Along the southern shores of Sri Lanka, particularly around Ahangama and Weligama, a singular silhouette once defined the horizon: the stilt fisherman. Known locally as Riti Panna, this practice emerged in the 1940s during World War II as an ingenious, low-cost response to food shortages and overcrowded fishing grounds. When boats were scarce and access to deeper waters limited, fishermen adapted.
Perched like seabirds, earning them the nickname panna kurullo (“fishing birds”), they balanced on a narrow horizontal crossbar (petta) fixed to a vertical pole driven into the shallow seabed. At dawn and dusk, when the light softened and fish drew close to shore, they cast simple rods to catch spotted herring and mackerel. It required extraordinary patience, balance and stillness; the faintest movement could disturb the catch.
For decades, this method provided essential sustenance. Yet following the devastating 2004 tsunami, declining near-shore fish stocks and the rise of tourism, the fisherman had to find a new source of income. Today, many fishermen pose for photographers, preserving both the image and the tradition.
What was once a wartime improvisation has become one of Sri Lanka’s most enduring coastal icons, a testament to human adaptability shaped by sea and circumstance.
