Wattala : වත්තල

Wattala is a large suburb of Gampaha city, in Western Province, Sri Lanka, situated around 9km from Colombo city centre. This suburb is situated on A3 highway from Colombo to Negombo. Around Wattala, there are many villages and towns.

People from all walks of life live in this area. The traditional fisher folk, large sections of the working class, many types of white collar workers, a fair number of professionals and even some richer folk live here. Churches, Buddhist temples, Hindu temples, mosques, schools of various grades and many private dispensaries are spread throughout the area. Though it is a majority Roman Catholic area, people of many faiths live here in peaceful coexistence. A sizable population also exists of minority Tamils and a smaller percentage of Muslims. There has been no record of any violence used by one faith group or racial group against another.

This area also produces many migrant workers. Almost all families produce one or more persons who go abroad for employment. The migrant workers also bring back income and therefore have an influence in creating new trends in the society.

Wattala has become a popular area for living and buying property and has recently become the 3rd most popular city for house searches, according to property website LankaPropertyWeb.com

About Gampaha District

Gampaha is an urban city in Sri Lanka and is the capital of the Gampaha District in Western Province, north of Colombo. Gampaha District is separated from Colombo mainly by the Kelani River. Gampaha town is about 4km from Miriswatta on Colombo-Kandy road. Gampaha is surrounded by Yakkala, Miriswatta, Weliweriya Udugampola and Ja-Ela towns.

The name "Gampaha" in Sinhala literally means Five Villages. The five villages are known to be Ihalagama, Pahalagama, Medagama, Pattiyagama and Aluthgama.

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.

【LK94009582: Text by Lakpura™. Images by Google, copyright(s) reserved by original authors.】
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