Karawwa is a village in the town of
Kahawatta
Kahawatta (, ) is a town in the Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. It is located in the central mountains of Sri Lanka at an elevation of .
The town and its surrounding area is recognised for its large tea plantations and the ...
in
Ratnapura District
Ratnapura ( Sinhala: රත්නපුර දිස්ත්රික්කය, Tamil: இரத்தினபுரம் மாவட்டம்) is a district of Sri Lanka in the Sabaragamuwa Province.
This gem-mining centre of Sri ...
in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
.
Name
It was named after the herb "karaw" or
Caraway
Caraway, also known as meridian fennel and Persian cumin (''Carum carvi''), is a biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to western Asia, Europe, and North Africa.
Etymology
The etymology of "caraway" is unclear. Caraway has been ...
.
Geography
The area is surrounded by "Kahawathu kanda" (the mountain of Kahawatta) a small part of the Sabaragamu mountain range which is one of the main mountainous areas in Sri Lanka except the central hills in the middle of the island.
Wae ganga(wae rever) is flowing hiding thousands of precious stones in its territory and becoming a border to the area. It is a branch of Kalu ganga which is considered to be one of the four main rivers in Sri Lanka.
Mining
Karawwa is one of the main areas where
gem
A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. Certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, an ...
mining
Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...
takes place. Most of the areas in Kahawatta town are damaged by gem mining.
Because of the underground holes dug for gem mining the area is dangerous. One of the buildings of Kahawatta base hospital has already been submerged and is out of use. The area often suffers from
landslide
Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...
s which may also be as a result of this underground cavities. Gem miners dig a basic pit of 10 to 15 feet in diameter until they find the strips of "
illam
Illam (), also referred to as Mana, is the Malayalam word for the house of a Namboodiri Brahmin. In the traditional lineage system used for the classification and identification of homes based on the castes of Kerala, South India, an Illam s ...
" (the special
stratum
In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as ...
of soil, in which precious stones are liable to be found). As that is a stratum it exists horizontally, hence miners have to dig borrows called "dona" horizontally. After all the illams have been taken off the mine is refilled with soil, but donas remain and make the area dangerous.
References
External links
''a School in the area''*http://www.srilankagemautho.com
*http://www.palagems.com/ceylon_sapphire_bancroft.htm
{{coord, 7, 15, N, 80, 04, E, display=title, region:LK_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki
Populated places in Ratnapura District
Populated places in Sabaragamuwa Province