Pettah, Sri Lanka
Pettah | |
|---|---|
Pettah Floating Market at dusk | |
| Coordinates: 6°56′12″N 79°50′59″E / 6.93667°N 79.84972°E | |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Province | Western Province |
| District | Colombo District 11 |
| Time zone | UTC+05:30 (Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone) |
| Postal Code | 01100 |
| Website | pettah |
Pettah (Sinhala: පිටකොටුව (Piṭakoṭuwa), Tamil: புறக்கோட்டை (Puṟakkōṭṭai)) is a neighbourhood in Colombo, Sri Lanka, located east of the city centre Fort, and behind the Colombo Port. The Pettah neighborhood is famous for the Pettah Market, a series of open air night pasars and markets. It is one of Sri Lanka's busiest commercial areas, where a huge number of wholesale and retail shops, buildings, commercial institutions and other organisations are located.
The main market segment is designed like a gigantic crossword puzzle, where one may traverse through the entire markets from dawn till dusk, but not completely cover every part of it.
Pettah is derived from Tamil: Pettai, an Anglo-Indian word used to indicate a suburb outside a fort. Today, the Sinhala phrase, pita-kotuwa (outside the fort) conveniently describes the same place.