Kalpitiya (, ) is a coastal town located in western region of,

Puttalam District Puttalam is a district situated near to the west coast of Sri Lanka. It has an area of . Along with the Kurunegala District, it formulates the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. The district capital is Puttalam, which borders the Kala Oya and ...

. The Kalpitiya peninsula consists of a total fourteen islands. It is developing as a tourist destination.

Etymology

Scholars identify the

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

name "Kalapiti-Kuli which is mentioned in

Sigiri Sigiriya or Sinhagiri (''Lion Rock'' si, සීගිරිය, ta, சிகிரியா/சிங்ககிரி, pronounced see-gi-ri-yə) is an ancient rock fortress located in the northern Matale District near the town of Dambull ...

graffiti as modern Kalpitiya" According to another theory, Kalpitiya is derived from the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

name Kalputti, stemming from the words ''kal'' meaning stone and ''putti'' meaning elevation. The place was in ancient times also known as ''Arasadi'', meaning in

"place of Arasa tree". The place was in colonial era known as ''Calpentyn''.

History

Records going far back reveal that the peninsula was associated with

maritime trade Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

and smuggling escapades since ancient times. It was first colonised by the Portuguese in early 17th Century. The arrival of the Dutch eventually resulted in the ousting of the Portuguese from here and elsewhere in the island. Historical records show that during the Dutch period of the island's colonial history, the northern end of the peninsula was used as a strategic base for a military

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

and naval outpost to monopolise trade supplies to the mainland. A well preserved Dutch-era

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

(incorporating an earlier Portuguese-era church) occupied by the

Sri Lanka Navy ta, இலங்கை கடற்படை , image = Sri Lanka Naval Seal.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of Sri Lanka Navy , dates = , c ...

, and a Dutch church remain today. Nearby at Talawila to the south, a vibrant annual festival keeps alive its Portuguese heritage, at the ancient St Anne's church festival, when thousands of

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

devotees descend upon the tiny village to celebrate St Anne's Day on July 26.

Climate

Kalpitiya is located at the boarder of dry zone. Thanks to that it is still nicely green but has much less rain that the south of Sri Lanka. Usually the only rainy month is November, but it rarely rains whole the day. The best beach season is from December to April, which is also the best time for any marine activities like scuba diving, snorkelling or dolphin watching because the ocean is calm and waves are smallest. From May to September there is more wind which is mostly appreciated by kitesurfers and it also cools down the area.

Demographics

Kalpitiya is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural town, majority of Kalpitiya residents are

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

, while

are second largest in the town. Other small groups;

Sri Lankan Tamils Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pro ...

, Indian Tamils,

Burgher Burgher may refer to: * Burgher (social class), a medieval, early modern European title of a citizen of a town, and a social class from which city officials could be drawn ** Burgess (title), a resident of a burgh in northern Britain ** Grand Bu ...

and

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

also living in the town.

Ethnicity

''Sourc
statistics.gov.lk
' Kalpitiya is a multi-religious town. The major religion in Kalpitiya is

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, while

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

being the second largest religion in the town. The town is also home to other religious faiths include;

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

and

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

Religion

''Sourc
statistics.gov.lk
'

Education

There is plenty of local government schools which offer education for thousands of children. On top of that there are several international schools like IKRA which offer elementary and secondary education in english to local or foreign children at very reasonable cost.

Tourism industry

It is now developing as a tourist destination. It has a

marine sanctuary Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conser ...

with a diversity of habitats ranging from bar reefs, flat coastal plains, saltpans, mangroves swamps, salt marshes and vast sand dune beaches. It provides nursing grounds for many species of fish and

crustaceans Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

. The coastal waters are also home to spinner, bottlenose and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, whales, sea turtles, and the elusive

dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest m ...

. The Sri Lankan government has now formulated a master plan for the development of tourism industry here. Alankuda is a stretch of beach in Kalpitiya that is home to a number of beach hotels.. Alankuda Beach. Retrieved on 2015-05-08. The beach is a starting point for off-shore whale and dolphin watching in Kalpitiya and offers various water related activities which are available from November till the end of April. Alankuda is home to megapods (groups of more than one thousand) of dolphins.. Alankuda Beach. Retrieved on 2015-05-08. Hotels and resorts here include Bar Reef Resort, Palagama Beach, Khomba House, Udekki, Dune Towers and Dolphin Beach Resort.

Kitesurfing

Kalpitiya is known as being the best location for

Kitesurfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

in the country. The summer kitesurfing season is from May to October during the south west monsoon while the winter season is from mid December to mid February during the north east monsoon. Kiteboard Tour Asia held a tour event in Kalpitiya in September 2017.

Scuba Diving

Indian Ocean around Kalpitiya peninsula is famous for it abundand marine life. You can go for dolphin or whale watching boat trips or you can do scuba diving in Kalpitiya. There is more than 20 world class dive sites of depths ranging from 12-20 meters accessible by boat from the shore. The dive sites offer mostly rocky and sand bottom which is home to many kinds of sting rays, moray eels, soft and hard coral, napoleon wrasse, shrimps, nudibranch, barracuda, fish schools and many more. The diving can be arranged via Kalpitiya dive centers or via some specialised hotels like Dune Towers operated by scuba diving family. The season for

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

and dolphin and whale watching is from November to April each year. During these month the sea is very calm and it allows easy and safe boat trips into the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. Details of dive sites, recent diving reports and other useful information can be found on Dive Report.

Islands of Kalpitiya

Allegations of land grab

The area is one of the 15 sites for the country’s Tourism Development Strategy which was formulated as early as 2003. Acquisition of some of land for the project has begun as early as in 2004 pursuant to a

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

decision. Since 2003, around of lands which amounts to about 25 per cent of the Kalpitiya islands' total land area have been grabbed in various ways and means from at least 2500 families. Already 16 resorts or hotels and access roads are proposed for construction in the area. Post-tsunami (2005 onwards), those in the tourism business acquired damaged coastal areas at low prices around the country. Again in 2009, in the

post-war period In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...

, investors in the tourism industry scrambled to ‘acquire’ potential business sites to capitalise on the reconstruction phase. Land seizures have also occurred by scrupulously removing the names of the residents from government documents such as the voters’ registry, abusing legal ownership regulations and stipulations of the government and ignoring provisions in the customary law, using coercive means upon the residents who are unable to produce titles to the land they have been occupying and by taking over Beach Seine points and anchorage points by force.

References

{{reflist, 30em Populated places in North Western Province, Sri Lanka Populated places in Puttalam District