“Great gardens are often self-portraits and that Gardens like any autobiography, follow the rules of local climate and site, as well as the visionary hand of the gardener.” – Michael Ondaatje 

The mesmerizing murmur of water descends down a wall created with vintage glass bottles, in front of which, a renaissance-style nude white mini-statue stands. Few yards away, a spectacular Roman-style rainwater promenade, slopes according to the descent of the land, creating a continuous flow of descending water, onto square-shaped pools. Japanese pagodas flanked by a tiny pond and a seating area; an assemblage Sri Lankan demon faces and Chinese mini pagodas, pitchers, nude homo-erotic figurines and well-structured water bodies placed strategically creating diversion are some of the unique features of a garden in Benthota, Sri Lanka.

The particular gardener, who created one of the best gardens in the world, Bevis William Frederick Bawa was born in 1909. Bevis’ father Benjamin Bawa, was of Ceylonese Moorish and English ancestry, and his mother Bertha Marianne Schrader, from the Kimbulapitiya Estate, Negambo was of German, Scottish and Sinhalese descent.It was in the year 1929 that Bevis’ mother gifted him the rubber plantation, which was initially called Dikbedde, and later named by Bevis as Brief, in Benthota, 45km south of Colombo.

Bevis had his schooling at Royal College, and subsequent to his father’s demise and enrolled in the Ceylon Light Infantry, a gentleman’s regiment, where, similar to his father, he was appointed as the Aide-de-Camp to the Governor. He served as Aide-de-Camp to four governors, from the years 1934 to 1950. 

Despite his official position, Bevis turned to landscape gardening, initially as a mere diversion, later which metamorphosed into a productive enterprise, when his fortunes dwindled due to the fall of the rubber prices in Sri Lanka. If he was renowned as the tallest Aide-De-Camp, that Ceylon has seen, Bevis, was equally celebrated as ‘one of islands first landscape architects,’ due to the authentic style that he used in creating one of the world’s finest gardens from a former rubber estate.

These are places as private and yet as universal as the work of a great writer. In Sri Lanka you would most likely be directed to two such gardens – one created by Bevis Bawa, and the other by his younger brother, Geoffrey – a rare pair of siblings whose landscapes could not be more different, for each of them brought their own vision to a precise and specific landscape. (Michael Ondaatje, 2012)

Bevis, unlike his renowned brother, was not trained in architecture or landscaping. However, while Geoffrey Bawa, is considered as the most distinguished architect that Sri Lanka produced, and was recognized to initiate the architectural ‘tropical modernism,’ the influence that Bevis and his garden had on Geoffrey has been largely undiscussed. It has been noted, that in contrast to Geoffrey’s ‘formal structured approach’ Bevis employed a ‘more playful approach.’  Despite these two diverse styles, it has been noted by critics, that Bevis and his Brief Garden, inspired Geoffrey Bawa in numerous ways.

The Brief, built through a landscape of paddy fields, small mountains, and jungle, manifest the possibility of the outdoor spaces partition through foliage, or metal work, and ingeniously transforming portioned spaces into separate courtyards or verandahs. The orchard’s authentic attractiveness arises from the juxtaposition of assorted styles, within one space; the Oriental, with the Occidental; the Classical motifs with the Modern; and the astute use of shrubbery to construct parapets, which emitted emerald-like shadows against the dazzling, piercing Sri Lankan sun, cleverly juxtaposing light and shadow. The diverse spaces in the garden is supposedly inspired, through the panoramas viewed during Bevi’s travels in Europe and Asia. Bevis Bawa’s tours in England, (1922), ten months’ tour of Europe (1949), Far East including Japan, (1958) and China (1934), India (1946). Thereby, inherent characteristics related to Japanese, Italian, French and English jardinière have been embedded into an indigenous Sri Lankan setting at the Brief.

The entrance to the garden is marked by two ‘elaborate gateposts,’ depicting female and male statues of great height, from which lush ferns flow down, against the framework of palm trees. Further, gigantic bamboo trees border a circular pond, a bit further stands a remarkable staircase made of rock. The main lawn, supposedly inspired by Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola’s work at Villa Lante, with its sense of “Surprise Gardens” and the Casino Garden at Caprarola; Japanese pagodas which are flanked by a tiny pond and a seating area; Greek style amphitheater and an English style croquet lawn are testimonials of the influences imprinted from his foreign travels.

In addition, to these influences, it is recorded, that Bevis had an excellent understanding of the indigenous approach to planting; knowledge of the seasons; the relationship between the full moon, the nutrients in the earth, the magnetic power of the moon which attracted nutrients to the earth-surface, rendering them a full chance to germinate.

Bevis was a ‘self-taught’ and therefore an ‘intuitive’, landscape-architect and architect, it is noted that ‘Bevis’ eye for “proportion and space combined with his ‘feel’ for the types of plants that would fit his scheme of things, made his gardens have his special touch.”  Furthermore, it has been noted that one of his skills was in knowing how and when to mass plant a single species to take advantage of its particular attributes and without becoming monotonous. Bevis is reported to have planted 120 variety of trees, attracting numerous tropical, animals such as Sri Lanka hanging parrot (Loriculus beryllinus), squirrels, and monkeys. Bevis’ choice of tropical plants included various orchids, Torch Ginger (Etlingera elatior), Red Ginger (Alpinia purpurata), Madagascar Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), and Sexy Pink (Heliconia chartacea), creating the exquisite beauty of the garden, representing a hybrid of the classical and the indigenous.

Further, the final exquisiteness of the Brief rests on the nature of collective artistry which was employed to develop the land. Whether it was hand-etched terracotta tiles on the main verandah wall of the house by Bevis, Friend and, Barbara Sansoni or the former school friend, Arthur van Langenburg, who helped Bevis to re-plan the grounds, giving it a theatrical approach, where one “scene” with a respective “mood” and “quality” trailed onto another diverse scene, Brief celebrates collective creativity. The Australian artist, Donald Friend, stayed at the Brief from 1956, until 1962, and several of Bevis sculptures were based on Donald’s drawings; such as the unusual tower-heads at the gate posts, anthropomorphic flower vases, a Bacchus bird bath, and diverse fantastical heads, completed with concrete. The wall constructed through vintage, upcycled bottles, was designed with the collaboration with the famed Sri Lankan designer Barbara Sansoni.

In the context of Michael Ondaatje’s concept on gardens, it is interesting to relate the nature of the autobiography and a self-portrait of Bevis Bawa with his garden. The nature of the genetic hybridity represented in his choice of diverse ethnic styles, and his choice of the plants and the agricultural knowledge drawn from understanding the nature of his motherland, and the appreciation of its agricultural etiquettes.

On the other hand, known to be the tallest, man in the then Ceylon, at six foot 7 inches, he is celebrated as a Sri Lankan bon vivant. While, close associates describe him as a terrific raconteur, he was also a writer, and a cartoonist, whose caricatures and sharp observations elaborated the pompousness of the then Ceylon’s elite from 1950s to 1960s in the column, Briefly by Bevis. However, it is in the landscaping employment, which Bevis ultimately found his nirvana.

On the concept of beauty and nirvana, the British author Robin Maugham states, that “Bevis has found his nirvana: indeed, he created it … The result is a climax of loveliness, a proclamation that nature can triumph over the hideous inventions of mankind. In the leafy shrubs, the wild birds call and sing. Flowers glitter in the sunshine. Gracefully shaped vistas reach out towards the horizon. Tranquility pervades the green terraces. … For this is a paradise, made by the sensibility of one man, created by his patience and love.” (Robin Maugham, 1974)

Even if, Bevis Bawa’s diverse occupations, as an Aide-de-Camp and as a writer, have been illustrious, it is in his passion for developing gardens, which ultimately gave him delight, and the Brief Garden’s fame, which allowed him to get commissions to develop gardens in several of Colombo embassies, work for commercial groups such as Bank of Ceylon, gardens of the Sigiriya Village Hotel and the grand mural of Galle commissioned by the McKinnon Mackenzie.

Bevis was known as an art collector, and a writer; this fact and the nirvana-like Bevis’ garden’s fame, attracted many local and international artists to the garden, which served as a centre for artists and other creative people during his time. It is noted that Bevis hosted house-parties to Sri Lankan theatre artists, which served to connect the linguistic divisions between the Sinhala and English language theatres. Local celebrities in diverse arts fields such as Aubrey Collette, Arthur Van Langenburg, George Keyt, Lionel Wendt, Harold Pieris, Chitrasena, Harry Pieris, David Paynter along with international stars such as Vivien Leigh, Sir Laurence Olivier, Peter Finch, Agatha Christie, Robin Maugham, the Duke of Windsor supposedly sojourned at the Brief, along with Queen Ingrid of Denmark.

It is noted that from 1969 the garden was also exposed more generally to the public due to requests. It has been noted that intelligence is often accompanied with kindness, and it is perhaps due to his understanding of the Buddhist philosophy, that everything is impermanent, and detachment was the path to nirvana, that the artist legally gave away everything he owned before his death. Bevis garden carries its beauty at present in the hands of his trusted caretaker and gardener, remembered by him and his family and the entourage of friends of his vibrant life at the Brief, where his remains lie.