About

A Glimpse into Sri Lanka’s Past!

Welcome to Lankapura.com, home to a unique collection of over 1,000 rare historical images of Sri Lanka, once known as Ceylon before 1972. Our gallery captures the essence of Sri Lankan history, showcasing places and landscapes, antique maps, scenes from World War II, and snapshots of everyday life during the colonial era, from the early days to the mid-20th century. We continually review and curate images that hold significant historical and cultural value.

Lankapura.com was founded in 2005 by Bawantha Perera as a personal project during his studies, including Mahavamsa.org. With contributions from dedicated image enthusiasts and encouragement from our growing community, what began as a simple test bed has blossomed into an extensive photo blog and gallery. Our work has even been recognized in publications such as the Sunday Mirror article (going vintage on the web).

Over the years, we’ve provided vintage images for various global projects, including documentaries by the BBC and National Geographic, as well as for individual research and non-commercial use. While progress has been slower due to time and resource constraints, we are expanding the site to offer printed, framed vintage images for purchase and to explore new ways to support the site’s continued operation.

At present, the website is funded and managed by Artland and Techshop Lanka. If you’d like to support our efforts, there are several ways you can help:

How You Can Support Us:

  • Contribute Photos: If you have old Sri Lankan photos, we’d love to include them in our collection. Please ensure you have the right to share the images and provide as much background information as possible. You can reach out to us via the contact form.
  • Help Identify Unknown Photos: Some images in our collection are unidentified. If you have any information—be it about the people, location, or time period—please leave a comment under the relevant image.
  • Share Our Work: Spread the word! Sharing our images and posts on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and X helps us reach a wider audience.

Please Contact

We invite you to explore our collection and use the search feature to find specific images of interest.