India will construct a cultural centre in Sri Lanka's Tamil dominated Northern Province at an estimated cost of about Rs 54 crore to help the people in the war-torn Jaffna city to reconnect with their cultural roots.
The centre, that will be built in the provincial capital Jaffna, is envisioned to be a social infrastructure for the people to rejuvenate and nurture the ancient cultural heritage of the city.
Being developed as an iconic building, the centre and the adjoining water body - the Pullukulam - will be transformed into an integrated cultural space that can also accommodate open-air performances with the help of a floating stage.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed by Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Y K Sinha and Sri Lanka's Secretary to the Ministry of Economic Development Nihal Jayathilaka, an official statement said today.
The MoU was signed in presence of Lankan Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa.
The cultural centre is to be built in the next 36 months, on a plot of land adjacent to the Jaffna Public Library. It would serve as a delivery centre for training, instruction and education in a variety of cultural disciplines.
The Centre would comprise a theatre-style auditorium -- with projection facilities -- with a capacity of up to 600 people, a multi-media library with on-line research facilities, exhibition and gallery space and a museum.
It would also have an instructional wing, which would have facilities to conduct classes in vocal and instrumental music, dance and languages, including a language lab. It would serve as a hub of socio-cultural activities.
In order to select a unique and iconic design for Jaffna Cultural Centre, the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (SLIA) conducted a National Design Competition. 29 entries were received for the competition.
The design by Archt. Madura Premathileka was unanimously selected for the centre based on the technical acceptability, context plan, aesthetic/architectural language, space efficiency, among other things.
