Ahungalla is a small coastal town, located in

Galle District Galle ( si, ගාල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ''gālla distrikkaya''; ta, காலி மாவட்டம் ''Kāli māvattam'') is a district in Southern Province, Sri Lanka. It is one of 25 districts of Sri Lanka, th ...

Southern Province, Sri Lanka The Southern Province ( si, දකුණු පළාත ''Dakuṇu Paḷāta'', ta, தென் மாகாணம் ''Theṉ Mākāṇam'') of Sri Lanka is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of t ...

, governed by an

Urban Council The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Serv ...

. It is approximately 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 is situated at an elevation of above the sea level.

History

Ahungalla is known primarily for its sandy beach, accompanied by a wide palm belt, considered to be one of the best on the island. The village is located about south of Bentota, north of the provincial capital

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 Southern ...

at Cape Point Ahungalla. The neighboring villages are Kosgoda to the north and Balapitiya in the south. Southeast of the town is the

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...

area of Madu Ganga. The largest and most well-known building in the town is the luxury hotel, Heritance Ahungalla (formerly Hotel Triton), designed by notable Sri Lankan

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Geoffrey Bawa Deshamanya Geoffrey Manning Bawa, FRIBA (23 July 1919 – 27 May 2003) was a Sri Lankan architect. He was among the most influential Asian architects of his generation. Early life Geoffrey Bawa was born in Colombo on 23 July 1919, the young ...

, and constructed from 1979 to 1981. As with the entire region Ahungalla was devastated by the

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

caused by the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Su ...

Transport

Ahungalla is located on the

Coastal The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

or Southern Rail Line (connecting Colombo through to Matara), and the A2 highway, connecting Colombo to Wellawaya.

Facilities

* Ahungalla railway station - few trains however stop at this station * Rajapaksha College

Attractions

* Ahungalla beach

References

Populated places in Galle District Populated places in Southern Province, Sri Lanka Seaside resorts in Sri Lanka {{SouthernLK-geo-stub

History

Transport

Facilities

Attractions

See also

References