Name: Hakgala Botanical Garden
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Hakgala Botanical Garden, Nuwara Eliya Overview

The Hakgala Botanical Garden is the second-largest botanical garden in Sri Lanka. It is a part of the Hakgala Strict Nature Reserve and was established in 1861. Spread over 28 hectares, it boasts a lush landscape with manicured lawns, scenic walking paths, and a variety of themed gardens that are home to a vast array of flora, including exotic plants, trees, and flowers. It is said that the Hakgala Gardens is the, 'Ashok Vatika'', from the Hindu epic 'The Ramayana''.

Hakgala Botanical Garden has a wide variety of plants and some exotic animal species, with the entire garden divided into different sections dedicated to different plant species, like ferns, cacti, orchids, etc. Visitors can marvel at the impressive collection of orchids, roses, ferns, and medicinal plants that thrive in the cool climate of Nuwara Eliya. Hakgala is renowned for its extensive rose garden, where visitors can stroll amid a kaleidoscope of rose varieties in full bloom, filling the air with delightful fragrances.

The Hakgala Botanical Garden is on the Peradeniya-Badulla-Chenkaladi Highway, near the famous Seetha Amman Temple. It has a lot of historical significance since the Hindus believe that this was where King Ravana had his famous pleasure garden - The Ashok Vatika. The garden takes about two hours to explore and provides the ability to move around in a golf cart. Situated approximately 10 kilometers southeast of Nuwara Eliya town, accessible by road. The garden is at its blooming best during the spring and early summer months, from March to May.

Folklore

Following the Hindu epic, 'The 'Ramayana', Ravana - the king of Lanka - had captured Sita Devi and held her as a prisoner in Lanka. He gave her access to a pleasure garden called 'Ashok Vatika'', during her period of captivity. It is said that modern-day Hakgala garden was called Ashok Vatika. This area was then named Seetha Eliya, and the Seetha Amman Temple, where Sita Devi was believed to have prayed for Lord Rama to come to rescue her, was built here.

History

The Hakgala Botanical Garden went through many experiments before being converted into a tourist attraction that we know about today. It was established by Dr George Henry Kendrick Thwaites (an English botanist and entomologist) in the year 1861 when he wanted to cultivate Cinchona - a medicinal plant used to obtain quinine for the treatment of Malaria - as an experiment. Later on, the area was converted into a tea plantation, to experiment with the growth of tea in that land. Finally in 1884, the British turned the tea plantation into a botanical garden, with well-curated shrubs and various kinds of flora.

Fauna

The Hakgala Gardens may mainly focus on various kinds of plants and shrubs grown over there, but it also houses some rare and exotic species of birds and animals. The most popular ones being the Sloth bear, the Purple-faced Leaf Monkeys, the Sambhur, etc. Some other species of birds are the Ceylon Jungle Fowl, the Black-Winged Kite, the Brown Shrike, etc. These birds also include migratory birds that visit the gardens during the North-east monsoon.

Flora

There is a Rose Garden with more than 100 varieties of roses like Saintpaulia, Primula, Begonia, etc. There is a Spice Garden that has different kinds of trees bearing Spices like Cinnamon, Nutmeg, etc. Then there is an Orchid house that grows all the rare and pretty flowers like Arachnis, Cattleya, and the largest orchid in the world - Grammatophyllum. The Botanical Garden also has a Cactus house with different types of cacti and a Fernery with a wide variety of ferns and old tea bushes that are grown for experimental purposes. There is a Rock Garden that houses many herbaceous plants, an Arboretum, and a Bulb garden that has bulbous plants like Watsonia, Amaryllis, etc. Apart from all of these separate sections, the garden also has sturdy wood providing trees like Eucalyptus, Pines, etc.