Pettah, Sri Lanka

Pettah is a neighbourhood in Colombo, Sri Lanka located east of the City centre Fort. The Pettah neighborhood is famous for the Pettah Market, a series of open air bazaars and markets. It is one of Sri Lanka's busiest commercial areas, where a huge number of wholesale and retail shops, buildings, commercial institutions and other organisations are located.[2]

Pettah


පිට කොටුව

புறக் கோட்டை
Suburb
Pettah Floating Market at dusk
Pettah
Coordinates: 6°56′12″N 79°50′59″E
CountrySri Lanka
ProvinceWestern Province
DistrictColombo District 11
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone)
Postal Code
01100 [1]

The main market segment is designed like a gigantic crossword puzzle, where one may traverse through the entire markets from dawn till dusk, but not completely cover every part of it.[3]

Pettah is derived from Tamil: Pettai, an Anglo-Indian word used to indicate a suburb outside a fort. Today, the Sinhala phrase, pita-kotuwa (outside the fort) conveniently describes the same place.[4]

Demographics

Pettah is a multi-religious and multi-ethnic area. Moors, Bohras and Memons are the predominant ethnic group found within Pettah, however an average amount of Sinhalese and Tamil populations also exist. There are also various other minorities such as Burghers, Malays and others. Religions include Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and various other religions and beliefs to a lesser extent.

Buildings and landmarks

Notable landmarks in the neighborhood include Wolvendaal Church, the Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque, Kayman's Gate, the old Colombo Town Hall, the Colombo Dutch Museum and the Khan Clock Tower, which was built by the Khan family of Bombay (now known as the city of Mumbai) in India.

References
  1. "Pettah Post Office - Sri Lanka Postal Codes". Mohanjith. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  2. "Sri Lanka - Travel Information - Colombo Pettah". Lankainfo.com. Archived from the original on 24 March 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  3. "Colombo, The Famous Business Hub of Sri Lanka – Stories & Advice". Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  4. "A Walk Through Pettah". Sunday Observer. 18 March 2007. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.


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