Galle & the South Coast

The south was the core of Ruhuna, the southern principality that often stood apart from the kings of Anuradhapura. From its seat at Mahagama, today's Tissamaharama in Hambantota district, the prince Dutugemunu set out in the 2nd century BC to unite the island. Buddhist monuments such as the stupas of Tissamaharama and the rock temple of Mulkirigala date from this long period, and Devinuwara, near Dondra Head, grew into a major temple town before the Portuguese destroyed it in the 16th century.

Galle was a trading port long before Europeans arrived, visited by Arab, Persian and Chinese ships. The Portuguese reached it in the early 16th century and built a first fort. The Dutch captured Galle in 1640 and turned it into their main port and a fortified town, building the ramparts and bastions that still surround it; in Matara they added the small Star Fort in the 18th century. The British took over in 1796 and kept the fort as the district's administrative centre.

The 2004 tsunami struck this coast with enormous force. Thousands died in Galle, Matara and Hambantota districts, and at Peraliya, north of Galle, a crowded train was swept off its tracks, the worst rail disaster in the country's history. Reconstruction followed, and from the late 2000s Hambantota, the home district of the Rajapaksa family, received a Chinese-financed port, an airport and a cricket stadium; the port was leased to a Chinese company in 2017 after Sri Lanka struggled to repay the loans.

The south is overwhelmingly Sinhalese and Buddhist, with a strong sense of regional pride and a long record as a political heartland. Galle also has an old Muslim community, and inside Galle Fort the Meeran mosque and the Dutch Reformed church stand a few streets apart.

The region keeps some of Sri Lanka's best-known folk traditions. Ambalangoda, on the coast north of Galle, is the centre of mask carving, producing the painted wooden masks used in kolam folk drama and in the sanni yakuma, an exorcism ritual in which dancers impersonate the demons of disease. Low-country dance, distinct from the Kandyan style, is performed at temple festivals. Around Galle and Weligama, lace-making with bobbins, beeralu, survives from the Portuguese era.

On the coast around Weligama, fishermen perched on poles set in the surf, the stilt fishing of the south, have become an emblem of the region. Galle Fort has also become a cultural centre, with its own literary festival, galleries and design shops, and the Galle International Stadium, on the edge of the fort, is one of the country's most famous cricket grounds. The Devinuwara temple's Esala festival draws large crowds each year.

The three districts hold around two and a half million people. Galle, with about 100,000 residents, is the regional capital, a mix of the tourist fort and a busy modern town; Matara is the second city and a university town, and Hambantota, Tangalle, Weligama and Tissamaharama are smaller centres.

Fishing is a mainstay along the whole coast, with harbours at Galle, Mirissa, Dikwella and Tangalle, and multi-day boats heading far out into the ocean. Inland, Galle and Matara districts are covered with smallholdings of low-grown tea, rubber and cinnamon. Tourism dominates the coastline from Hikkaduwa to Tangalle, and Hambantota adds salt from its lagoons, paddy and the new port.

Days start early with the fish auctions, and many families work several jobs, from fishing to guesthouses. The tourist economy was hit by the tsunami, the 2019 Easter bombings, the pandemic and the 2022 crisis in turn, and many young people have left for work in the Gulf. Coastal erosion, over-building along the beaches and the debts left by Hambantota's grand projects are current concerns.

Southern cooking is known for its seafood. The signature dish is ambul thiyal, a dry fish curry, usually of tuna, cooked in a thick seasoning of pepper, lime, salt and spices. Seer fish, prawns, crab and cuttlefish appear in coconut curries, devilled or fried, and many beach restaurants grill the day's catch.

Buffalo curd is a favourite dessert, eaten with kithul treacle, the syrup of the kithul palm. Among the sweets is kalu dodol, a dark, sticky confection of coconut milk, rice flour and jaggery.

Cinnamon from the gardens of Galle and Matara flavours both curries and sweets. Hoppers and kottu feed the evening crowds, fresh thambili, king coconut, is sold on every roadside, and toddy and arrack come from the coconut palms that line the coast.

Galle Fort is the region's centrepiece, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where the walk along the ramparts from the Flag Rock bastion past the lighthouse to the old gate is the classic introduction. Inside are the Dutch Reformed church, the old Dutch warehouses, the Meeran mosque and streets of colonial houses. North of Galle lie the beaches and reefs of Hikkaduwa, the mask workshops of Ambalangoda and, at Bentota, Lunuganga, the country estate and garden of the architect Geoffrey Bawa.

East of Galle, Unawatuna's sheltered bay sits below Rumassala and its Japanese Peace Pagoda, followed by the long beach at Koggala and the bay of Weligama with its stilt fishermen. Mirissa, with its beach and harbour, is a main base for whale and dolphin watching. Matara has its Star Fort and the island of Paravi Duwa, and Dondra Head its lighthouse at the southern tip.

Beyond, the coast turns drier: the coves and long beaches of Tangalle, the Hummanaya blowhole near Dikwella, the turtle beach at Rekawa and the rock temple of Mulkirigala. Bundala National Park protects lagoons full of waterbirds, and Yala, reached from Tissamaharama, is famous for its leopards and also home to elephants, sloth bears and crocodiles.