River · Sri Lanka
Mahaweli
The Mahaweli is the longest river of Sri Lanka. It starts in the cool central highlands and travels about 335 kilometres across the island to the Bay of Bengal near the harbour of Trincomalee.
Picture credit: Hasindu (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Hasindu2008 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Mahaweli?
The river starts here: central highlands of Sri Lanka.
It ends in the Bay of Bengal near Trincomalee.
Countries on the river: Sri Lanka.
The story behind it
The Mahaweli starts among tea gardens and misty peaks, where rain falls almost all year. It tumbles past waterfalls and the old royal city of Kandy, then leaves the mountains and turns north into a much drier part of the island. There the river is the key to life: canals and huge dams lead its water into thousands of tanks and rice fields, and villages that once waited for rain can now harvest twice a year. Elephants come to drink at the reservoirs in the evening, crocodiles lie in the shallows and fish eagles watch from dead trees. During the monsoon the river swells quickly and floods low ground, while in hot months some side channels almost dry out. Near Trincomalee it finally meets the Bay of Bengal.
Questions children ask
How long is the Mahaweli?
The Mahaweli is about 335 kilometres long. For an island of this size that is a great distance, and no other river in Sri Lanka comes close.
Which country does the Mahaweli flow through?
The Mahaweli flows only through Sri Lanka. It crosses the island from the central mountains to the north-east coast.
Where does the Mahaweli flow into the sea?
The river reaches the Bay of Bengal close to the port of Trincomalee. Its mouth is split into several arms that spread through lagoons and sandbanks.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
Last checked: