Kelaniya
Kelaniya is a suburb of Colombo in the Western Province, Sri Lanka.
Kelaniya is a suburb of Colombo in the Western Province, Sri Lanka. Located 10 km (6.2 mi) from Colombo Fort, it is known for the Buddhist temple built on the banks of the Kelani River, which divides the suburb from Colombo District. The temple is also a religious centre for veneration of the figures Vibhishana and Avalokiteshvara. It is also known as the location of the University of Kelaniya.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Kelaniya
2 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara
The Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara or Kelaniya Temple is a Buddhist temple in Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. It is located 11 km north-east of Colombo.
500 m · Temple in Sri Lanka · Wikipedia - 02University of Kelaniya
The University of Kelaniya is a public university in Sri Lanka. Just outside the municipal limits of Colombo, in the city of Kelaniya, the university has two major institutions and seven faculties.
1.9 km · university in Sri Lanka · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Getting to Kelaniya
- Airports
- Colombo Ratmalana (RML), 15 km · Bandaranaike International Colombo (CMB), 25 km
- Jaffna → Kelaniya302 km · quickest by air, 5h 4m · Rs17,300–26,850
- Thiruvananthapuram → Kelaniya369 km · quickest by air, 5h 39m · ₹11,030–17,110
- Tiruchirappalli → Kelaniya450 km · quickest by air, 5h 59m · ₹11,780–18,260
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Kelaniya
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Kelaniya. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inIt can also handle international charter flights.
- Get inYou can also take a tri-shaw aka tuk-tuk from the bus depot (get there by free airport shuttle bus), it takes a bit more than an hour and is Rs 2,500 (2024) from airport to Galle Road.
- Get inTake either the free airport shuttle to the bus station and then follow the road (Canada Friendship) to the Katunayaka South station (nearly 2 km, if you don't have luggage) otherwise just to take a tuk tuk right from the airport to the train station.
- Get aroundGetting around by Tri-shaw (Three wheeler, tuk-tuk) is most convenient.
- Get aroundBut it's best to hail a meter taxi (identified by the words "Meter Taxi" on its windshield) that is traveling in the direction that you need to go instead of hiring one from the parking area or the tuk-tuk stand.
From Wikivoyage: Colombo, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 01125 km
- 02411 km
- 03414 km
- 04456 km
- 05463 km
If you know how people move in Kelaniya – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Kelaniya
Kelaniya is 8 km from Colombo, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.
- Mulleriyawacity in Colombo, Sri Lanka3 km
- Kotikawattatown in Sri Lanka1.7 km
- Angodavillage in Western Province, Sri Lanka2.3 km
- Gothatuwa new townsuburb in Kolonnawa, Colombo, Western Province3.8 km
- Makolatown in Sri Lanka3.7 km
- Enderamullavillage in Western Province, Sri Lanka3 km