Pettah Market

The Pettah Market or Manning Market is an open market in the suburb of Pettah in the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Being one of Colombo's busiest places, the area may seem a little chaotic at first glance but if you know what to get on which street then you are going to walk out with some cool stuff at surprisingly low prices. One can find a wide range of goods right from electronics to fashion accessories and market vendors selling anything from fresh vegetables, fruits to meat and seafood.

Pettah Market is a popular shopping area of both locals and foreign travellers as they take back a wide range of cheap stuff. We have thus tried to put together a guide to Pettah market here to make sure you take full advantage of this shopping destination.

Muslims dominate most of the businesses in Pettah, they specialize in trading of goods and some are hawkers and small shop owners while the Tamil people who migrated from India specialize in the trade of gold and also own jewellery shops. Many new shops keep popping up every other day. Apart from these, at the end of Pettah, there lies Sea Street, which is Sri Lanka's gold market and attracts buyers of gold jewellery from all around Sri Lanka. It is a long street of jewellery shops with hundreds of shops next to one another.

Where to Shop in Pettah Market

  • Olcott Mawatha
    • Clothes and accessories like good jackets, bags, sunglasses at cheap rates (it's next to 2nd cross-street) ...
  • Front Street (Malwatta Road)
    • Here you'll find the old Victoria Building of 1929 and can shop for some good quality leather bags and shoes, fabulous watches, luggage, Batik Centre for camera equipment, shiny bangles, etc.
  • Prince Street
    • Famous for selling Electronics, light fittings, fake wigs, toys, wallets, carrom boards and checkers boards. Fancy Mahal shop sells Eastern cologne and the Dutch museum - a quiet space with an old and shaky staircase and green garden.
  • 1st Cross Street
    • Mobile phones, mobile covers, mobile batteries - you name it, other electronics.
  • 2nd Cross Street
    • Cotton and shiny sarees ranging as low as 150LKR, leggings and other clothing shops. You'll find vendors selling achcharu (pickled veggies) at the junction with Keyzer street.
  • 3rd Cross Street
    • Here we mostly find retail and wholesale shops along with big textiles shops.
  • 4th Cross Street
    • A trading street with onions, potatoes and spices everywhere in bulk and a small shop selling paan. The main street in case you need banks or ATMs; has large showrooms; A shop for craft equipment and materials called sequins is quite known in this area. One can also find shops selling coats, suits, umbrellas and raincoats, luggage bags, leather.

    About Colombo District

    Colombo is the largest city and commercial capital of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, the capital city of Sri Lanka. Colombo is a busy and vibrant city with a mixture of modern life and colonial buildings and ruins and a city population of 647,100.The Colombo Metropolitan Region, defined by the districts of Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara, has an estimated population of 5,648,000, and covers an area of 3,694.20 km²

    Colombo is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural city. It is the most populous city in Sri Lanka, with 642,163 people living within the city limits. The population of Colombo is a mix of numerous ethnic groups, mainly Sinhalese, Moors and Tamils. There are also small communities of people with Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, Malay and Indian origins living in the city, as well as numerous European expatriates.

    The great majority of Sri Lankan corporations have their head offices in Colombo. Some of the industries include chemicals, textiles, glass, cement, leather goods, furniture, and jewellery. In the city center is located South Asia's second tallest building - The World Trade Centre.

    About Western Province

    The Western Province is the most densely populated province of Sri Lanka. It is home to the legislative capital Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte as well to Colombo, the nation's administrative and business center. Western Province is divided into 3 main districts called Colombo (642 km²), Gampaha (1,386.6 km²) and Kalutara (1,606 km²) districts. As Sri Lanka's economic hub, all the major local and international corporations have their presence in the city and so do all the major designer and high street retailers, so be ready to indulge in some retail therapy in western province.

    Having the highest population in the all the provinces, the almost all the premier educational institutions in the island are located in western province. Universities in the province include the University of Colombo, the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, University of Kelaniya, Open University, Sri Lanka, Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University and University of Moratuwa .Western province has the largest amount of schools in the country, which includes National, Provincial, Private and International schools.

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