Koggala ( si, කොග්ගල, translit=Koggala; ta, கொக்கலை, translit=Kokkalai) is a small coastal town, situated at the edge of a

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

on the south coast of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, located in

Galle District Galle ( si, ගාල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ''gālla distrikkaya''; ta, காலி மாவட்டம் ''Kāli māvattam'') is a district in Southern Province, Sri Lanka. It is one of 25 districts of Sri Lanka, th ...

Southern Province, Sri Lanka The Southern Province ( si, දකුණු පළාත ''Dakuṇu Paḷāta'', ta, தென் மாகாணம் ''Theṉ Mākāṇam'') of Sri Lanka is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of t ...

, governed by an

Urban Council The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Services ...

. Koggala is bounded on one side by a reef, and on the other by a large lake,

Koggala Lake Koggala Lagoon ( si, කොග්ගල කලපුව ''Koggala Kalapuwa'') is a coastal body of water located in Galle District, Southern Sri Lanka. It is situated near the town of Koggala and adjacent to the southern coast, about south of Col ...

, into which the numerous tributaries of the Koggala Oya drain. It is approximately south of

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

and is situated at an elevation of above the sea level.

History

Koggala has one of the longest beaches in Sri Lanka, and is located in close proximity to the popular tourist resort of

Unawatuna Unawatuna is a coastal town in Galle district of Sri Lanka. Unawatuna is a major tourist attraction in Sri Lanka and known for its beach and corals. It is a suburb of Galle, about southeast to the city center and approximately south of Colomb ...

, Koggala in comparison is relatively uncluttered as a tourist destination and mostly unexplored. Koggala was significantly affected by the

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

caused by the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

, where the waters measured high. It is the birthplace of noted Sri Lankan author

Martin Wickramasinghe Lama Hewage Don Martin Wickramasinghe, (commonly known as Martin Wickramasinghe) ( si, මාර්ටින් වික්‍රමසිංහ) (29 May 1890 – 23 July 1976) was a Sri Lankan journalist and author. His books have been tran ...

and there is a museum, Martin Wickramasinghe Folk Art Museum, dedicated to his arts and popular traditions in the town. Approximately east of Koggala is the Kataluva Purvarama Maha Viharaya temple, which was originally built in the 13th century and has some late 19th century additions. The temple is renowned for its Kandyan-style paintings in the main shrine, dating from the late 19th century. The paintings of musicians, dancers and European figures illustrates an interesting piece of social history. Some of the Jatake tales (episodes from the Buddha's series of 550 previous lives) are painted here, and purportedly are 200 years old. There are also some cameo-style paintings of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

and the Queen Mother, done in gratitude of Queen Victoria's role in ensuring the free practice of Buddhism outlined in the Kandyan capitulation of Lanka in 1815. Koggala is also the home to the Giniwella Kathaluwa and the ancient Temples. The Kathaluwa Buddhist temple is known for its murals and for the preserved first printing press, brought by the Dutch to Sri Lanka. The area is also famous for its distinct stilt fishermen, who erect a single pole in the chest-deep water on the beach, just few meters off-shore, where they perch on a cross bar and using bamboo fishing rods cast their lines out beyond the surf break to catch small fish.

Transport

Koggala is located on the

Coastal The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

or Southern Rail Line (connecting

through to Matara), and the A2 highway, connecting

Wellawaya Wellawaya ( si, වැල්ලවාය, translit=Vællavāya; ta, வெல்லவாய, translit=Vellavāyā) is a town located in Monaragala District, Uva Province of Sri Lanka. History On 25 August 1630 a major battle took place near Wel ...

Facilities

Koggala railway station Koggola railway station ( si, කොග්ගල දුම්රිය ස්ථානය) is a railway station on the coastal railway line of Sri Lanka. The station is situated between Kathaluwa and Habaraduwa railway stations and is along th ...

Koggala Airport Koggala Airport ( Sinhala: කොග්ගල ගුවන්තොටුපළ ''Koggala Guwanthotupala'') in Sri Lanka was originally a Royal Air Force (RAF) Station RAF Koggala. It is now the SLAF Koggala, used for domestic flights and for m ...

Attractions

Folk Art Museum *

* Koggala Beach * Turtle Hatcheries * Kataluva Purvarama Maha Viharaya * Stilt Fisherman

Post and telephone

''00 94'' *

Area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

''228'' *

Postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal a ...

''80630''

References