The story behind the Kandy clock tower

By L.B.Senaratne

I still remember the day of  August  1947 floods,  as it was the last school day at Kingswood College Kandy and  the height the water  soured. Water rose to the height of the Cross of the Chrurch at Getambe and the water was so high that it engulfed the Getambe Rajaponawarma Temple leaving only a few leaves of the Bo-tree visible.

This set the Temple to be popular and people believe that there is a blessing as the Bo tree did not move with the deluge.

Late Governor General Willam Gopallawa’s resided in the former Police Station and now occupied by the rightful owner, the  University of Peradeniya. The building was submerged with the Piano of Gopallawa’s floating down Mahaweli.

A bench mark of the floods was marked by two concrete Pillars at Getambe, and when on the verge of demolishing them with the new construction of the road, this writer told the Municipality that they are ‘ Heritage’ sites, but no one took any notice . Perhaps it was demolished and we lost a bench mark of the 1947 floods.

While it was raining heavily a  young Mohammed Zacky Ismail , a relation of his , the driver and an employee set off  with the car  to Colombo on a business trip.  They were the leading agents for Tyres and Motor spares and the authorized agents for Rowlands – the Famous British car dealers, in the country.

After their work was over, they had left Colombo by six in the evening and they took the pleasant Kadugannawa climb, not knowing that a major flood had occurred in Kandy, due to the incessant rain.

On the climb to Kandy, passing the rock tunnel engineered by Captain Dawson and his men, they climbed to a point where there was the Kadugannawa Urban Council abattoir.

The  occupants of the car saw the right  side hill coming down on to the road.  Young Zacky  a Kngswoodian,  got down from the car and went beyond the bonnet of the car, forward to see the falling earth.

The occupants of the car only saw that young Zacky been pushed with the earth and then thy themselves were the victims. They had all been taken down to the chasm below and that was all.  It was mayhem in Kandy with broken homes and people on the streets following hearing the news of the tragic incident.

It was only following day Kadugannawa Police which  was located close by at the top of the Hill,  went to the spot only to find the number plate of   the car and a parcel  Innocent Zacky and his men were submerged and no remains had been found.

When the Police brought the number Plate, to  Mr  Haji Mohammed. Ismail, he  realize the fate of the Zacky and the others.

Zacky’s father Mohmmed Ismail lost no time as the delude was over to seek a memorial for young Zacky.  He called over for a piece of land right in the center of Kandy  for  a memorial. The Municipality headed by one time Speaker and Mayor E.L.Sennayake in no time gave land at the intersection of two roads, where the Kandy Clock Tower is not only a Monument, but a Utility item for the people of Kandy and those who come to Kandy.

It took one year after the completion of the Clock Tower from February 1950 to December 1950 and then it took another year to declare it open by the First Prime Minister of the country D.S.Sennanayake. . that was in 1951 -- seventy three years ago.

Luckily for them the University architect Shirley de Alwis was at hand and a Clock Tower was erected with Kandyan architecture and it took one year after the completion the Clock Tower to be opened by Prime Minister D.S.Senanayke.

The Clock Tower is a boon for all in Kandy and to those coming into Kandy and it was maintained by "The Ismail’s", until the Kandy Municipality took over the maintenance.  The Clock and its components were all brought from the United Kingdom. But, today it does not ring.

Zacky is still remembered by the folks of Kandy who lost his life for nothing than the mere fact he went to see the earth coming down from the Hills of Kadugannawa.  But  Mohmmed Zacky left a legacy for Kandy.