Courtesy of Asoka Kuruppu
Do you know the best residential area in Colombo during the Dutch times? Yes it was ‘Grandpass’ : (from Grande Passo) Some old Dutch houses and even a Dispensary are still there.
Other interesting names that still survive from those days:
Main Street: (Roa Direto). The Dutch remembered one of their governors – Hulft who died during the siege of Colombo, with Hulftsdorp and recalled some of their native place names like Leydenand Delft. The Dutch named
Maliban Street to identify the fashionable promenade in Pettah – Maliban meaning the Mmall. Kayman’s Gate refers to ‘kayman’ – crocodiles that were found in the area where the rivulet entered the sea. Wolvendaal meant the dale of wolves. Bloemendahl is a vale of flowers.
Korteboam means short trees. Beira (mythology), the mother to all the gods and goddesses in the Celtic mythology of Scotland. There was a time when Kollupitiya was known as Baradeniya. It was a beautiful rustic village with coconut gardens and cinnamon trees that grew wild and narrow cart-tracks which connected the few villas and homes here with the rest of the country. For the purpose of postal services `Colombo 03’ consists of Kollupitiya.
