Puttalam

This article is about the town in Sri Lanka. For other uses, see Puttalam (disambiguation).

Puttalam (Sinhala: පුත්තලම, romanized: Puttalama; Tamil: புத்தளம், romanized: Puttaḷam) is the largest town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Puttalam is the administrative capital of the Puttalam District and governed by a municipal council.

Puttalam පුත්තලම புத்தளம்
Town
Puttalam පුත්තලම புத்தளம்
Coordinates: 08°02′03″N 79°50′07″E
Country	Sri Lanka
Province	North Western
District	Puttalam District
Divisional Secretariat	Puttalam Division
Government
• Type	Puttalam Municipal Council
• Mayor	Vacant since May 2021[1]
Area
• Town	25.6 km2 (9.9 sq mi)
• Land	119.0 km2 (45.9 sq mi)
• Water	327 km2 (126 sq mi)
Population  (2012)[2]
• Town	45,511 (Urban Council)
• Density	400/km2 (1,000/sq mi)
• Urban density	1,778/km2 (4,600/sq mi)
• Metro	82,443 (Puttalam Division)
• Metro density	471.1/km2 (1,220/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+05:30 (Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone)

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Pattalam has a tropical savanna climate (As) with a short dry season from June to September and a second dry season from January to March. The wet season is mainly from October to December. Temperatures remain steady throughout the year with little variations in between.

Climate data for Puttalam (1991–2020)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	34.4 (93.9)	36.4 (97.5)	38.5 (101.3)	38.5 (101.3)	36.2 (97.2)	35.4 (95.7)	34.9 (94.8)	35.5 (95.9)	35.7 (96.3)	35.5 (95.9)	34.5 (94.1)	33.1 (91.6)	38.5 (101.3)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	30.7 (87.3)	32.3 (90.1)	33.5 (92.3)	33.2 (91.8)	32.5 (90.5)	31.7 (89.1)	31.5 (88.7)	31.7 (89.1)	31.8 (89.2)	31.3 (88.3)	30.7 (87.3)	30.0 (86.0)	31.8 (89.2)
Daily mean °C (°F)	26.2 (79.2)	27.0 (80.6)	28.6 (83.5)	28.9 (84.0)	29.5 (85.1)	29.2 (84.6)	28.9 (84.0)	28.9 (84.0)	28.9 (84.0)	28.1 (82.6)	27.1 (80.8)	26.4 (79.5)	28.1 (82.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	21.4 (70.5)	21.7 (71.1)	23.4 (74.1)	24.7 (76.5)	26.5 (79.7)	26.7 (80.1)	26.3 (79.3)	26.2 (79.2)	25.9 (78.6)	24.7 (76.5)	23.5 (74.3)	22.6 (72.7)	24.5 (76.1)
Record low °C (°F)	15.6 (60.1)	16.2 (61.2)	17.0 (62.6)	20.5 (68.9)	19.7 (67.5)	22.7 (72.9)	22.0 (71.6)	22.5 (72.5)	21.4 (70.5)	21.3 (70.3)	17.4 (63.3)	15.7 (60.3)	15.6 (60.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	50.5 (1.99)	42.1 (1.66)	56.9 (2.24)	154.4 (6.08)	101.8 (4.01)	32.1 (1.26)	23.5 (0.93)	23.3 (0.92)	69.2 (2.72)	230.6 (9.08)	254.6 (10.02)	143.7 (5.66)	1,182.6 (46.56)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm)	5.6	4.2	4.5	9.5	6.5	4.2	2.1	3.4	5.8	12.8	15.3	10.8	84.7
Source: NOAA[3]

Points of interest

• Puttalam Lagoon
• Saltern^[4]
• Seguwantivu and Vidatamunai Wind Farms

Energy

Seguwantivu Wind Power (Private) Limited, an Indian firm, invests US$37 million and maintains 25 wind turbines which produce 20 MWs of electricity in Puttalam Seguwantivu region.^[5]

Education

National schools

• Zahira National College, Puttalam
• Ananda National School, Puttalam
• science college, puttalam
• St.mary's tamil maha vidyalayam, puttalam

^[6]

Provincial schools

• President's Science College
• Fathima Muslim Ladies College^[7]
• Science High School, Puttalam
• Puttalam Hindu Central College
• Thillayadi Muslim Maha Vidhyalaya
• Zahira Primary School
• Manal Kundru Muslim Maha Vidhiyalaya
• Zainab Muslim Girl's Primary
• Assenkudhoos Government Muslim Vidyalayam
• St. Mary's National College
• St. Andrew's Central College

International schools

• Phoenix International School
• Puttalam Primary school and child care centre
• KEC
• St. Joseph Vaz College
• Ikra International School
• School of Excellence
• Mercy Education Center

^[8]

Puttalam also has an open university.

Religion

Puttalam is a multi-cultural and multi-religious town. Islam is the major religion in Puttalam town while Buddhists and Christians are significant minorities; there is also a small Hindu population.^[9]

Religion in Puttalam DS Division (2012)
Population			Percent
Islam			64.21%
Buddhist			18.23%
Christian			11.66%
Hindu			5.89%
Others			0.02%

Religious places

• Mohideen Jumma Mosque
• Buddhist Centre
• Muthu Maariamman Temple
• Mother of Refuge Catholic Church

Climate data for Puttalam (1961–1990)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	35.0 (95.0)	37.9 (100.2)	38.5 (101.3)	38.5 (101.3)	36.2 (97.2)	36.1 (97.0)	36.7 (98.1)	35.5 (95.9)	35.7 (96.3)	35.5 (95.9)	36.1 (97.0)	34.6 (94.3)	38.5 (101.3)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	30.5 (86.9)	32.1 (89.8)	33.2 (91.8)	33.1 (91.6)	32.3 (90.1)	31.5 (88.7)	31.4 (88.5)	31.5 (88.7)	31.7 (89.1)	31.1 (88.0)	30.5 (86.9)	29.9 (85.8)	31.6 (88.9)
Daily mean °C (°F)	25.8 (78.4)	26.8 (80.2)	28.1 (82.6)	28.8 (83.8)	29.0 (84.2)	28.8 (83.8)	28.5 (83.3)	28.5 (83.3)	28.5 (83.3)	27.6 (81.7)	26.7 (80.1)	26.0 (78.8)	27.8 (82.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	21.0 (69.8)	21.4 (70.5)	23.1 (73.6)	24.5 (76.1)	25.8 (78.4)	26.2 (79.2)	25.6 (78.1)	25.5 (77.9)	25.3 (77.5)	24.1 (75.4)	22.9 (73.2)	22.1 (71.8)	24.0 (75.2)
Record low °C (°F)	15.2 (59.4)	13.5 (56.3)	14.9 (58.8)	19.9 (67.8)	19.7 (67.5)	20.4 (68.7)	21.0 (69.8)	20.2 (68.4)	20.4 (68.7)	19.4 (66.9)	16.7 (62.1)	16.7 (62.1)	13.5 (56.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	55 (2.2)	40 (1.6)	66 (2.6)	176 (6.9)	95 (3.7)	42 (1.7)	16 (0.6)	16 (0.6)	64 (2.5)	238 (9.4)	249 (9.8)	138 (5.4)	1,195 (47.0)
Average relative humidity (%) (at Daytime)	70	66	67	71	74	73	73	73	72	75	76	75	72
Source 1: NOAA [10]
Source 2: Department of Meteorology (records up to 2007)[11] "Puttalam records from 2007 to 2021" (in French). Meteo Climat. Retrieved 25 August 2021.

Notable people

• Sahan Adeesha - cricketer born in Puttalam
• Abdul Baiz Kamardeen - politician, former Chairman of Puttalam Urban Council
• Tariq Hisny - composer, born in Puttalam
• H. S. Ismail - 5th Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
• M. H. M. Naina Marikar - first elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka as member for Puttalam
• M. H. M. Navavi - politician, former Member of Parliament
• Ali Sabri Raheem - politician, Member of Parliament
• Hector Appuhamy - politician, Member of Parliament