Description

There is an economy-type, Villa for sale in Weligama, at Moodugamuwa, 33 Perch.
3 rooms .2 bathrooms
10 minutes to the beach.
The main industries are tourism and fishing. Weligama is a popular tourist destination and hosts several boutique hotels including an offshore islet known as Taprobane, which houses a villa constructed by the French Count de Mauny and is currently owned by Geoffrey Dobbs. It was the birthplace of the scholar-monk Weligama Sri Sumangala.

There are many sites of historical importance within Weligama and its vicinity, including a 3-meter (9.8 ft) high bas-relief statue of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, carved into the surrounding rock, between the 6th and 9th century AD.[2] It is known locally as Kusta Raja Gala or Rock of the Leper King and is thought to represent a king smitten with a skin disease (possibly leprosy "kusta"), who was prompted in a vision to take coconut pulp and water for three months as a cure. When he fulfilled the vision his health was restored, he then commissioned his figure to be carved on the rock commemorating this miraculous cure. This sculpture is believed to be all that is left of the old Agrabodhi Vihara that was located there.[3]

Weligama is recognized for its beeralu bobbin lace-making. First introduced by the Portuguese in the 16th century, lace-making has remained a traditional handicraft along the coastal area of Weligama, with several households producing crochet and tatting lace.[4]

The area is also famous for its distinct stilt fishermen,[5] who erect a single pole in the chest-deep water on the beach, just a few meters off-shore, where they perch on a crossbar and using bamboo fishing rods cast their lines out beyond the surf break to catch small fish.

Posted/edited: 23 days ago