Travel Guide Hakgala

Hakgala is known for its botanical garden, one of four in Sri Lanka (the others are the Mirijjawila Botanical Garden near Hambantota, the Peradeniya Botanical Garden on the outskirts of Kandy and the Henarathgoda Botanical Garden near Gampaha). The second largest botanical garden on the island, it attracts nearly 500,000 visitors a year. The garden dates from 1861 but was only planted in 1884. It was founded by George Kendrick Thwaites who was trying to revive the cultivation of cinchona. The plant extract was used as a remedy against malaria. It was then transformed into a tea plantation on an experimental basis.