Puttalam

Puttalam (Sinhala: පුත්තලම, romanized: Puttalama; Tamil: புத்தளம், romanized: Puttaḷam) is the largest town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Puttalam is the administrative capital of the Puttalam District and governed by an Urban Council. Situated 130 kilometres (81 mi) north of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka and 95 kilometres (59 mi) north of Negombo. Puttalam is known for energy production, salt, coconut production and fishing. It has one of the largest lagoons in the country. Puttalam is known for kind and hospitable people. It has many tourist attractions such as Wilpattu National Park, Kalpitiya, and virgin beaches, natural resources, dolphin watching. Puttalam town is near Anamaduwa.

This article is about the town in Sri Lanka. For the district, see Puttalam District.
Puttalam
පුත්තලම
புத்தளம்
Town
Puttalam
පුත්තලම
புத்தளம்
Coordinates: 08°02′03″N 79°50′07″E
CountrySri Lanka
ProvinceNorth Western
DistrictPuttalam District
Divisional SecretariatPuttalam Division
Government
 • TypePuttalam Urban Council
 • ChairmanVacant since May 2021.[1]
Area
 • Town25.6 km2 (9.9 sq mi)
 • Land119.0 km2 (45.9 sq mi)
Population
 (2012)[2]
 • Town45,511 (Urban Council)
 • Urban density1,778/km2 (4,600/sq mi)
 • Metro
82,443 (Puttalam Division)
 • Metro density471.1/km2 (1,220/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone)

History
Puttalam street scenery, 1984

The history of Puttalam dates back to the arrival of Prince Vijaya, nearly 2,500 years ago, when his vessel washed ashore to "Thambapani" which is located north side of Puttalam lagoon. The name "Puttalam" may be a modification of the Tamil word Uppuththalam, Uppu means salt and Thalam means salt production zone, which evolved into the name Puttalam.

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Pattalam has a tropical savanna climate with a short dry season from June to September and a second dry season from January to March. The wet season is mainly from October to December. Temperatures remain steady throughout the year with little variations in between.

Climate data for Puttalam (1961–1990)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 35.0
(95.0)		 37.9
(100.2)		 38.5
(101.3)		 38.5
(101.3)		 36.2
(97.2)		 36.1
(97.0)		 36.7
(98.1)		 35.5
(95.9)		 35.7
(96.3)		 35.5
(95.9)		 36.1
(97.0)		 34.6
(94.3)		 38.5
(101.3)
Average high °C (°F) 30.5
(86.9)		 32.1
(89.8)		 33.2
(91.8)		 33.1
(91.6)		 32.3
(90.1)		 31.5
(88.7)		 31.4
(88.5)		 31.5
(88.7)		 31.7
(89.1)		 31.1
(88.0)		 30.5
(86.9)		 29.9
(85.8)		 31.6
(88.9)
Daily mean °C (°F) 25.8
(78.4)		 26.8
(80.2)		 28.1
(82.6)		 28.8
(83.8)		 29.0
(84.2)		 28.8
(83.8)		 28.5
(83.3)		 28.5
(83.3)		 28.5
(83.3)		 27.6
(81.7)		 26.7
(80.1)		 26.0
(78.8)		 27.8
(82.0)
Average low °C (°F) 21.0
(69.8)		 21.4
(70.5)		 23.1
(73.6)		 24.5
(76.1)		 25.8
(78.4)		 26.2
(79.2)		 25.6
(78.1)		 25.5
(77.9)		 25.3
(77.5)		 24.1
(75.4)		 22.9
(73.2)		 22.1
(71.8)		 24.0
(75.2)
Record low °C (°F) 15.2
(59.4)		 13.5
(56.3)		 14.9
(58.8)		 19.9
(67.8)		 19.7
(67.5)		 20.4
(68.7)		 21.0
(69.8)		 20.2
(68.4)		 20.4
(68.7)		 19.4
(66.9)		 16.7
(62.1)		 16.7
(62.1)		 13.5
(56.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 55
(2.2)		 40
(1.6)		 66
(2.6)		 176
(6.9)		 95
(3.7)		 42
(1.7)		 16
(0.6)		 16
(0.6)		 64
(2.5)		 238
(9.4)		 249
(9.8)		 138
(5.4)		 1,195
(47.0)
Average relative humidity (%) (at Daytime) 70 66 67 71 74 73 73 73 72 75 76 75 72
Source 1: NOAA [3]
Source 2: Department of Meteorology (records up to 2007)[4]

"Puttalam records from 2007 to 2021" (in French). Meteo Climat. Retrieved 26 August 2021.

Religion

Puttalam is a multi-cultural and multi-religious town. (86%) of puttalam's resident's religion is Islam, urban area's are dominated by them. While Buddhist and Christians are significant minorities with a small number of Hindu population.

Religion in Puttalam Town (2012)
Population Percent
Islam
 
 86.02%
Buddhist
 
 12.27%
Christian
 
 7.60%
Hindu
 
 1.27%
Others
 
 0.01%

Source:statistics.gov.lk

Transport

The Puttalam rail line connects Puttalam to Colombo via Negombo and provides a passenger and freight service.

Puttalam has three main highways that connect it to major cities in the country, the A3 which connects Puttalam with Colombo via Negombo, the A10 which connects Puttalam with Kandy via Kurunegala and the A12 which connects Puttalam with Trincomalee via Anuradhapura.

Daily bus transport is available to the capital Colombo and other cities like Kurunegala, Kandy and Anuradhapura.

Economy

Situated at the center of the Coconut Triangle, Puttalam is the second largest Coconut producer of the country. It is also the second largest salt producer in the country. The local Insee Cement factory is one of the biggest in Sri Lanka. Puttalam is also famous for prawn farming and agriculture. It now also has a crab farm and hatchery, run by a Singapore-based company.

Education

National Schools:[5]
  • Ananda National School
  • Zahira College, Puttalam

Provincial Schools

Primary Schools
  • Nallandaluwa Primary School
  • St. Andrew's Primary School
  • Zainab Muslim Girls' School
  • Zahira Primary School

International schools in Puttalam include:

  • Phoenix International School
  • St. Joseph Vaz College
  • Ikra International School
  • School Of Excellence

Puttalam also has an Open University.

Energy

Seguwantivu Wind Power (Private) Limited an Indian firm invests US$37 million and maintains 25 wind turbines which produce 20 MW s of electricity in Puttalam Seguwantivu region.

Norocholai Power Station is a large coal-fired power station in Norocholai, Puttalam, Sri Lanka. Construction of the facility began on 11 May 2006, and concluded with the commissioning on 22 March 2011. The first 300-megawatt phase was completed and ceremonially commissioned by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 22 March 2011 at 18:27 local time, with the presence of deputy Minister of Energy Premalal Jayasekara. According to the Ceylon Electricity Board, the US$455 million first phase generates nearly 1.7 TWh of electricity annually; a very significant amount when compared to Sri Lanka's total production of 11.5 TWh in 2011. The plant is connected to the grid via 115 km (71 mi) 220-kilovolt transmission line to Veyangoda. Power station exhausts are emitted through a 150 m (492 ft) tall chimney, one of the country's tallest man-made structures. During its pre-development stages, a number of protests were launched by residents living at the project site, claiming that they were deceived by the government. Construction of the 600 MW Phase-1 and Phase-2 units were officially inaugurated by the President in March 2010.

Sport

Puttalam is well known for soccer although cricket is widely played in the country. The city is home for many soccer and cricket clubs as it has a strong sporting tradition.[6]

Volleyball is also played in the town and there are volleyball clubs as well.

Notable people

References
  1. "The Chairman of puttalam urban council died following a road accident".
  2. https://www.citypopulation.de/en/srilanka/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. "Puttalam Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  4. "Ever Recorded Daily Extreme Values" (PDF). Department of Meteorology. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 29, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  5. "Provincial Department of Education - North Western". nwpedu.lk. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  6. "Wimbledon FC, Puttalam into F.A Cup second round". Dailynews. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
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