Archaeology National Museum Kotte

Archaeology National Museum

Secure Parking

Watching Time : 30 Minutes

Amazing Experience

Situated in Ethul Kotte, in the heart of our capital, is the E.W. Perera Memorial Kotte Archaeological Museum on land donated by one  of Kotte’s greatest sons, E.W. Perera (1875-1953), barrister, elected state counsellor and freedom fighter, also known as ‘The Lion of Kotte.’ It contains a variety of artefacts recovered from Kotte and elsewhere, including various regional flags, local costumes, weapons, pottery, chinaware and a collection of coins and other relics.

An interesting collection of miniature statues is also on display. An ivory Samadhi Buddha, a wooden standing Buddha found near the Kotte Dalada Medura, a limestone Samadhi Buddha, a metal kneeling figure, a female figurine and a bell with a carved handle in the shape of a human figure from the ancient Mahasen Devmedura.

From the later era came coins and coin moulds, rings from Uraketa wells, clay pipes, tiles and strands of hair from some Portuguese individuals who were buried in Kotte, silver wine cup, metal chunam pouches, silver bangles, bead chains, hair ornaments out of turtle shell, a few firearms including a particularly long double-barrelled pistol. Colonial-period clothes are also on display. Long-sleeved white jackets embellished with lace and adorned with floral motifs and many other items of clothing were influenced by the European colonial forces from Portugal, the Netherlands, and Great Britain.

Opening Hours

Sunday : 8.00 AM – 4.00 PM
Monday : 8.00 AM – 4.00 PM
Tuesday : 8.00 AM – 4.00 PM
Wednesday : 8.00 AM – 4.00 PM
Thursday : 8.00 AM – 4.00 PM
Friday : 8.00 AM – 4.00 PM
Saturday : 8.00 AM – 4.00 PM

Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, LK
29°
Fair
06:0118:31 +0530
Feels like: 34°C
Wind: 11km/h WSW
Humidity: 79%
Pressure: 1008.13mbar
UV index: 5

Tour Map

Gallery

  • Small place but worth the visit. Can part the vehicle inside. Entrance free.

    Prageeth Gunasekara Avatar Prageeth Gunasekara

    Good to have something of the kotte kingdom

    Milinda Huruggamuwa Avatar Milinda Huruggamuwa
  • Informative. One should definitely visit to learn more about the Kotte kingdom.

    Lara Wijesuriya Avatar Lara Wijesuriya

    Archaeological museum for kotte era. Lots of Man made artifacts represents of kotte kingdom .

    SURANGA JAYASINGHE Avatar SURANGA JAYASINGHE
  • Nice place

    Madura Perera Avatar Madura Perera

    Sacred Kotte kingdom

    Irshad Izmath Avatar Irshad Izmath
  • Small but very informative collection.. Visit this place if you are a museum person.. This has a nice collection of old flags in sri lanka. Old textiles and ancient artifacts belongings... read more

    Vimansa Vidu Avatar Vimansa Vidu

    Unexpected but my children loved the exhibit here

    Markus Anson Avatar Markus Anson
  • This museum is located in the house of late Mr. E W Perera. The museum has a collection of various artefacts ranging from flags, clothes, coins, pistols, swords, pottery, jewellery, statues,... read more

    Thushini Goonewardene Avatar Thushini Goonewardene

    කෝට්ටේ රාජධානිය සම්බන්ධව ගොඩක් දේවල් නොමිලේම දැනගත්තා. ටිකට් එකක් වත් ගන්න අවශ්‍ය නැහැ. පොඩි දරුවන්ට ගොඩාක් වැදගත්.

    Chameera Kasun Avatar Chameera Kasun
  • I think everyone in the area must visit this place.

    Kushan Thilanga Avatar Kushan Thilanga

    ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ශ්‍රී ජයවර්ධනපුර කෝට්ටේ පිහිටුවා ඇති පුරාවිද්‍යා කෞතුකාගාරය වේ. එය බොරැල්ල-පිටකෝට්ටේ ප්‍රධාන මාර්ගයේ, ඇතුල් කෝට්ටේ පිහිටි බංගලා හන්දිය ආසන්නයේ පිහිටා ඇත. කෞතුකාගාරය, බස්නාහිර පළාතේ කලාපීය පුරාවිද්‍යා කෞතුකාගාරය ලෙස, පුරාවිද්‍යා... read more

    Tharuka Nethsarani Avatar Tharuka Nethsarani
  • පිටකෝට්ටේ බංගලා හංදියේ මෙම කෞතුකාගාරය පිහිටා ඇත. කෝට්ටේ විසූ ප්‍රබල ප්‍රකට නීතිඥයෙකු හා සමාජ සේවකයෙකු වූ ඊ.ඩබ්: පෙරේරා මැතිතුමාගේ පෞද්ගලික නිවස වූ මෙම ගොඩනැගිල්ල එතුමා විසින් පසු කළෙකදී පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට... read more

    TC Bandarawela Avatar TC Bandarawela

    A lot to see though its a small museum.

    Srinath Obeysekara Avatar Srinath Obeysekara
  • Good

    ruchira pramod Avatar ruchira pramod

    Most under visited place in Kotte. It's all about history

    Anjula Ranasinghe Avatar Anjula Ranasinghe
  • I first visited this museum when I was just a little brat in primary school, and even now, it remains one of the most underrated places in Kotte. If you... read more

    Chanuka Nadun Avatar Chanuka Nadun

    A very attractive place for people who seek information. A good collection of artifacts. It’s free and worthwhile visiting. There is a bookshop where you can buy many books published... read more

    Shayan Appuhamy Avatar Shayan Appuhamy
  • This small museum, located in an old house, isn't well known and neither is the Kingdom of Kotte. Most of the palace and other structures were destroyed by the Portuguese... read more

    Michael Rohan Sourjah Avatar Michael Rohan Sourjah

    සමාජ, දේශපාලනික, ආර්ථිකමය සහ ඓතිහාසිකමය වෂයෙන් ඉතා හොඳ, දේශීය හා විදේශීය ජනයාට. අපගේ රටේ අපේ උරුමයන් පිළිබඳ මනා අවබෝධයක් සහ එකවර රසවිදිය හැකි වේ. ඒ සදහා විශේෂයෙන්ම පුහුණු වූ... read more

    Tiwanka Jayasinghe Avatar Tiwanka Jayasinghe