Three new chambers at Natural Science Museum

Three new chambers set up at the Natural Science Museum situated in the Colombo National Museum Complex were opened for public exposition by Internal Affairs, Wayamba Development and Culture Minister S. B. Nawina yesterday.

They are the plant science chamber, geological science chamber and the bone science chamber. They will be open for public viewing from 9 am to 5 pm daily.

The bone science chamber is a new addition while the other two chambers which were already in existence have been repaired and refurbished. The new bone science chamber has assembled the skeleton of the famous blue whale and several other conserved parts of selections.

The construction and modernization of these new chambers had been accomplished by the National Museum department staff.

The government had allocated Rs. 39.6 million to the department towards the building of the bone science chamber. Although there is a wide range of museums in the country, the Natural Science Museum is the only such facility which exhibited Sri Lanka’s national heritage. The National Museum earlier known as the Colombo Museum was opened to the public on January 1, 1877 founded by Governor Sir William Gregory.

It was transformed into the Department of National Museums during the Dr. P. E. P. Deraniyagala era. Today, it has 10 branch museums throughout the country.

Deputy Minister Palitha Thewarapperuma, Ministry Secretary D. Swarnapala and Colombo National Museum Director Sanuja Kasthuriarachchi also participated in the opening ceremony.