Kalutara ෴ කඵතර

Kalutara is the first beach resort south of Colombo. The long bridge of Kalutara over the River Kalu Ganga leads you to the massive Kalutara stupa built during 1960s on the site of a fort built by the Portuguese, who razed many a Buddhist temple to the ground. All motorists make a stop at the stupa and temple to pay their respects.

Few minutes walk south of the stupa and temple is the bus stand. The railway station of Kalutara is located just 100m west of the bus depot.

The pristine beach of Kalutara runs 8km rolling all the way down to Wadduwa well supported by a string of resort hotels. An important trading center for spices during the periods of Portuguese, the Dutch and the English, Kalutara today is famous the finest mangos teens (fruit bearing season is June-September) of Sri Lanka.

About Kalutara District

Kalutara is situated approximately 42km south of Colombo . Once a spice trading post, Kalutara was controlled variously by the Portuguese, Dutch and British. The town is famous for quality bamboo basket and mats and the most luscious mangosteens.

The 38-meter long Kalutara Bridge was built at the mouth of the Kalu Ganga River and serves as a major link between the country's Western and Southern border. At the southern end of the bridge lies the 3 stories-high Kalutara Vihara, a Buddhist temple built in the 1960s which holds the distinction of being the only stupa in the world that is hollow.

About Western Province

The Western Province is the most densely populated province of Sri Lanka. It is home to the legislative capital Sri Jayawardenapura as well to Colombo, the nation's administrative and business center. Western Province is divided into 3 main districts called Colombo (642 km²), Gampaha (1,386.6 km²) and Kalutara (1,606 km²) districts. As Sri Lanka's economic hub, all the major local and international corporations have their presence in the city and so do all the major designer and high street retailers, so be ready to indulge in some retail therapy in western province.

Having the highest population in the all the provinces, the almost all the premier educational institutions in the island are located in western province. Universities in the province include the University of Colombo, the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, University of Kelaniya, Open University, Sri Lanka, Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University and University of Moratuwa .Western province has the largest amount of schools in the country, which includes National, Provincial, Private and International schools.