On a small island, a gigantic talent grew

Because of disasters both natural and man-made, Sri Lanka has been off-limits to most tourists for the past quarter century. Dec. 26 marks the sixth anniversary of the massive tsunami that killed 30,000 people on the island and destroyed many beachfront resorts. And for the past 26 years, Sri Lanka has been convulsed by a bloody and protracted civil war. In May the country celebrated the first anniversary of its victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a fanatical terrorist group that had been fighting the government since 1983.

With the LTTE gone and the tsunami fading from memory, vacationers are returning to the beaches, jungles, and mountains that give Sri Lanka the well-deserved reputation of a paradise on earth. There’s no better way to see Sri Lanka than tour ing the works of the island’s most famous architect. Following in Bawa’s footsteps will take you from a 17th-century Dutch fort on the island’s southern coast to the modern capital of Colombo, where you can see Bawa’s home and office, to the country’s unspoiled west coast, where you can stay in one of his luxurious hotels. Touring the work of this architectural master combines the experience of Sri Lanka’s natural beauty with the opportunity to see artistic genius up close. As Bawa once wrote, “architecture cannot be totally explained but must be experienced.’’

To experience why Bawa was so original, it’s best to start at his first big project, the Bentota Beach Hotel, which was completed in 1969. The hotel sits on a narrow neck of land extending from the shore, commanding a view of both the Indian Ocean and the nearby Bentota River. The visitor enters through a wide tunnel in the hotel’s imposing stone base, ascends to the cavernous reception area, and finally emerges into the central courtyard, where stately frangipani trees are mirrored in the reflecting pool.