Uncommon Paths: Muthurajawela - A fast disappearing treasure trove

Despite being located a hop, skip and a jump away from the Colombo city center, Muthurajawela thankfully is still spared from the hoards of tourists and remains off the beaten trail.

A haven for bird lovers and for those who enjoy nature, the beauty of Muthurajawela is best enjoyed by boat. The Muthurajawela Visitor Center organises boat tours that last about 2 hours at reasonable rates. As an added bonus you are accompanied by an experienced guide who will help you get the best experience of what Muthurajawela has to offer.

The Muthurajawela Visitor Center - Contact No - 011 403 0150

The boats that take you on the 2 hour tour

The Muthurajawela Visitor Center is located a couple of Kms away from Bopitiya and is easily accessible from Ja Ela on the Negombo road or the much more scenic old Negombo road that runs adjacent to the Hamilton canal.

Parts of the Muthurajawela wetland was once a fertile rice paddy field, however the construction of canals during the Dutch era brought salt water into the marshes and the paddy fields were ruined. There is an interesting story told by the people in the area which states that the citizens of Muthurajawela were a content lot who had a stable income through rice paddy cultivation and that the Dutch could not induce them to work on the Cinnamon plantations. It was in light of this that canals were intentionally built in a manner that they ruined the rice paddy cultivation.

Whatever the truth behind this story is, today the Muthurajawela marshlands encompass 6000+ hectares including the Negombo lagoon but is in grave danger due to encroachment and other large scale development projects. The ecological importance of Muthurajawela cannot be understated and we hope the authorities concerned act before it is too late and prevent Muthurajawela from going the same way as many of our natural wonders have gone.