The island of Sri Lanka is home to a number of rivers and is blessed with sixteen or so large rivers whose length is greater than one hundred kilometres. The longest in the island springs from the Horton Plans National Park and meets the ocean in Trincomalee. This river, known as the Mahaweli River, is the source of a number of folk tales and small communities made its river bed their home in ancient time. Being the longest river in Sri Lanka, the Mahaweli River is a stunning three hundred and thirty five kilometres [335km] long. Other Rivers that originate from the Horton Plans National Park include the Kelani River, which is the fourth longest in the island, and the Walawe Ganga, the seventh longest.
Amongst these, the Deduru Oya is a stunning one hundred and forty two kilometres and is the sixth longest river in the country. Given its length, a number of projects have been proposed and implemented in order to harness its power for both energy as well as to facilitate the distribution of water to nearby areas. Chilaw is well known for its hot, burning sun and beautiful coastline making it the ideal place for one to visit and for those looking for things to do in this area; to the north of the town is the Daduru Oya.
Located in the district of Puttalam in Sri Lanka, the town of Chilaw is known across the island for a number of things: Mahatma Gandhi visited Chilaw on the only journey he made to the island and the town is home to the Munneswaram Temple. Historic and cultural importance aside, Chilaw is slowly developing its reputation amongst travellers and tourists with numerous Sri Lanka beach resorts and rest houses cropping up along the coastline. Accessible via the Katunayake Expressway, it takes less time than before to make one’s way to Chilaw hotels but is still roughly an hour or so from Negombo. However, a fact anyone travelling to Chilaw must keep in mind is that the area has only recently opened its door to tourism and as a result, high quality accommodation is scarce. However, for those willing to invest in a marvellous holiday in this sea side town, Anantaya Resort & Spa Chilaw is truly ideal.
Pushpitha Wijesinghe is an experienced independent freelance writer. He specializes in providing a wide variety of content and articles related to the travel hospitality industry. Google+
