Talawakelle ( si, තලවාකැලේ, ta, தலவாக்கலை) is a town in Nuwara Eliya District in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. It is the center of Dimbula tea planting district, the largest tea growing area in Sri Lanka. Cave: p. 133 It is situated on A7 Colombo-Nuwara Eliya highway. The altitude of Talawakelle is . Talawakelle railway station is one of the major stops of Udarata (Sinhala "Hill Country") or Main railway line. The town is administrated by Talawakelle-Lindula urban council. Located in the Colombo-

Badulla Badulla ( si, බදුල්ල, ta, பதுளை) is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the lower central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District. Geography Badulla is ...

railway line, and Avissawella - Nuware Eliya main Road (A7) the town serves as a gateway to

Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and norther ...

, Nuwara Eliya and tourists.

Climate

The mean annual temperature is around 18°C in the area and this climate is described as the perfect "tea-climate".

Demography

Majority of the population of Talawakelle is Indian Tamils who are workers of neighboring tea estates. The town considered the focal point of Indian Tamil politics in Sri Lanka. Small portion of

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 ...

also live in the town.

Main schools

Schools in Talawakelle are part of the Nuwara-Eliya school district. * Talawakelle Tamil Maha Vidyalayam - Tamil Medium * Sumana Secondary School is a provincial school for grades 6 through 13. It has an Advanced Science track. Instruction is done in both Sinhala and English. * St. Patrick's College, Talawakelle - Tamil Medium

Visitor attractions

There are two waterfalls situated around Talawakelle area. Both the waterfalls formed by Kothmale Oya, which runs through the town. *

Devon Falls Devon Falls, known as the 'Veil of the Valley', is a waterfall in Sri Lanka, situated west of Talawakele, Nuwara Eliya District on the A7 highway. The falls is named after a pioneer English coffee planter called Devon, whose plantation was s ...

St. Clair's Falls St. Clair's Falls ( si, සාන්ත ක්ලෙයාර් ඇල්ල) is one of the widest waterfalls in Sri Lanka and is commonly known as the "Little Niagara of Sri Lanka". It is one of six waterfalls affected by the Upper Kotmale Hydro ...

Post and telephone

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 ...

''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 ...

''052'' * Postal code ''22100''

Upper Kothmale Project

The last major hydro-electricity project in Sri Lanka,

Upper Kotmale Dam The Upper Kotmale Dam (also known as the Upper Kotmale Hydropower Project, or UKHP) is located in Talawakele, within the Nuwara Eliya District, in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. The dam feeds the third largest hydroelectric power station ...

, is currently underway near the town of Talawakelle. The project drew many a protests from environmentalists and local residents. Owing to threatened existence of

and fear of losing or submerging their homes to the dam.

Notes

References

* {{Municipalities and Urban areas of Sri Lanka Populated places in Nuwara Eliya District