the "Royal Botanical Garden in Peradeniya" received international recognition from the entire scientific community. This place is also known for the fact that when a fungal virus struck the coffee plantations of Ceylon in 1869, tea bushes brought from China and India were studied here. Tea to this day remains the pride and brand of Sri Lanka.

How to get there

Since the Royal Botanical Garden is located in the suburbs of Kandy (about 6 kilometers), it is quite easy to get to it.

• Knock knock (taxi). By stopping a tuk-tuk in Kandy, you can get here for 3-5 dollars (400-500 rupees). Travel time is 20-30 minutes. It is preferable to take a tuk-tuk with the inscription “TAXI-METER”, in which case you pay for the distance you traveled, and not for the time of movement. At the exit from major cities, such as Kandy, there are traffic jams, which can make your trip much more expensive.
• Bus. To get from Kandy to the Botanic Garden stop, you need to take bus number 644 at the Clock Tower stop, or bus number 652 at the Torrington bus stop. The bus stops in front of the main entrance and ticket office. The cost of the trip is 0.14 dollars (20 rupees). The duration of the trip is 20-40 minutes depending on the traffic.

• Personal car. The Royal Botanic Gardens is located on the A1 road that connects Kandy and Colombo. Guests can use the free parking located opposite the main entrance to the garden. The parking area is large, so there is enough space for everyone - tourists, buses, and tuk-tuks.
• Train. To get to the Royal Botanical Garden, you need to buy a train ticket to Colombo at Kandy Central Station or by voicing the name of the station Sarasavi-Uyana or Botanic Garden at the box office. This is very difficult, but the cheapest way. The fare (in 3rd class) is only $0.04 (Rs. 5). Stop Sarasavi-Uyana will be the third from Kandy. Upon arrival, you need to walk for about 20 minutes through the territory of the University of Peradeniya, or take a tuk-tuk. For the latter, you will have to pay 0.35 dollars (50 rupees). The total travel time is about 1 hour.

Where can I buy a ticket

Ticket offices are located near the main entrance to the park. A ticket to the Royal Botanic Gardens costs 1,100 rupees. Periodically, its value increases depending on the fluctuations in the exchange rate, so be guided by $ 10.

When purchasing a ticket, you receive a small booklet with brief information about the Royal Botanical Gardens of Peradeniya and a map showing important objects recommended for inspection. Unfortunately, the information in the brochure is only in English.

Despite a large number of visitors, there are no queues for entrance tickets, even on weekends. Ticket office hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Opening hours

The Botanical Garden is open from 7.30 to 17.00 daily, without days off and holidays.

I recommend visiting hours - before 10.00 or after 15.00 on weekdays. Many groups of tourists seek to see the park, local residents, schoolchildren, students, couples come here, so after 10.00 it becomes crowded, especially on weekends. Walking around noon has its advantages. The park is so beautiful that it has become an excellent subject for shooting a wedding love story. Photographers often choose local landscapes for this. Watching the newlyweds, you can take a good look at their costumes in the Kandyan style, and if courage allows, then take a picture with the bride and groom.

What to see

The Royal Botanic Garden covers 59 hectares. It is located on small hills in the bend of the Mahaweli River, which forms a natural enclosure for its entire territory.

Those who wish can take an electric car for $ 11 (1,500 rupees) per hour, although it is much more interesting to walk and enjoy the contemplation of all this splendor. The territory of the garden is really huge, and you can take a leisurely walk here for at least a whole day. The entire garden is divided into 25 zones, so I advise you to allocate at least three hours for its inspection.

orchid greenhouse

A small greenhouse housed about 100 species of orchids. Each orchid has its own zest - shape, color, smell. What unforgettable aromas reign here! From lily of the valley and lilac to chocolate and a slight smell of fuel oil. A bizarre forms these queens of the tropical rainforests are not allowed to look away for a long time, forcing them to consider all the details of the inflorescences.

palm alleys

The Royal Botanic Gardens are divided into sections by avenues of slender palm trees. Each alley is decorated with its own type of palm trees. In addition, there is a separate zone where selected specimens of this plant, brought from all over the world, grow. Here you can find date, coconut and other types of palms. In total, the garden collection includes about 180 species of them. Some of them are sacred to the Sri Lankans. For example, the flower of the talipot palm tree - it blooms once in a lifetime, when the tree is already 50 years old, to die immediately. For the beauty of the moment of flowering, this tree is called the queen of palm trees. Its leaves are still used to this day to record a horoscope at the birth of a child, because they are so strong that they can be stored for up to a thousand years. It was on such leaves that Buddhist texts were once written.

And, of course, the avenue of royal palms, the pride of the Royal Botanical Gardens, strikes with its harmony and scope. Thanks to the crown of leaves on top of tall, graceful trunks, the palm tree was called royal.

Japanese garden

A murmuring stream, a stylized gazebo, lanterns - this, of course, is a Japanese garden. It was created with great taste, in the style of the best examples of park art in the Land of the Rising Sun. The design is made using tropical plants that respectfully mimic the vegetation of a Japanese garden.

Orchard

Here is presented in all its splendor the world of exotic fruits, which we sometimes meet in supermarkets and taste which we rush to exotic countries. A gastronomic paradise for true fans of unusual and mixed tastes. The hand reaches out to pull something from the tree... But! Picking fruit in the garden is prohibited! With respect, we only look at how the adored rambutans, mangosteen, mango, as well as other unfamiliar fruits, such as erythrins and jujube, grow. Most fruits from the orchard can be bought in the market of any city in Sri Lanka.

Grove of old trees

To the left of the main entrance to the garden through the alley you can get into the grove, where trees are collected, which are more than 100 years old. Judging by the plates, there are unique specimens of eucalyptus, upas, cycas, which are over 140 years old, as well as other trees of no less respectable age.

Particular attention is drawn to the jackfruit (aka Indian breadfruit), which is about 160 years old. The fruits of this tree reach 35 kilograms. Ripe fruits can be eaten. The wood of this tree is used to make furniture and souvenirs. And Buddhist monks dye their clothes with a decoction of crushed jackfruit wood.

Pond - map

On the left side of the Royal Botanical Gardens there is an artificial pond, which coincides in outline with the island of Sri Lanka. In the central part of the pond there is an island with a lone tree - this is how the city of Kandy is designated. The pond was created back in the days when the park belonged to the royal residence and was used to collect water. And today in the pond expanse for water lilies, reeds, Egyptian papyrus. In the area you can see chirping green parrots. Great place for contemplation. Stay here for a while to enjoy the harmony and peace.

spice garden

Not far from the pond, you can see a garden with plants that give us spices and spices, on which the culinary art of Sri Lanka, all of Asia and beyond is based. The whole palette of flavors is presented here - nutmeg, ginger, cloves, cardamom, vanilla, cinnamon. Perhaps, I met a greater variety and scale only in with its huge vines, trees to the sky and a lot of spicy smells that replace each other.
Here, the garden of medicinal plants surprises with its simplicity, on the beds of which aloe, nettle, valerian, bearberry, succession, chamomile and many other pharmaceutical herbs familiar to us are planted. The most bizarre object of this part of the garden, in my opinion, was a composition of 24 types of lawn grasses in the form of rays of the rising sun. It is difficult to imagine that there are so many types of lawn grass, but all of them are really noticeably different from each other.

And yet, the botanical garden is intended more for aesthetic pleasure, and it is the practical use of all the plants growing in them that attracts.

Wonders of the Royal Botanic Gardens

Drunken firs

One of the brightest sights of the Royal Botanical Gardens are the so-called “drunken spruces” - alleys of araucaria, which seemed to bend under a strong wind. It is not immediately clear whether this is how the trees leaned or we are walking at an angle. locals they say that these "giants" are afraid of termites, so they try to "run away" from them. In fact, this is a feature of the structure of the tree itself, which eventually ceases to hold the trunk vertically and gradually leans. When you look at an alley of such strange trees, there is a strange feeling of a fairy tale, a fantastic world into which we have found ourselves. And what is this, if not the wonders of nature itself!

ficus benjamina

On the Great Lawn, in its very heart, there is a huge tree, the crown of which, covering 2500 square meters, can accommodate about a thousand people under it. This is a giant ficus Benjamin, the national pride of the garden and all of Sri Lanka. He is already 140 years old. The twisted roots of the tree look like a ball of frozen snakes. This is probably the biggest tree I have ever seen!

rainbow eucalyptus

Among the natural wonders of the Royal Botanic Gardens, you can find eucalyptus, the bark of which shimmers with all shades of yellow, green, blue, burgundy, as if some artist secretly made his sketches on the trunk of this tree. The tree shows such a focus every year - at first the young bark is green, and as it grows older, the pigment changes to completely unexpected blue, purple, burgundy colors.

Cannonball tree

"Caution: falling cannonballs!" - such an inscription is found in many places in the garden. On tall trees with the mysterious name kurupita, fruits with a diameter of about 20 centimeters ripen, really similar to cannonballs. The fruits of this tree are weighty, so I do not advise you to take risks and stay under the tree for a long time. From time to time, ripened fruits, falling off, fall down.

Famous guests of Peradeniya

The pearl of the park is the Memorial Garden. This is a large circle with an area of ​​1.5 hectares. About 40 trees have been planted here by the most famous people from all over the world, mostly leaders of countries who have visited Sri Lanka at different times. Each tree has its own commemorative plaque:

• Tree "Bodhi" (Bo-Tree). 1875 Planted by King Edward VII of Britain;
• Ashoka Tree (Saraca Asoca). 1893 Planted by the Emperor of Austria Franz Joseph I;
• Pride of Burma tree (Amherstia nobilis). 1989 Planted by Prince Henry of Prussia;
• Flame Tree (Flamboyante). 1899 Planted by Prince Henry of Prussia;
• Ceylon Ironwood (Ironwood / Na Tree). 1891 Planted by the future Emperor of Russia Nicholas II. By the way, in 1986 this tree was chosen as the national tree of Sri Lanka;
• Tree "Cannonball" (Couroupita Guianensis). 1901 Planted by King George V of Britain and Queen Mary;
• Tree "Rose of Venezuela" (Brownea grandiceps). 1981 Planted by the King of Greece Constantine II.
• Tree "Saraka" (Saraca). 1961 Landed by the world's first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

Where to eat

No matter how tempting the fruits of the trees in the Royal Botanic Gardens look, I would not advise you to eat them. It is better to look into the cafe, located on the Great Lawn, where you can have a full breakfast or lunch, where there are also juices and desserts. Prices here are slightly higher than in an ordinary city cafe, but any barking can taste the proposed snacks and sandwiches at affordable prices over a cup of tea or coffee. A full meal will cost 7-12 dollars (1000-1500 rupees).

But the main highlight of the park is that you can bring food with you or buy it in a restaurant and have a picnic anywhere (of course, within reason and without destroying the surrounding beauty). Locals choose the Great Lawn next to the giant ficus for gatherings.

What to see nearby

• University of Peradeniya. It is opposite the Royal Botanic Gardens. Walking through the territory of one of the oldest universities in Sri Lanka, pay attention to the buildings of the buildings - a kind of mixture of Indian and colonial styles.
• Sri Rajopawanaramaya Temple. A fairly modest temple, but all the necessary attributes are observed here. If you leave the Botanical Garden, then you need to go left for 3-5 minutes along the road.

• Gannoruwa Agriculture park. This is an exemplary garden-garden with a beautiful landscape, outlandish agricultural tools and devices. The agropark is used as a training base for farms, as well as an excursion site for schoolchildren and anyone interested in crop production. There is an audio center where films on agricultural topics are shown. All information is presented in English or Sri Lankan, perhaps because this place is not very popular among Russian tourists. Gannoruwa is a 20-minute walk from the botanical garden. After leaving the garden, go left past the temple to a large highway that crosses the river, turn left along the highway and see the corresponding signs. Or take a tuk-tuk for $0.35 (50 rupees) to get to the agro-park. The cost of visiting is 1.5 dollars (200 rupees). Opening hours: from 8.30 to 16.15 daily, including Sundays.

Note to the tourist

• No surcharges! Avoid scammers who offer to show flying dogs for money. You will see everything yourself, walking in the park. Flocks of fruit bats (flying dogs or foxes) prefer to hang in clusters on tall trees with sparse foliage.
• Beautiful pictures, as well as up-to-date information about the Royal Botanic Gardens can be viewed at .
• Midday heat. There are many shady alleys in the park, but I advise you to stock up on a hat and water. You will find useful fountains for washing, located along the alleys.
• Peradeniya is a suburb of Kandy. Therefore, the Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya will be a great addition to the main attractions of Kandy, such as the Royal Palace, and others.

Hello friends. About 5,000 plants have been collected in this place, 3,770 of which delight the eye with colorful flowering. This place can be considered a symbol of human respect for nature. A symbol of the fact that it is not at all necessary to strive to subdue it by inscribing unnatural forms into the natural landscape, that you can create a masterpiece only by carefully emphasizing its beauty. All this is the royal botanical garden in Peradeniya.

Royal Botanic Gardens is located in the town of Peradeniya, 5 kilometers from the city of Kandy on the island.

How to get there

• From Mount Lavinia and Colombo, a one-way trip will take approximately 4 hours
• From Negombo about 2.5 - 3 hours.
• From Kandy 15 minutes

The park is located in the suburbs of Kandy and getting to it is quite simple: by tuk-tuk from the city, by bus 644 from Clock Tower or 652 from Torrington.

• Buses stop in front of the main entrance to the garden, where the ticket office is located.
• By car, you will need to drive along the A1 highway connecting Kandy and Colombo. Parking at the park is free.
• The cheapest way is by train. To do this, you will need to buy a ticket to Colombo or Nuwara Eliya at the Central Station. Be sure to say the name of the desired Sarasavi-Uyana or Botanic Garden station at the ticket office.

Royal Botanic Gardens on the map

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Photo: Royal Botanic Gardens Peradeniya

Photo and description

The Royal Botanic Gardens of Peradeniya is one of the most beautiful places islands. It is located about 5.5 km west of the city of Kandy in the central province of Sri Lanka and attracts 1.2 million visitors annually. The garden is famous for its diverse plant collection, which includes over 300 species of orchids, spices, medicinal plants and palm trees. The total area of ​​the botanical garden is 147 acres (0.59 square kilometers). It is administered by the National Botanic Gardens Division of the Sri Lanka Department of Agriculture.

The origins of the creation of the botanical garden go back to the distant 1371, when King Wikramabahu III ascended the throne and moved his court to Peradeniya near the Mahaweli River. He was followed by King Kirti Shri and King Rajadha Rajavinje. The temple on this site was built by King Vimala Dharma, but it was destroyed by the British after they gained control of the kingdom of Kandy. After that, the foundation for the botanical garden was laid by Aleksandar Lunu in 1821. The Peradeniya Botanical Garden was formally established in 1843 with plants brought from Kew Garden, Slave Island, Colombo, and the Kalutara Garden at Kalutara. In 1844, under George Gardner, the garden expanded greatly and gained great fame. In 1912, the garden came under the care of the Sri Lanka Department of Agriculture.

There is also an alley of palm trees in the garden. There is an amazing tree planted by King George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary in 1901. The branches of the tree are bent down under the weight of fruits that look like cannonballs.

During World War II, Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in South Asia, used the Botanical Gardens as the headquarters of the South East Asia Command.