Seema Malakaya

The Seema Malakaya is the calmest corner of central Colombo: a group of wooden pavilions floating on Beira Lake, reached by pontoon bridges and lined with seated Buddha figures. It belongs to Gangaramaya Temple, a few hundred metres away, and serves as an assembly hall for monks. The original structure dated from the late 19th century but gradually sank into the lake in the 1970s. In 1976 the architect Geoffrey Bawa was asked to redesign and rebuild it, and the reconstruction was funded by the Muslim businessman S. H. Musaji and his wife in memory of their son.

Bawa's design spreads across three platforms over the water. The main pavilion has a blue-tiled roof and wooden finishes, and the architecture recalls the Kandyan era and the ancient forest monasteries of Anuradhapura and Ritigala. Seated Buddha statues in a variety of hand gestures line the edges of the platforms. The central platform holds a simple wooden meditation shelter, while a side platform has a Bodhi tree grown from a branch of the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi at Anuradhapura, with small shrines to the deities Kataragama and Ganesha at its corners. A shrine to Guanyin stands at the entrance.

The appeal is as much the setting as the detail. Seen across the water with the city towers behind, it makes a fine photograph, and early morning or the hour before sunset bring the softest light. It is a working religious site, so keep your voice low and follow the same etiquette as at Gangaramaya: covered shoulders and knees, and shoes off where requested. Gangaramaya's website and phone lines are the best way to check visiting arrangements.

Allow 30 to 45 minutes to walk the platforms slowly. Because it is small, it fits easily into a half day that also takes in Gangaramaya's museum and image house. The Lotus Tower rises across the lake to the north-east and makes a good next stop if you want to see the same water from above.

The pavilion is about two kilometres south-east of Galle Face Green, so you could also finish with an evening walk by the sea. Beira Lake itself loops through this part of the city, and the routes around it give a different view of Colombo's mix of old and new.