Tucked away behind a steep dirt road in Bentota, Lunuganga-Geoffrey Bawa’s “garden within a larger garden”-is an oasis for Sri Lanka’s diverse wildlife and a haven for all visitors.
Lunuganga has always been a site of transformation. Bawa acquired the former rubber and cinnamon plantation in 1948, on the cusp of his thirtieth birthday and Sri Lanka’s independence from Britain. In doing so, he affirmed his intent to create “something that would be shaped by my present and future dreams and imaginary.” Converting the land from a plantation into a garden was a key step; replacing an extractive practice of colonial occupation, the garden blossomed into a rich ecosystem of mostly endemic flora and fauna.
Lunuganga directly translates to “Salt River” in Sinhala. Indicated by numerous artistic renderings and Bawa’s own recounts, he felt the space possessed a sort of magical, boundless quality, writing, “The area one was dealing with was about twenty-five acres but with its surrounding lakes the land beyond seems to go on forever.” Each visitor discovers Lunuganga on their own terms, with its myriad walkways and sanctums for pause. In Bawa’s own words, “...it seems to me to be almost inevitable that it should be there.
