Refurbished Stone Antiquities Gallery at Colombo National Museum opened

Suresh SHANTHA

COLOMBO: The Refurbished Stone Antiquities Gallery at the Colombo National Museum was officially declared open recently by Cultural Affairs and National Heritage Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene.

The Colombo National Museum's Fifth Gallery has been refurbished. There are now five history galleries in the Colombo Museum, namely Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Transitional (post-Polonnaruwa/pre-Kandy).

The Stone Antiquities Gallery is the first thematic gallery to be revamped and opened to the public.

The Stone Antiquities Gallery is as old as the Colombo National Museum itself (Opened in 1877). The 129-year-old gallery house has an exquisite array of artifacts, including religious icons, architectonic and decorative sculptures, historic documents and household utensils, including an ancient stone-water filter.

The refurbished gallery is divided into four separate sections which are stone carvings, Epigraphy (also known as inscriptions), the Buddhist Section and the Hindu Section.

The Gallery has been designed to give visitors a deeper appreciation of history of these works of art. Trilingual information panels, neatly arranged artifacts, new display and state-of-the-art lighting system were also added to a visitor's viewing pleasure.