The National museum of Sri Lanka, perched at Colombo is a prime in coins and currency, crafts of Sri Lanka, Ceramic ware, Regalia and jewelry, Stone antiquities masks, types of equipment of Veddha culture, Ancient lamps, Paintings of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa eras and furniture. Though Sri Lanka is a rich country of Cultural and religion history the national museum is a home to diverse artifacts depicting the great history of Sri Lanka. The museum was founded by Sir William Henry Gregory who was a British colonial governor of Sri Lanka in 1877. Under the guidance of the governor, the Royal Asiatic Society initiated to build the museum. The building is designed regarding the Italian architecture.
Most important regalia, the throne of the Kandyan King) are also preserved in the museum. Today the authorities have planned and arranged multiplex arrangements to exhibit the ancient heritage of Sri Lanka. The construction process of the museum was carried out by Arasi Marikar Wapachi Marikar, aka Wapchi Marikar (Bass) who came to Ceylon in 1060 AD.The museum was uplifted as a national museum during the period of Dr.P.E.P Deraniyagala. He was capable enough to setup extension branches of the national museum at Kandy, Ratnapura, and Jaffna. This is the largest museum in Sri Lanka. Most vulnerable evidence are preserved at the national museum of Sri Lanka. In addition, the museum has been divided into 3 major sections. In fact, they are Natural Science section, Cultural section, and the library.
The natural section has consisted of Entomology, Zoology, Botany, and Geology. Entomology section provides a collection of over 95000 dry mounted insect varieties (Butterflies, moths, flies, grasshoppers, crickets, ant lions etc. ) and over 5000 varieties of wet preserved insects (ants, bees, wasps, plant bugs etc.) are exhibited. Zoology section is constituted of the largest collection of faunal diversity in Sri Lanka. At the same time, the Botany section is about botanical samples of ferns, plant, mosses and few varieties of fungi. The Geology section has a collection of fossils, minerals soils etc. The Cultural section is divided into two parts namely Ethnology and Anthropology. Ethnology section has a set of pottery, coins, antiques, and furniture while Anthropology section has a set of agricultural, ritual and musical components etc. A skeleton of a big whale hanged on a ceiling and puppetry displayed in the children’s gallery is amazing and admirable. The national museum of Sri Lankan represents a vast number of tremendous assets. Further, the museum is also a supportive place for seminars, educational workshops etc.