On Sri Lanka’s south coast, old crafts grew up side by side. Coconut husks were soaked in water pits to make coir rope, the soaking pits drew the fish, and the fish fed the stilt fishermen. Batik came later and lives on today thanks to visitors. Here is the story as our fishing family in Koggala knows it, and how you can see these crafts for yourself.
The south coast is coconut country. For generations, families along the coast made rope, called kedi rope, from coir, the tough fibre in the husk around a coconut. Before the fibre could be used, the husks had to be softened. People buried or sank them in pits of water near the lagoon and the sea, and left them to soak for months.
When the husks were soft, they were beaten with wooden mallets to separate the fibre, washed and dried in the sun. The fibre was then rolled and twisted by hand into yarn, and the yarn into rope. Coir rope was used for boats, houses, wells and fishing, and was sold along the coast and beyond; see Ancient Ships of Sri Lanka. It was slow, hard work, often done by women in the villages.
Our elders say the coir trade and stilt fishing were closely linked. The soaking pits along the shore released food into the water, and small fish gathered in large numbers near those places. Where the husk pits were, the fish were plentiful, and that is where the stilt fishermen planted their poles.
In the past this is why stilt fishing (ritipanna) was found in many places on the coast from Galle to Matara, and why fishing families say it already existed in British colonial times. As rope making by hand declined and the coast changed, the fish became fewer. Today, with climate and environmental change and the loss of the places where fish breed and shelter, real ritipanna happens only once every few years. Read more in Is stilt fishing real or fake?
The old crafts are written into the map of Koggala. Kohu is the Sinhala word for coconut husk fibre, and wala means a pit. A kohu wala was a place where husks were soaked. Koggala has places still called Kohu Wala and Maradu Wala, and Maraduwawala is the main traditional stilt fishing place in Koggala today. When you look at the names of the places where the fish used to be, you find the husk pits, which shows how long these two ways of life have been tied together.
Before nylon fishing line (tangus) arrived, stilt fishermen made their line (thanguwa) from thread pulled from thick cloth. Like the coir rope, it came from the materials the village already had. The rest of the tools were handmade too: the Rita stilt pole, the Kitul Piththa rod and the Bilikatuwa hook, cast from lead and shaped like a small fish so it works without bait. Only two or three families knew how to make the Bilikatuwa, and they kept the secret within the family.
Batik is the art of drawing patterns on cloth with hot wax, then dyeing it. The waxed parts resist the dye, and by waxing and dyeing again and again, artists build up pictures in many colours. Finally the wax is removed with hot water, often leaving fine “crackle” lines where it broke.
The word batik comes from Javanese and means “wax writing”. The craft came to Sri Lanka from Indonesia: researchers at the University of Moratuwa note that it was introduced by the Dutch in the early 19th century, and that Sri Lankan batik grew into its own art, with patterns drawn from Sinhala culture. As a larger industry it grew mainly from the 1970s, according to a Central Bank of Sri Lanka study. Designers such as Ena de Silva helped make it famous; in 1967 she and the architect Geoffrey Bawa created a ceiling of batik panels for a hotel in Bentota, later recreated by the same craftspeople. Sri Lankan batik is known for its own designs and for using real wax, rather than the block-printed copies made elsewhere, and most of it is made on 100% cotton.
On the south coast, batik became part of village life, with small workshops making sarongs, wall hangings, shirts and sarees. Today the craft survives in the south largely because of tourism: many workshops between Galle and Matara let visitors watch the waxing and dyeing and buy straight from the makers. Batik designs of stilt fishermen, elephants and fishing boats are some of the most popular.
Life is not easy for batik makers today. A 2024 University of Moratuwa study that interviewed batik craftsmen, including one from Galle, found that Sri Lankan batik is still made entirely by hand, but makers struggle with the high cost of cloth, wax and dyes, cheap mass-produced copies, poor access to markets and too few young people learning the craft. The same study points to the need for safer disposal of dye chemicals and more use of natural dyes. Buying a real handmade piece straight from a workshop is one of the simplest ways a visitor can help keep the craft alive.
Hand weaving is far older: the same Central Bank study says Sri Lanka’s handloom tradition goes back more than 2,500 years. Together, batik and handloom employ around 15,000 people, many of them women. The Galle area is also known for Beeralu lace, made by women who twist thread around pins on a pillow using small wooden bobbins called beeralu. Like stilt fishing, these crafts are now kept alive by fewer and older hands, as young people move to other work.
Visit our stilt fishing family in Koggala, see the handmade tools and hear the stories. Ask us and we will point you to batik workshops near where you are staying.
Book on WhatsApp See experiences and pricesPlanning your trip? See our stilt fishing visitor guide, how to get to Koggala and the best time to visit.
Kohu means coconut husk fibre and wala means pit. A kohu wala is a water pit or lagoon edge where coconut husks were left to soak for months so the fibre became soft enough to make coir rope. Koggala still has places named after them, such as Kohu Wala and Maradu Wala.
Fishing families say the soaking husk pits along the coast fed the small fish that stilt fishermen catch. Where the pits were, the fish were plentiful, which is one reason stilt fishing grew strongest on the coast from Galle to Matara.
Hand weaving is very old in Sri Lanka, more than 2,500 years. Batik came from Indonesia and was introduced to Sri Lanka by the Dutch in the early 19th century, then grew into a distinctly Sri Lankan art. It became a larger industry from the 1970s, and today it is a well-known craft of the south coast, kept alive largely by tourism.
Real batik is drawn by hand with hot wax and dyed in layers, so the colour goes through to the back of the cloth and you often see fine crackle lines where the wax broke. Printed cloth is usually pale on the back and the pattern repeats exactly.
Yes. Batik workshops and shops are along the Galle–Matara road around Koggala and Ahangama, and you can combine a visit with the stilt fishermen. Ask us on WhatsApp and we will suggest places close to where you stay.
