River
Kelani River
145 km from source to mouth · Sri Lanka.
Sri LankaFlows into Laccadive Sea2nd longest in Sri Lanka
In numbers
Length
145km
Average flow
100m³/s
Basin
2,292km²
Drop
1,098m
from 1,098 m to 0 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
145 km of river and 12 stops on the way: 8 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmHorton Plains National Parkat 1,098 m
- 12 kmCastlereigh Reservoir2.5 km²
- 29 kmAberdeen Falls
- 108 kmHanwella Ihala22,918 people
- 124 kmKaduwela Bridge
- 128 kmPattivila Bridge
- 132 kmMulleriyawa33,540 people
- 134 kmKelaniya28,846 people
- 135 kmKotikawatta64,565 people
- 140 kmColombo647,557 people
- 141 kmPeliyagoda28,784 people
- 143 kmWattala30,725 people
- 143 kmHendala56,978 people
- 145 kmLaccadive Seaat 0 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Sri Lanka
At the mouth it carries 102 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 24 seconds. It drops from 1,098 m to 0 m, 7.6 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 2,292 km², about the size of KM. 2.6 million people live in it. Highest water: May and from October to November; lowest: February. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- ColomboLargest city on its banks · 647,557 people
- Colombo Ratmalana International Airport (RML)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 12 km from the cityCar hire at CMB airport (Colombo)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From January to FebruaryThe best months to visit
Kelani River, month by month
Highest water: May and from October to November
Lowest water: February. Best months to visit: from January to February.
From about 22 m³/s in the lowest month to 180 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The basin
Kelani River: the basin in numbers
2,325 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 2.6millionpeople live in the basin
- 1,106/km²people per km²
- 373maverage altitude of the basin
- 3,344mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 25.2°Caverage air temperature
- 5%protected areas
- 0.4%covered by lakes
What covers the basin
- 29% Forest
- 51% Cropland
- 5% Pasture
- 47% Towns and cities
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Kelani River: what you find on the way
- 1Weirs
- 3WaterfallsAberdeen Waterfall
- 1River beachesPreethipura Beach
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.4 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Kelani River in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
1waterfall on the riverCascadyas
1lake on its wayLakeyas
1beach at the mouth or on the banksCoastya
15mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Waterfalls (1)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Aberdeen Fallskm 24
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (1)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Castlereigh Reservoirkm 102.5km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Beaches (1)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Mt Lavinia Beach16 km away29.8°C
Mountains at the source (15)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Kirigalpoththa13 km away2,395m
- Kudahagala15 km away2,320m
- Darrawela8.5 km away
- Dell Number One7.5 km away
- Gnoll11 km away
- Detanagala New8.8 km away
- Rasagala14 km away
- Alutwelawisahena13 km away
7 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Kelani River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (3)
Also: Pusweli Oya, Kehelgamu Oya, Maskeliya Oya
IndiaWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q1738136) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Cascadyas, Lakeyas, Coastya, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
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Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
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Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit