Monday, August 10, 2009

Sunset over the Kelany Ganga at Hanwella, Sri Lanka.

The gently flowing Kelany Ganga at sunset, is the theme of this photo which I took at Hanwella. It is a peaceful scene, which produced tranquility for the mind. The Kelany Ganga was one of  the means of transport from Colombo into the interior of Sri Lanka, upto the late 19th century. The route to the Kandyan Kingdom was by boat upto Kosgama and then by land via Karawanella. Timber was tied together as logs and was transported via the Kelany Ganga from its upper reaches, to the timber mills lining the banks of the river at Sedawaththe, in the outskirts of Colombo. The Portuguese built a fort at Hanwella to control this traffic. The Dutch enlarged the fort. The remains of this fort now houses the Rest-House at Hanwella.