Kurunegala District - Kurunegala
Kurunegala is about 116 km from Colombo and 60 km from Kandy and is the Capital of the North Western Province and the District of Kurunegala. Up to the middle of the last century Kurunegala was considered a highly Malaria infested area where people were reluctant to live in. The Government servants were given punishment transfers to Kurunegala. However after independence Kurunegala developed very fast and now it is very popular and is one of the biggest towns in the country. Kurunegala is central place and is connected to most of the major towns in the country. By road it is connected to Kandy, Colombo, Negombo. Puttalam, Anurahapura Trincomalee, Batticaloa and also to Rambukkana/Kegalle. Kurunegala can be reached by Railway on the Northern Railway to Jaffna . Kurunegala Railway Station is one of the major Railway Stations along the Northern Railway. Kurunegala is a picturque city with a lake in the middle of the city and the huge Aetha Gala (Elephant Rock ) in the background. Kurunegala is famous for rocks which appear like various animals. Hence we have Aanda gala ( Eel Rock) Wanduragala (Monkey Rock) Ibbagala (Tortoise Rock) Yaddessa gala ( Kandyan Dancer Rock ) and many more like that. Kurunegala is one of the ancient capital cities of Sri Lanka. A few kings ruled with Kurunegala as their capital. In ancient Sinhala literary works Kurunegala is referred to as Hasthi Shaila Pura - the City with the Elephant like Rock Kruunegala District is known for large scale coconut and paddy cultivation.
