Sin: වත්තල vattala – Tam: வத்தளை vattaḷai
‘Garden Plain’ WP, Sri Lanka.
From Sin: watta, ‘garden, grove’; and tala, ‘plain, place’.
Wattala is now a large suburb of Colombo with a population of 175,000.
The Hamilton or Dutch Canal passes through Wattala. The canal, started by the Dutch and finished by the British in 1804, was designed to transport cinnamon southwards and to drain the salt water from the wetland rice fields.
For related place names see Sri Lanka Place names.
Hamilton Canal at Wattala Ralf T.