Doric Bungalow

Doric Bungalow
Alternative names The Doric
General information
Construction started 18 March 1802
Completed 11 February 1804
Client Governor Frederick North
Height two stories
Technical details
Material bricks, mortar, chunam

The Doric Bungalow (also known as The Doric) at Arippu East, Mannar, Sri Lanka, was the residence of the first British Governor of Ceylon.[1][2]

History

The first governor, Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford was the son of British Prime Minister, Frederick North (2nd Earl of Guilford).[2] The house was planned by the governor himself, the building was later known as 'The Doric' due to the architectural design of the columns which was similar to the Ancient Greek Doric order style. It was built at the beginning of the nineteenth century (between 1801-1804)[3] to revive and supervise the pearl fisheries.[4] Other than being used as the residence for the governor, it was later used by "other governors, government agents, and other officials, including superintendents of pearl fishery."[2]

The two story[3] building was constructed using bricks and mortar[1] though the exterior walls were decorated with chunam which was made from the lime of burnt oyster shells and was described as appearing like 'marble'.[5]

Having been built on a low cliff near the beach,[2] exposed to extreme weather and lack of maintenance,[3] it is now mostly ruins.[6] Restoration has been proposed several times but no work has been carried out despite it being declared a protected archaeological monument.[1]

A number of unverified tales surround the site and it has been 'locally ascribed to a legendary Queen of the Mahabarata[6] which refers to Allarani who was said to have a palace at the site.[3] There are also unsubstantiated claims that the Portuguese built the Doric and it was used to protect Dona Catherina of Kandy circa 1580.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ganegoda, Ariyaratne (15 March 2013). "The Doric Bungalow in Arippu East". Ceylon Today. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Chandrasena, Nimal (4 March 2012). "An ancient village, a ruin by the sea and stories of pearls from Taprobane". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Wisumperuma, Dhanesh (2005). "The Doric at Arippu: Its Date and Identification". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka 51: 79–96. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  4. ↑ Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1955). "Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society" 4–7. Colombo: Colombo Apothecaries Company: 133. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  5. ↑ Littell, E. (1836). "Museum of Foreign Literature, Science and Art: Journal of an excursion in Ceylon". United States Journal 28: 255. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  6. 1 2 Handbook for the Ceylon Traveller. Studio Times. 1974. p. 141.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.