Mannakethi Ella Waterfall (මන්නකැති ඇල්ල)

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Height :60 meters
District :Kegalle

The source of this 60m-high Mannakethi Fall is the Girankitha Oya Reservoir, which is served in turn by the western slopes of Unagula Mountain. Later, the Mannaketi Falls flows into the Kelani River that enters the Indian Ocean in Colombo North.

The fall is situated in the Kegalle District. Take the highway from Kitulgala, over a bridge, to Malwatte. From here, climb the mountain above the Girankitha Oya Reservoir (across the road at a small hamlet in the rubber plantations) for 3km until a footpath is reached. After about 400m, the footpath reaches the fall. Alternatively, take the highway from Kegalle, and 13km before the town of Bulathkohupitiya, Mannaketi Falls can be viewed on the right-hand side. The Kitulgala rest-house is 5km away.

The marker on the Google Map below points to an approximate area. The location indicates Malwatta Village. You need to travel a few kilometres further to reach the fall. Please travel directions.

References

  1. Lanka Council On Waterfalls. (n.d.). Lanka Council On Waterfalls. http://www.srilankanwaterfalls.net/

Also See

Map of Mannakethi Ella Falls

Please click on the button below to load the Dynamic Google Map (ගූගල් සිතියම් පහලින්)
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The map above also shows other places of interest within a approximately 20 km radius of the current site. Click on any of the markers and the info box to take you to information of these sites

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Travel Directions to Mannakethi Ella Falls

Mannakethi Ella Falls - junction with a name board saying “Samanapura Bodhimalu Viharaya”
junction with a name board saying “Samanapura Bodhimalu Viharaya”

“With the Kitulgala bridge, there is a road called Malwatte road, we got into a three-wheeler from Kitulgala and went to Malwatte which is a few kilometres away from the town after we reached Malwatte we continued in the same three-wheeler as close as we can get to the path to Mannaketi falls which is through a tea estate. The distance to the waterfall is about 1.5 km from the tarred road.

Mannakethi Ella Falls - The place with a road moving uphill (Photo 1)
The place with a road moving uphill (Photo 1)

Let me try and explain the path as I can, but I recommend getting advice from locals because we took the wrong path and ended up at a place below the waterfall. After passing Malwatte and travelling about 1km ahead we came to a junction with a name board saying “Samanapura Bodhimalu Viharaya” (See the photograph) as we passed this name board to the right there was a gravel road, you need to travel along it for about 1Km then you will come to a place (Photo 1) with a road going uphill (Left).

Mannakethi Ella Falls - Small junction near a house (Photo 2)
Small junction near a house (Photo 2)

Take the one going downwards (right-hand side), until you reach the next small junction near a house (Photo 2) take the Right-hand road and travel until you come to the last junction from here (Photo 3 )

Take the left uphill road and continue, unfortunately, we took the downhill one and ended up at a place below the waterfall.

Mannakethi Ella Falls - The Last junction (Photo 3 )
The Last junction (Photo 3 )

After travelling uphill along the road(The tea estate is now on the left-hand side) we arrived at a junction with two-foot paths joining the main gravel road (Photo 4) . There is an old chopped tree trunk, as a landmark which divides the two footpaths, the footpath on the right will take you to the base of the fall & the one to the left will take you to the top of the Mannaketi waterfall.

Mannakethi Ella Falls - Two foot paths joining the main gravel road (Photo 4)
Two foot paths joining the main gravel road (Photo 4)

As I said earlier we ended at a place below the waterfall and it was rewarding because we came across a very nice and dangerous place as seen in the photo. At this point, we decided to go upstream. We came to a place where we saw the waterfall through the “Gal Debokkawa”. Getting to the waterfall from this place was impossible because it was deep, so we decided to cross the stream and take the jungle route. Still, fortunately, a village person known as Keerthi was there and said that it was difficult to get to the base from the side we attempted to do so. He was kind enough to guide us to the correct track. “

by Ashan Geeganage
Route from Colombo up to the Mannakethi Ella Falls
Though : Kadawatha – Ruwanwella – Karawanella – Kitulgala
Distance : 100 km
Travel time : 3 hours
Driving directions : see on google map .

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