Hakgala Botanical Garden
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Hakgala Botanical Garden is a botanical gardens in Sri Lanka. The garden is contiguous to Hakgala Strict Nature Reserve.[1]
Variants
Location
Hakgala Botanical Garden is situated on the Nuwara Eliya-Badulla main road, 16 km from Nuwara Eliya and extends for about 28 hectares.
Origin
Hakgala Mountain = mountain hakgala’ has the meaning of jaw-rock. Origin of name related with Ramayana character Hanuman, who brought a chunk of the Himalayas back in his jaw.
History
The garden was established in 1861, under George Henry Kendrick Thwaites as an experimental cultivation of cinchona, a commercial crop thriving at the time. Once after tea replaced the cinchona, it was turned into an experimental tea cultivation. In 1884 it transformed into a garden. Since then many subtropical and some temperate plants have been planted in the gardens.[2]
Mythology
In Hindu mythology, it says that the Lankan King Ravana, after abducting Sita, kept her hidden in this area, and the area was offered to Sita as a pleasure garden. The place finds mention in the Ramayana as Ashok Vatika.[citation needed] The area was named "Sita Eliya," and "Sita Amman Temple" was built on the site.[3]
Hakgala Mountain
Hakgala is a mountain situated in the Nuwara Eliya district of Sri Lanka at 2,169 m (7,116 ft) above mean sea level, most parts of the mountain are covered with forest belonging to Hakgala Strict Nature Reserve. Hakgala Botanical Garden is situated on the northeastern slope of the Hakgala Mountain. The southwestern side of the mountain has a wet climate compared to the northeastern slope since the southwestern part faces directly to the southwest Monsoon.
According to the native language of Sri Lanka – Sinhala, the name of the mountain hakgala’ has the meaning of jaw-rock. Jaw rock is related to a story in the epic Ramayana. According to the legend, Hanuman the Monkey God had been sent by Rama to the Himalayas to find a particular medical herb to rescue Sita from the demon king Ravana. When Hanuman arrived at the Himalayas he had forgotten which herb he was looking for and he had decided to bring a chunk of the Himalayas back in his jaw, hoping that particular herb was growing on it. Legend says that Hakgala Mountain was formed by the chunk of rock brought from the Himalayas by Hanuman.[4][5]
External links
References
- ↑ Green, Michael J. B. (1990). IUCN directory of South Asian protected areas. IUCN. pp. 211–213. ISBN 2-8317-0030-2.
- ↑ "Annual Performance Report 2023" (PDF). parliament.lk. Department of National Botanic Gardens. 2003. p. 15.
- ↑ "Annual Performance Report 2023" (PDF). parliament.lk. Department of National Botanic Gardens. 2003. p. 15.
- ↑ "Hakgala Mountain of Sri Lanka".
- ↑ "Hakgala Gardens in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka - Lonely Planet".