Opening of the New Parliament

1982 - The new building at Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte was ceremonially declared open on April 29, 1982 by the then President J. R. Jayewardene. He said: “In this Temple of Democracy let us so conduct ourselves for the welfare of the many that generations yet unborn may say that within this Chamber our words and conduct represented our finest hours.” ‘Duwa’ is a 67,800 square metre island about 15 km east of Colombo, situated in the middle of the 300-acre Diyawanna Lake between Beddegana, off Pita Kotte, and Battaramulla. The Chief Architect of the Parliament building was Geoffrey Bawa, while it was built by a Japanese consortium of two Mitsui companies.