Gampola

Geography

Gampola, or so called Gangasiripura because of the Mahaweli (Mahaweli Ganga) flowing by its side, is a town which is located at an altitude of , situated in a valley surrounded by hills and located near to Kandy. Geologically the region belongs to the Highland Complex of Sri Lanka and major rock formation is Precambrian charnockite gneiss with strips of quartz and biotite gneiss here and there. Soil profile of the region could identify as Red Yellow Podzolic soils and Mountain Regosols. Mean annual rainfall is in between and mean annual temperature is in between . Due to the geomorphology of the Gampola and its vicinity, which characterised by steep hills stand from plain, it was declared as a landslide prone area. However, with its flat terrain with being a catchment area of River Mahaweli, our region has become highly used in agricultural purposes both in traditional (paddy, chena, home gardens) and industrial plantations (majorly tea). Tea, natural forests, mixed home gardens, steeply dissected hilly and rolling, soil profile with the prominent A1 horizon and lithosol soils can be considered as its unique ecological background. Administratively, Gampola is an urban council belongs to the Kandy district of Central Province. In traditional administration region system, it once belonged to the Maya rata before the 13th cent. AD and in Kandy period to the Ganga Pahala Koralaya of Uda Palatha of Kandy district.