The building of the Old Parliament is still preserved to this day in its entire Neo-Baroque splendor as it sits in the Colombo Fort region, overlooking the lawns and its nearly wonderfully white columns on the porch at the very entrance. It is one of the best places to see in Sri Lanka if one is an aficionado of colonial and classical architecture. Indeed the entrance area itself resembles an old Greek temple from the outside. This incredible building was constructed under the orders of the then governor Sir Henry McCallum for the Secretariat, government officers, and the Council Chamber of the time. The proposal to build it was put forward by the Government in 1920, the architect being A. Woodson. Construction ended in 1930 and it was opened as the official building of legislation and rule on the 29th of January, under Governor Sir Herbert Stanley. A year later, the State Council of Ceylon took over it.

In 1947 it became the main office of the House of Representatives. During the colonial years, the British arms adorned the building, soon to be replaced by the emblem of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. When the island became a republic in 1972 and became Sri Lanka at last, the Old Parliament building became the headquarters of the Presidential Secretariat.

The statues on the grounds in front of the building include Rt. Hon. D.S. Senanayake, Hon. Dudley Senanayake, General Sir John Kotelawala and Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan.

Written by Vasika Udurawane for Travel Lanka Compass