Asif Hussain, 2 May 2018 **
Wellawatte in the southernmost limit of Colombo, is such a hive of activity today that it is hard to believe it was a sparsely populated place a little over a century ago. Its Sinhala meaning, ‘sandy garden’, itself suggests a rather deserted area.
It was then dominated by a few Burgher families of European origin. In fact, much of the land on the seaside is said to have been a vast coconut estate owned by a Burgher gentleman named Charlemont Jonathan Gauder, after whom and whose relatives many of the roads such as Charlemont, Frederica, Collingwood, Alexandra, and Frances are named. Today, however, it is referred to as ‘Little Jaffna’ after its large Tamil population.
