Ragama ( si, රාගම ta, ரா௧ம) is a suburb of Colombo, located in the Gampaha District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is governed by the Ja-Ela Pradeshiya Sabha.

History

In July 1874 a rail line, known as the Breakwater line, was opened connecting the Harbour Works Quarry at Ragama to the

Colombo Harbour The Port of Colombo (known as Port of Kolomtota during the early 14th Century Kotte Kingdom) is the largest and busiest port in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean. Located in Colombo, on the southwestern shores on the Kelani River, it serves as an i ...

breakwater, in order to enable stone to be transported to the harbor to construct the breakwater. Stone from a second quarry at Ragama was then used to stabilise the Coastal line where it ran on the edge of the beach. On 8 January 1901 the British

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MoD ...

established a

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military priso ...

in Ragama to house Boer prisoners captured in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

. The prisoners at Ragama were primarily

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 20th ...

s, foreign volunteers and irreconcilables who refused to sign an oath of allegiance to the British Crown, and were transferred from the main camp at Diyatalawa. Ragama served as the main observation camp for coolies entering the country. The coolies disembarked at

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 were sent by train to Ragama, where they were detained for forty eight hours before being transported to various tea plantations around the country. In 1904 76,963 coolies from Southern India came through the camp and in 1905 this increased to 132,690.

Transport

Ragama is accessible from the

A3 highway This is a list of roads designated A3. Roads entries are sorted in the countries alphabetical order. * A003 road (Argentina), a road connecting the junction with National Route 9 and Camino de Cintura to Tigre * ''A3 road (Australia)'' may refer ...

(

Negombo Negombo (, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the west coast and at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon, in Western Province, Sri Lanka, Western Province, from Colombo via Colombo - Katunayake Expressway. Negombo is one of the major commer ...

road) and is about from Mahabage junction. Sri Lanka's second motorway flyover was built in 1996 over the main railway line right at the town centre, at a cost of Rs 200 million. Ragama is a main

railway junction A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes (assuming they are of the same gauge), provided by ''points'' ( ...

, where the Main line and the Puttalam line diverge. The first stage of the Puttalam line from Ragama to

Ja-Ela Ja-Ela ( si, ජා-ඇල, ta, ஜா-எல) is a suburb of Colombo, located approximately north of the Colombo city centre. Ja-Ela lies on the A3 road which overlaps with the Colombo – Katunayake Expressway at the Ja-Ela Interchange. E ...

was constructed in 1908 and the full length to

Puttalam Puttalam ( si, පුත්තලම, translit=Puttalama; ta, புத்தளம், translit=Puttaḷam) is the largest town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Puttalam is the administrative capital of the Puttalam ...

through Peralanda completed in May 1926.

Health

The Colombo North Teaching Hospital is located at Ragama. It is the second largest hospital in Sri Lanka, with a 1,442 bed capacity. The hospital comprises the District Hospital Kandana, the Rehabilitation Hospital, Ragama and the Nurses Training School, Kandana. It also associated with the University of Kelaniya's Faculty of Medicine and is known for having one of the most advanced diagnostic departments in the country. It also boasts the country's only Liver Transplant Unit. Other hospitals in Ragama include the National Hospital for Respiratory Diseases, the Ragama Rehabilitation Hospital, Melsta Hospital and Leesons Hospital.

Government facilities

Currently Ragama is home to several important government establishments in the country. They include: #Sri Lanka Navy (Gemunu) Brigade #Sri Lanka Navy (Mahasen) Brigade #College of Naval Architecture (attached to Sri Lanka Navy) # Mahara Prison (a maximum security prison and one of the largest prisons in the country) #Governments Ammunition Storage #Faculty of Medicine - University of kelaniya #Ayati Center #Ranawiru Sewana

Religion

# St. Lazarus' Church, Kurukulawa # Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka, Tewatte # Weluwanaramaya Temple # Ragama Dewalaya # St. Peter & Pauls' Church, Ragama # Christ the King Church, Lenchiyawatta # Christ the Healer Church, Ragammulla # Word of Power Ministries (Kingdom Centre) - branch Ragama # A.O.G Ragama # Sri Sugatharama Temple Ihalagama. (with Iahalagama Tank)

References

{{Suburbs of Colombo Suburbs of Colombo