Industrial Heritage in Kandy, Sri Lanka

Abstract

As a result of the Industrial revolution during the British colonial rule, many civil engineering and mechanical technical heritages were built in the period between 1815 – 1948 related to Transportation, Communication, Plantation industry and public facilities in Kandy and its suburbs. The purpose of this research is to study the Industrial heritage created by the British in Kandy and its suburbs related to those fields. In this study, primarily library studies were conducted to collect data, followed by field exploration, observation and interviews. By the 19th century, with the construction of highways and railways in Kandy and its suburbs, it helped to transport the harvests of plantations around Kandy to the port of Colombo, and the fertilizers, equipment and workers needed for plantation cultivation were easily transported to the upcountry areas. The British built many civil engineering and mechanical technical constructions in connection with the highways and railways that were built. Also, Construction took place near post offices to carry out communication activities related to estates. The British set up factories and installed mechanical equipment to process the produce from coffee and tea plantation. What the places that can be identified as Industrial Heritage due to the industries and their infrastructure created by the British? Finding out is the research problem of this research and this heritage is being rapidly destroyed due to modern development activities and focusing on securing this heritage is subject to discussion through this research.