Pettah,_Sri_Lanka
Pettah, Sri Lanka
Suburb in Western Province, Sri Lanka
Pettah (Sinhala: පිටකොටුව (Piṭakoṭuva), 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 bazaars 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.[2]
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.[3]
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.[4]