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Baththalangunduwa Island – ideal destination for beach camping – By Arundathie Abeysinghe A tiny island of approximately five square kilometers in size, located approximately 38 kilometers (20 nautical miles) away from *Kalpitiya in the Puttalam District of the North Western Province of Sri Lanka, Baththalangunduwa is popular as a beach camping site. It is an island located in the Dutch Bay (also known as Portugal Bay).  Baththalangunduwa is one of the few inhabited islands to the north of Puttalam Lagoon. Battalangunduwa is a fishing village with a population of approximately 3000 inhabitants. The majority of them are Catholics, mostly from *Chilaw and *Negombo with a substantial population of Tamil Catholics from Jaffna. Hence, the culture in Battalangunduwa is a stimulating mix and the language is a mixture of Tamil and Sinhalese, similar to residents of Negombo. The one and only livelihood within the Island is fishing. The Island borders the ...

Jun 30, 2022 Posted by In Articles, Arundathie Abeysinghe Tagged , , , , , , , ,
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The Governors at Nattandiya – by GEORGE BRAINE Opposite the Nattandiya railway station, between the Buddhist temple and the Milk Board collection center, is a narrow road that winds down out of sight. I believe it used to be called the Gansabawa Road. In 1960, my father served as the superintendent of a coconut estate on this road about a mile from the station. Ratmalwewa Estate wasn’t large – it must have been around 150 acres during those days – and it was split into two by the road. For a child growing up in rural Ceylon, the estate and the life surrounding it were memorable. Not much traffic passed down the road. There was no bus service and cars were infrequent. Lorries loaded with coconuts or coconut husks, transporting them from estates down the road to oil or coir mills further afield, passed occasionally. The most frequent sight were ...

Mar 23, 2022 Posted by In Articles, George Braine Tagged , , ,
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Mysterious Halaba Bridge in Badulla By Arundathie Abeysinghe   This spectacular mysterious steel bridge is located across Uma Oya at Halaba, a small village located near Uma Oya (Oya meaning stream in Sinhala) in *Badulla in close proximity to breathtaking hamlet*Ella. It is 113 meters (372 feet) long. The bridge is built at the widest points of Uma Oya, approximately 91 meters (300 feet) wide and 7-12 meters (25-40 feet) deep.  The two ends of the Bridge are approximately three meters wide (10 feet) and the mid portion is approximately two meters (8 feet) wide. The Bridge is considered as a mysterious bridge as there are no roads (there had never been any roads even in the past) except a footpath on either side of the bridge.  This bridge had been installed by British during the British Colonial Era, but the reason for installing this bridge is not known. According ...

Sep 2, 2021 Posted by In Articles, Arundathie Abeysinghe Tagged , , , , , , , , ,
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