Kithul Tapping

Kithul is the Sinhala name of Caryota urens, a palm also called the toddy palm, jaggery palm or fishtail palm. UNESCO describes it as a tall palm found in forests and home gardens in rural Sri Lanka. The Export Development Board notes that it flourishes in the wet zone and is scattered through the rest of the country, except in the driest parts of the island.

University of Ruhuna researchers call kithul a popular multipurpose palm among rural communities. The sap drawn from its flower is made into treacle, jaggery, toddy and vinegar. The pith of the trunk yields a flour, and the stem is used as timber. All of the sap products begin with one task, the tapping of the flower stalk of a tall tree.

UNESCO describes kithul madeema as a traditional method of collecting sap, practised in rural village communities. The tapper climbs the tree with a ladder and wraps the flower stalk with vine. A tapping knife, which is regarded as sacred, is then used to cut the stalk, and the sap is collected every day.

The sap is filtered and boiled for several hours to make kithul treacle, also known as kithul honey. It can also be drunk fresh or turned into jaggery, vinegar and alcoholic drinks. The Export Development Board explains that jaggery is made by boiling the sap beyond the point at which it turns to treacle, over an open wood fire, and pouring it into moulds made from coconut shells. The moulds give jaggery its usual shape.

The University of Sri Jayewardenepura, whose Department of Anthropology contributed to documenting the practice, lists the knowledge involved: identifying mature trees, climbing tall palms, preparing the flower stalk and carefully extracting the sap. UNESCO records that most of this is learned informally at home, although some village cooperatives and government programmes offer training.

Tappers observe traditional beliefs, such as tree worship and customs for storing sap. Traditionally men collect the sap and women process it. UNESCO notes that the practice was once tied to certain castes and now belongs to all communities. Kithul products are part of daily life and are often shared at ceremonies, festivals and gatherings. Treacle is served with buffalo milk curd and sweetens New Year foods such as kavum and aluwa.

In 2025 UNESCO inscribed the practice on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The full title of the element is Kithul Madeema/Kithul Kapeema, an ancient indigenous technology for tapping Kithul in Sri Lanka. The University of Sri Jayewardenepura records that the inscription was made on 11 December 2025 and that the decision was announced during the 20th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, held in New Delhi.

UNESCO describes the practice as one that helps preserve cultural identity and creates a strong connection between people and nature. It also notes that tapping provides a source of income in rural areas. The university adds that the inscription recognises a living tradition practised across many regions of the country.

Kithul treacle, jaggery and flour are made for use within Sri Lanka and for export. The Export Development Board states that commercial production takes place mainly in the central regions of the island, where the work remains bound to tradition.

Supply is limited. The board reports that demand for kithul products is greater than supply, and gives three reasons: a shortage of palms that can be tapped, fewer people taking up a trade that carries risk and heavy effort for small reward, and the long time a palm takes to mature. University of Ruhuna researchers describe kithul as a species with export potential. They note that the long time the seed takes to germinate, about four months, is regarded as a major difficulty in raising new palms.