Archaeology National Museum Kotte

Archaeology National Museum

Secure Parking

Watching Time : 2 or 3 Hours

Amazing Experience

Situated in Ethul Kotte, in the heart of our capital, is the E.W. Perera Memorial Kotte Archaeological Museum on land donated by one  of Kotte’s greatest sons, E.W. Perera (1875-1953), barrister, elected state counsellor and freedom fighter, also known as ‘The Lion of Kotte.’ It contains a variety of artefacts recovered from Kotte and elsewhere, including various regional flags, local costumes, weapons, pottery, chinaware and a collection of coins and other relics.

An interesting collection of miniature statues is also on display. An ivory Samadhi Buddha, a wooden standing Buddha found near the Kotte Dalada Medura, a limestone Samadhi Buddha, a metal kneeling figure, a female figurine and a bell with a carved handle in the shape of a human figure from the ancient Mahasen Devmedura.

From the later era came coins and coin moulds, rings from Uraketa wells, clay pipes, tiles and strands of hair from some Portuguese individuals who were buried in Kotte, silver wine cup, metal chunam pouches, silver bangles, bead chains, hair ornaments out of turtle shell, a few firearms including a particularly long double-barrelled pistol. Colonial-period clothes are also on display. Long-sleeved white jackets embellished with lace and adorned with floral motifs and many other items of clothing were influenced by the European colonial forces from Portugal, the Netherlands, and Great Britain.

Opening Hours

Sunday : 8 AM – 4 PM
Monday : 8 AM – 4 PM
Tuesday : 8 AM – 4 PM
Wednesday : 8 AM – 4 PM
Thursday : 8 AM – 4 PM
Friday : 8 AM – 4 PM
Saturday : 8 AM – 4 PM

Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, LK
25°
Fair
06:2318:23 +0530
Feels like: 25°C
Wind: 0km/h E
Humidity: 83%
Pressure: 1007.11mbar
UV index: 0

Tour Map

Gallery

  • Small but very informative collection.. Visit this place if you are a museum person.. This has a nice collection of old flags in sri lanka. Old textiles and ancient artifacts belongings... read more

    Vimansa Vidu Avatar Vimansa Vidu

    Good

    ruchira pramod Avatar ruchira pramod
  • Most under visited place in Kotte. It's all about history

    Anjula Ranasinghe Avatar Anjula Ranasinghe

    I think everyone in the area must visit this place.

    Kushan Thilanga Avatar Kushan Thilanga
  • This small museum, located in an old house, isn't well known and neither is the Kingdom of Kotte. Most of the palace and other structures were destroyed by the Portuguese... read more

    Michael Rohan Sourjah Avatar Michael Rohan Sourjah

    පිටකෝට්ටේ බංගලා හංදියේ මෙම කෞතුකාගාරය පිහිටා ඇත. කෝට්ටේ විසූ ප්‍රබල ප්‍රකට නීතිඥයෙකු හා සමාජ සේවකයෙකු වූ ඊ.ඩබ්: පෙරේරා මැතිතුමාගේ පෞද්ගලික නිවස වූ මෙම ගොඩනැගිල්ල එතුමා විසින් පසු කළෙකදී පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට... read more

    TC Bandarawela Avatar TC Bandarawela
  • Small place but worth the visit. Can part the vehicle inside. Entrance free.

    Prageeth Gunasekara Avatar Prageeth Gunasekara

    කෝට්ටේ රාජධානිය සම්බන්ධව ගොඩක් දේවල් නොමිලේම දැනගත්තා. ටිකට් එකක් වත් ගන්න අවශ්‍ය නැහැ. පොඩි දරුවන්ට ගොඩාක් වැදගත්.

    Chameera Kasun Avatar Chameera Kasun
  • Archaeological museum for kotte era. Lots of Man made artifacts represents of kotte kingdom .

    SURANGA JAYASINGHE Avatar SURANGA JAYASINGHE

    Very informative. Good place to be.

    Ravi Karunasiri Avatar Ravi Karunasiri
  • Lassana

    Disna disna Avatar Disna disna

    Memories ❤️ History

    Roshan Lakmal Avatar Roshan Lakmal
  • Not crowded at all. Good place to study old Sri lankan flags and guns. There is a small archaeology library and book shop.

    Ashan Dimal Avatar Ashan Dimal

    සමාජ, දේශපාලනික, ආර්ථිකමය සහ ඓතිහාසිකමය වෂයෙන් ඉතා හොඳ, දේශීය හා විදේශීය ජනයාට. අපගේ රටේ අපේ උරුමයන් පිළිබඳ මනා අවබෝධයක් සහ එකවර රසවිදිය හැකි වේ. ඒ සදහා විශේෂයෙන්ම පුහුණු වූ... read more

    Tiwanka Jayasinghe Avatar Tiwanka Jayasinghe
  • Good place to get knowledge about Kotte kingdom period in Sri Lanka. .. there is lots of valuable artifacts that shows archaeological evidences in Kotte ..

    Pavithra Jayawickrama Avatar Pavithra Jayawickrama

    Few artefacts are available. If you like history it would be fun. No photos allowed unless you have prior approval. Entrance free.

    Nisal Perera Avatar Nisal Perera
  • Nice place

    Madura Perera Avatar Madura Perera

    A very attractive place for people who seek information. A good collection of artifacts. It’s free and worthwhile visiting. There is a bookshop where you can buy many books published... read more

    Shayan Appuhamy Avatar Shayan Appuhamy
  • 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

    Ananda Weerasinghe Avatar Ananda Weerasinghe

    Very plain exhibition, but still worth visiting. Not allowed to take pictures. As I am a foreigner any guidance wasn't given, but I had to write my name in a... read more

    Natalya de Silva Avatar Natalya de Silva
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