Stories Behind Names of Places in Sri Lanka: TAWALAMA – By Dr. Nimal Sedera

Source:Brisbane Sri Lankan Newsletter – Dæhæna – July 2022

“Tawalama” is a village in the district of Galle near Habarakada. It is by the famous river” Ging gaga”.

In the olden days, in the absence of proper main road networks like today, people mostly used foot paths to move about. So the people around the Habarakada area were also using foot paths for their travel.

For the economy of the villagers to be stable, the agricultural produce of the village had to reach the main city Galle. The key products were cinnamon, coffey and pepper, and other spices.

It was the bull power that was used to bring the produce of the village to the river bank. This was done by loading the produce in bags on bulls and collectively driving them to the riverbank. This was called “Tawalama”. From the banks of the river, these spices were taken to Galle using boats. Even people travelled to Galle generally by the boat. Therefore, boat travel became a common way of transport. So was the use of bull power that was called “Tawalama”

When people sold or traded their spices and other produce at the Galle market, they brought back the things needed for the villagers on their return journey from the city. People used the ”Tawalama” to take the stuff in to the village. So the little harbour by the river where “Tawalama “ was often present was identified as “Tawalamthota”. ”Thota” meant the harbour. Over time “tawalamathota” became “Tawalama”

Dr. Nimal Sedera
Dr. Sedera is a journalist, poet, motivational speaker and an author of over
70 books.