Beira Lake and Seema Malaka

Beira Lake is a man-made lake in central Colombo, Sri Lanka, and its best-known sight is Seema Malaka, a meditation hall on small platforms designed by the architect Geoffrey Bawa and linked by walkways. Pelicans and herons are common, and the lakeside is pleasant in the evening. It suits visitors already at Gangaramaya Temple, a few hundred metres west.

Dug by the Portuguese, enlarged by the Dutch

The Portuguese created the lake to protect Colombo from the local kings; Captain Lopo de Brito linked a stream to the moat around their fort. The Dutch enlarged it and created Slave Island. The lake covered about 1.65 km² a century ago and about 0.654 km² today, split into East Lake, Galle Face Lake, West Lake and Southwest Lake. It drains to the sea through the McCallum Lock Gates. The Colombo Rowing Club has used it for over 140 years.

Bawa's floating temple on three platforms

The first hall, built in the late 19th century, slowly sank into the lake in the 1970s. Bawa's 1976 replacement sits on three platforms joined by pontoon bridges, inspired by forest monasteries at Anuradhapura and Ritigala. A Muslim businessman, S. H. Musaji, and his wife paid for the rebuilding in memory of their son. The main roof has blue tiles. Seated Buddhas line the platforms, a side platform holds a bodhi tree grown from the Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura, and small shrines honour Hindu deities, with a Guanyin shrine at the entrance. It is used mainly for meditation.