Situated in the lower escarpment of the western slopes of central Sri lanka, tangakelle is a magnificent tea plantation managed by Watawala plantations PLC. It takes approximately 45 minutes for a traveller to reach tangakelle from the hill station, nuwara eliya, via nanuoya, trough windy roads among the lush green carpets of tea. The estate is situated at an altitude ranging from 1372mts up to 1728mts, in close proximity to the township of miraya. The name tangakelle has coined from the tamil word ‘tanga’ Which means ‘gold’ and has indeed been a goldmine over a century. Even though there is no proper evidence regarding the inception of the estate, it is believed to have been started during the early period of British colonization. A London based agency house
Named the Ceylon tea plantation company limited managed the estate before the change of hands on 15/10/1975, when it was vested with the state plantations cooperation. The name of the famous British planter Mr. Geoffrey Middleton, the inventor of the tea sifting machine, Middleton, has been synonymous with the name tangakelle owing to his magnanimous contribution rendered to the estate, during pre-nationalization era. The names of the legendary tea manufacturing expert Mr. Ralston Tissera and Mr. PHAN Dias too are among the managers who have rendered yeoman service to the estate.
Consequent to the privatization that took place in 1992, the management has been vested with Watawala plantations PLC. For over two decades, with sustainable development of land and people being the main objective, Watawala has taken tangakelle from good to great. Today tangakelle consists of 287 hectares of tea with an annual production of approximately 450,000 kilos of black tea produced at the estate factory. Tea produced at tangakelle has been renowned all over the world for high quality. The present manager of the estate is Mr. Lalindra Abeywardene, whilst the veteran planter Mr.Nimal Amarasekere serves in the capacity of visiting agent/Agricultural Adviser.
