Ratgama Lake, also known as Rathgama Lake, is a

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

coastal 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 ...

, situated next to

Dodanduwa Dodanduwa is a small coastal town situated in Galle District, Southern Province of Sri Lanka. The town is located approximately north of Galle and south of Colombo. Prior to the Second World War, Dodanduwa was known as the commercial centre f ...

in south of Sri Lanka. The lake is in area. On its boundaries are the villages of Dodanduwa,

Rathgama Rathgama is a small coastal town situated in Galle District, Southern Province of Sri Lanka. Etymology The village is also known 'Rajgama', which means kings village. The village was gifted by Parākramabāhu II to Minister Devapathiraja fo ...

, Katudampe and Berathuduwa. It is located about from the coast, 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 about north

Galle Galle ( si, ගාල්ල, translit=Gālla; ta, காலி, translit=Kāli) (formerly Point de Galle) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, from Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Souther ...

. The lake is connected to the Indian Ocean at

. Following the construction of a fishing harbour at Dodanduwa in 2009, a sand bar has regularly formed at the mouth of the lagoon, during the dry seasons the river flow through the lagoon, originating from the lake, is not strong enough to flush incoming sediment out and requires manual breeching. The sandbar also restricts saltwater intrusion into the lagoon. Fringing mangroves exist along the lagoon edge and in tiny islets. These mangrove areas are under threat from expansion of coconut cultivation and paddy rice fields. Twenty three species of mangrove trees and shrubs have been recorded, including ''

Rhizophora mucronata ''Rhizophora mucronata'' (loop-root mangrove, red mangrove or Asiatic mangrove) is a species of mangrove found on coasts and river banks in East Africa and the Indo-Pacific region. Description ''Rhizophora mucronata'' is a small to medium si ...

'', ''

Avicennia marina ''Avicennia marina'', commonly known as grey mangrove or white mangrove, is a species of mangrove tree classified in the plant family Acanthaceae (formerly in the Verbenaceae or Avicenniaceae). As with other mangroves, it occurs in the intertid ...

'', '' Excoecaria agallocha'', ''

Acanthus ilicifolius ''Acanthus ilicifolius'', commonly known as holly-leaved acanthus, sea holly, and holy mangrove is a species of shrubs or herbs, of the plant family Acanthaceae, native to Australia, Australasia, and Southeast Asia. It is used as medicine in asth ...

'', ''

Lumnitzera racemosa ''Lumnitzera racemosa'', commonly known as the white-flowered black mangrove, is a species of mangrove in the family Combretaceae. It is found on the eastern coast of Africa and other places in the western Indo-Pacific region. It has one accept ...

'', '' Sonneratia caseolaris'', ''

Bruguiera gymnorhiza ''Bruguiera gymnorhiza'', the large-leafed orange mangrove or oriental mangrove,) is a mangrove tree that grows usually to 7-20m high, but sometimes up to 35m, that belongs to the family Rhizophoraceae. It is found on the seaward side of mangrov ...

'' and ''

Aegiceras corniculatum ''Aegiceras corniculatum'', commonly known as black mangrove, river mangrove, goat's horn mangrove, or khalsi, is a species of shrub or tree mangrove in the primrose family, Primulaceae, with a distribution in coastal and estuarine areas ranging ...

''. The natural fisheries production of the Ratgama lake was estimated in 1959 to be per annum. There are four islands located on the lake: Polgasduwa, Matiduwa, Mahaduwa and Parappuduwa. Located on Pogasduwa (coconut island) and Metiduwa is the

Island Hermitage Island Hermitage on (Polgasduwa) Dodanduwa Island, Galle District, Sri Lanka is a famous Buddhist forest monastery founded by Ven Nyanatiloka Mahathera in 1911. It’s a secluded place for Buddhist monks to study and meditate in the Buddhist ...

, a

Theravāda ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

Buddhist forest monastery founded by Ven.

Nyanatiloka Mahathera Ven. Nyanatiloka Mahathera (19 February 1878, Wiesbaden, Germany – 28 May 1957, Colombo, Ceylon), born as Anton Walther Florus Gueth, was one of the earliest Westerners in modern times to become a Bhikkhu, a fully ordained Buddhist monk. Ea ...

in 1911. Parappuduwa was the site of a Buddhist nun's monastery, which was established in 1984 by Ayya Khema (1923-1997) the first Western woman to become a

Theravadin ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

Buddhist nun, closing in 1987. It was abandoned for twenty years, before being re-occupied by Buddhist monks.

References

{{Inland waters of Sri Lanka Bodies of water of Galle District Lakes of Sri Lanka Lagoons of Sri Lanka Landforms of Southern Province, Sri Lanka