Hi all, hope you are doing well. Today also I’m going to tell you about a beautiful park in the middle of a busy city. That is ‘Diyatha Uyana’, situated in Battaramulla, in Colombo District (‘Uyana’ means park in Sinhalese). The distance to the park from ‘Colombo Fort’ is only about 9.5km. So you might add Diyatha Uyana to your ‘places to visit in Colombo list’ or to your ‘things to do in Colombo list’.
Last time we talked about Bellanwila Park, situated in Boralesgamuwa. It is fair to say that Diyatha Uyana is more beautiful and diverse in many regards.
What is Diyatha Uyana?
Diyatha Uyana is a man made park built on a wetland along the bank of Diyawanna Lake (near Waters Edge Hotel). It is very organized and nicely built park. Diyawanna Lake is also heavily responsible for the beauty of the park. Hundreds of people come there daily, on the weekend, it is thousands. Most of people come here to enjoy and to be relaxed, while some other come here to exercise. The park’s long chain of footpaths is ideal for runners and joggers, that is why a lot of people tend to come here for exercising.
When talking about Diyatha Uyana, the lake is not the only attraction there, there are a lot more. Let’s get into them one by one. Make sure you visit the ‘Gallery’ to watch the complete set of images (larger file size), since not all the images are shown here.
Stalls
There are a number of stalls at the very entrance of the park (that’s a nice trick though), mostly gardening related. There are plants (flower, vegetable, herbal), seeds, fertilizer (one for growth, one for flowers, one for fruits….), pots with various types of materials, etc. etc. That part is covered with ladies for obvious reasons.:)
Other than that, fruits, beverages, pet fish, batik clothes, wallets, statues and many more things are available among these stalls.
Lot of Birds
Since Diyatha Uyana is originally a wetland and the lake is close by, there are a number of aquatic birds. There are Goose (very common), Duck, Pelican and many other birds which I don’t know names. The most interesting thing is Geese there are used to people very much now. So they roam around without any hesitation.
Lake Bank
Once you pass the stall area, you enter into the bank of the Diyawanna Lake. This is actually the main focus of the park. Lake bank is nicely built with foot paths (paved and sandy), turfs, existing trees and benches. It is really a nice hideaway from the busy and stressful lifestyle. It is actually meters away from the busy and stressful street, but feels like miles away.
Sitting there and watching the lake is something you can do for hours. You can’t be sitting here at day time, since there is no shelter in this area. But in the morning and the evening it is an amazing thing to do.
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There was something here which is unique in Sri Lanka in the early days. There were some 3D paintings drawn on the asphalt. But sadly they are all faded off now. They haven’t been re-painted.
Ponds
Even though the park is man-made, they have been very careful not to disturb the existing ponds. Since it is a wetland, there are a number of small ponds. And they add much beauty and diversity to Diyatha Uyana.
A lot of aquatic birds live based on these ponds.
Children Park
This might be the best news for little kids. You can let the kids play and be seated on the benches along the children area on the bank.
There is a point on the park where only people who are exercising is allowed to go further. I don’t know whether is it a hard and fast rule, but no one seems to go beyond that point, execpt runners, so I also didn’t go further.
When coming back to the front, saw this notice below. It might be a good tip for you.
Floating Restaurant
I noticed this huge boat in the middle of the lake, but hadn’t had any idea what this is. After referring Wikipedia I got to know that is the ‘Floating Restaurant’ of Diyatha Uyana. You might remember this kind of a huge boat from Gregory Lake in Nuwara Eliya.
Open Aquarium
There is an open aquarium in the middle of the stalls. It is not much related to the theme though, that is why I mentioned it last. But there are some large, colorful and uncommon fish. There are around ten to fifteen huge fish tanks. And there are benches around them so you can even be sitting while watching fish. If you have little kids, this place is good for you.
I am not listing each and every detail of the park here, because if I do, this will be an extensively long article. Visit the Image Gallery above to see all the photos for a much bigger idea.
Finally, if you are tired with walking and seeing all these, get into the Food Court and have something to eat and drink. Same as ‘Bellanwila Park‘ there are a variety of foods in the food court here.
How to Reach…?
Refer the map below to find the route to Diyatha Uyana from Fort Railway Station.
I strongly recommend this place for both locals and foreigners. Foreign travellers always ask what to do in Colombo or where to go in Colombo. Try this place, I’m sure you will love it.
So that’s about Diyatha Uyana. Feel free to ask anything if you need more information. Just leave a comment below. I’m more than happy to help you. See you in the next post.