top of page
martin.jpeg

Martin Wickramasinghe Museum

This is an author's house and museum. It is correct to say Koggala's house. Martin Wickramasinghe, born in Koggala, took that village to the world through his works. The house where this writer was born, located in a coconut grove near the Koggala lagoon, was later turned into a folk art museum. By the Martin Wickramasinghe Board of Trustees. Mahagathkaru Martin Wickramasinghe also mentions about Koggala very wonderfully in his autobiography, Born From Birth.Going to Koggala today, apart from Madoldu, we can visit Koggala beach and the Martin Wickramasinghe Folk Art Museum.The Janakala Museum is located at a walking distance from Galle Matara Road. The Koggala Folk Museum consists of five exhibition rooms that have been organized in such a way as to collect the knowledge related to the traditional village technology and introduce it to the future generations. Many rare artefacts related to agriculture and fishing, the main occupations of the villagers since ancient times, are also displayed here. You can visit this museum and fill your mind with the knowledge of the life consciousness that the people of the past had. The visitors who continue on the narrow paths under the coconut trees can then see the old airplanes and boats.The traditional house where Martin Wickramasinghe was born reminds us of the two-story Sinhala tiled house of a rural elite that existed about two hundred years ago. the tools and books used by Martin Wickramasinghe have been stored here as they were then. The area around this house reflects the old architectural features. It was taken over by the government during the Second World War (1940s). It is for a military aircraft port. Later, those houses and land that were in the wild were again handed over to the great writer himself. At the time of Martin Wickramasinghe's death, the house where he was born and this premises, which claimed about two acres of land, is now a beautiful garden with eight acres of Turuliya Gomu and several buildings built accordingly. At the end of the garden is an ancient Bodhi. Martin Wickramasinghe Samadhi is located not far from it.

bottom of page