There are approximately 191 km from Colombo International Airport to the Dondra Lighthouse. It will take only three and a half hours to travel via the southern highway.
At the southernmost point of Sri Lanka, "Point Dondra", you will witness a great architectural creation of the 18th Century, "Dondra Head Lighthouse". One of the tallest in Asia and one of four international lighthouses in Sri Lanka. This light house is situated in an area called "Dondra". Dondra means "City of Gods".
A prolific lighthouse builder and designer named Sir James Nicholas Douglas was an English civil engineer who designed the "Dondar Lighthouse. Lighthouse work started in November of 1887. All the building materials, including the bricks and steel were imported from England. This tells us how important and specific this lighthouse building. .
His son, James Douglass, was the person who ran Imperial Lighthouse Service, and they did the construction. .
It took almost three years to finish this magnificent lighthouse. .
Its lenses were the largest ever put into use, which are called Hyper-radiant Fresnel lenses. There are only a limited number of lighthouses that were designed with this "lens". The optic gave a flash of white light every twenty seconds. .
DONDRA HEAD LIGHTHOUSE 18th century master piece of work that guiding today also
Dondra Head Lighthouse is an octagonal-shaped brick tower with a balcony and a lantern. 49 M, or 161 feet high, and there are 7 floors with 196 steps to the top. Its range is 28 nautical miles (52 km). Its making pattern contains a white tower and yellow windows. There are 14 two panel yellow windows. .
It was modernized in 2000 by linking with other computers in major lighthouses around the coast. And the introduction of Global Positioning System (GPS). .
Its manager is under the Sri Lanka Ports Authority now..
"Dondra Head Lighthouse" is the one place on South Beach you should visit. Beautiful surroundings will give calm and quiet happiness. I recommend visiting and spending some time at the "Dondra Head Lighthouse". There is a beautiful beach behind the lighthouse where you can have a swim. And some local restaurants are providing homemade food too. .
Not many tourists visit Dondra Lighthouse. So it’s a less touristic place..
• The Lighthouse premises will open at 8am and close at 6pm.
• No entrance tickets are needed.
• If you want to go up to the balcony of the lighthouse, then you need to get special permission from the Sri Lanka port authorities. At least one month before, you need to get permission. Last-minute bookings are not valid.
"Whenever I travel around Sri Lanka, I gather knowledge and capture sweet memories. As a blogger, it’s my utmost effort to share my knowledge with you and make your travel experience more meaningful."
