Lunuganga, Sri Lanka's gem of garden architecture

Lunuganga, meaning "Salt River" is the name of a peninsula within the Dedduwa Lake. It was named by its owner Geoffrey Bawa. The former country house of Sri Lanka's most renowned architect has become a major attraction for day-trippers from Bentota and Beruwela and other southwest-coast beaches. The small peninsula had been used as a cinnamon estate during the Dutch colonial period and become a rubber plantation during the British era. Geoffrey Bawa became the landowner in 1949 and developed the Lunuganga Estate into his weekend residence. His ambition was to create a Sri Lankan style of garden architecture including elements of Italian and English gardens in a tropical environement. Bawa lived here almost half a century. After he passed away, he was cremated in the gardens. The estate has been managed by the Lunuganga Trust, a group of his former friends, who devoloped the arcitecturally significant site into a country house hotel.

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