CULTURAL HERITAGE IN SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka’s cultural depth is recognized by UNESCO, which has declared six archaeological World Heritage Sites in the country:

• The sacred city of Anuradhapura
• The ancient city of Polonnaruwa
• The golden temple of Dambulla
• The ancient city of Sigiriya
• The sacred city of Kandy
• The old town of Galle and its fortification
• The seventh World heritage Site in Sri Lanka is an ecological example, The Sinharaja Forest Reserve.

From enormous dagobos (dome-shaped structures) and remains of ancient buildings in the ruined cities of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, to the awesome stairways to the temple ar Dambulla and the sensual frescoes of heavenly maidens at the palace at the rock of Sigiriya, visitors can experience these world heritage within a compact area called the cultural triangle.

In the hill country lies the former royal capital of Kandy, home to the Dalada Maligawa or Sacred Temple of the Tooth Relic, which houses the sacred tooth relic of the Buddha. With its distinctive architecture, art and music, Kandy is bastion of traditional culture.

In contrast, experience the colonial heritage of th country by heading south to the mid-17th century. Dutch fort at Galle, the best preserved in Asia. With 14 massive bastions, a grid system of streets, and some original Dutch bungalows, the fort bustles with life just as it did when Galle was the country’s main port. It’s simply one of the most unique attractions in Sri Lanka.

Dambana Vedda village (Indigenous people of Sri Lanka)

Dambana is situated about 300 km away from Colombo it is near the Mahiyanganaya. Dambana is a jungle village. The Sri Lankan Vedda people (indigenous people of Sri Lanka) are still living in this jungle village. vedda of Dambana has own tradition and culture. Many tourists like to discover indigenous people of Sri Lanka. Vedda has original language. It is called as Vedda language it is different from Sinhala language. If you vist Dambana you Can learn about tradition of these people.

According to Vedda language they will call you as kakula (boy) or Kakuli(girl). You can watch vadda traditional dance and listing their traditional songs. kiri koraha is traditional dance of vedda which used to obtain  bless of their gods 

Dambana is famous for bees Horney and Vedda’s Traditional foods.Vedda used bows and arrows to hunt before 1980. But they are not using bows and arrows to hunt now vaddas depend on cultivation. They use chena for cultivation. Sri Lanka has completely  prohibited hunting.

Presently sri lanka has about 2500 veddas and chief of the veddas is  Uruwarige Wannila Aththo . you can meet him at the Dambana .

The Pinnawala elephant orphanage

The Pinnawala elephant orphanage is situated kegalla, Sri Lanka. Rabukkana Railway station is away from 2 km from elephant orphanage.  

It was commenced 1975 under wildlife department .Presently Pinnawala elephant orphanage is managed by National Zoological Gardens The elephant orphanage is major tourist attraction  of Sri Lanka. You should buy a ticket for visit the Pinnawala elephant orphanage. Local tourists can buy ticket for 50 LKR and foreign visitors can buy a ticket for 20$ .The income of tickets is used to maintain the orphanage.  

Purposes of Pinnawala elephant orphanage is to provide protection to orphaned elephants who are found from Sri Lankan jungles such as Yala, Wilpaththu etc.

Kelaniya Temple

The Kelaniya temple is Situated about 7 seven miles from Colombo. It is one of the most sacred worshipping places of the Buddhists of Sri Lanka. This beautiful temple stands beside river of Kalaniya. The Load Buddha has visited Kalaniya in past

Kawatayamuna Temple

Kawatayamuna Temple is situated about 8 km away from Matale near the Matale –Galewela Road. Kawatayamuna Temple was built by Sirisewun during the reign of King Gajabahu. 

Kavatayamuna Temple has sculpture and paintings exhibiting the hell

   

  

Colombo-The capital of Sri Lanka

Colombo is the commercial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo has a population of 5.6 million metropolitan area, and 752,993 in the City proper. It is the financial center of the island and a popular tourist destination. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the legislative capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital since Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is within the urban area of, and a satellite city of, Colombo. It is also the administrative capital of Western Province, Sri Lanka and the district capital of Colombo District. Colombo is a busy and vibrant place with a mixture of modern life and colonial buildings and ruins. It was the legislative capital of Sri Lanka until 1982.

BEAUTIFUL KANDY

KANDY LAKE

Built by the last king of Sri Lanka and Kandy, Wikrama Rajasinhe, in order to add beauty to the Temple of Tooth, Kandy lake is an artificial construction marking a remnant of the last ever Sri Lankan kingdom.Originally called Kiri Muhuda or the Milky Ocean, the lake has an unfinished wall called the Valakulu Bamma or clouds wall. Its incompletion is due to the arrest and imprisonment of King Wikrama Rajasinhe in 1815 when the British invaded and took Kandy. At 2060 feet, the cloud wall remains standing today in its unfinished state; the triangular holes in it are used to light oil lamps. The lake has an island at the centre which is also an artificial creation of the king. It was initially part of a dam, which King Ramasinghe had built across the lake, but it was soon destroyed from both ends, leaving just the island in the middle. 

Legend has it that this island was actually used by the King's helm for bathing, and was connected to the palace through a secret tunnel. On one side of the lake, there is also the bathing house for the queen, called the Dalada Maligawa.

There are also many protections put in place for Kandy Lake, one of them being the prohibition of fishing. The lake has reduced considerably over the years, to having a perimeter of just less than 3.5 kilometres, although when initially built, it was much bigger than that.

Having been built on excavated paddy fields, this lake is highly protected as it's considered extremely important in maintaining the decor of Kandy along with many auspicious stories related to it. 

Adam’s Peak

Adam’s Peak or the Sri Pada is an important pilgrim site. Buddhist believe the impression on the summit is the footprint of lord Buddha himself. Though it takes around 5 hours to reach the peak by foot, devotees of many religions climb the mountain daily to invoke blessings. The mountain is also named as Samanala Kanda or Butterfly Mountain.

Rich biodiversity

Adam’s Peak is surrounded, largely by the forested hills, with no mountain of comparable size anywhere near the vicinity. The region of Peak Wilderness Sanctuary that encompass the Adam’s Peak together with Horton Plains National Park and Knuckles Range, all in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka is recognized as a World Heritage Site in the year 2011.

Begin from the Base

The city of Hatton can be reached by Highland Railway line as well as by the main motor roads, the cities of Ratnapura and Kuruwita can be reached only by main motor roads.

Access to the Adam’s Peak is possible by 6 trails: Hatton-Nallathanni; Ratnapura-Palabaddala; Kuruwita-Erathna; Murraywatte; Mookuwatte; Malimboda.

The most popular routes are the Hatton-Nallathanni & Ratnapura-Palabaddala due to the picturesque views and postcard worthy scenery that can be encountered along them.

Reaching the Peak

Once you reach a final node (Nallanthanni or Palabaddala or Erathna) there begins the difficult journey through the jungle on foot. Most of the pilgrims use the Hatton route as the journey can be reduced by more than five kilometers even though the slope of this route is much greater than the others.

The Season and Timing

The pilgrims season to Sri Pada traditionally starts on the full moon of December and ends on the full moon of April. During the first half of the season the night ascent isn’t crowded. However during the latter half of the season, more people attempt the climb with each passing day..

Tourism Record in September arrivals jump3 5.9% to cross1.3 million

In the backdrop of Sri Lanka's informal tourism sector consuming almost half of the tourist arrivals, the September tourism numbers jumped to an all-time record growth of 35.9% to cross 1.3 million. The European tourists registered a growth of 11.2% whilst the Asian travelers accounting for 45.2% grew by a commanding 27.9% to reach 595,583 visitors. This indicate the changing products range that Sri Lanka will be challenged with in the future said Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau Chairman Dr.Rohana Athukorala.
(Source: Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau- Voice of the pearl article)

Adventure Sports in Sri Lanka   

(Source: http://www.srilanka.travel/)

Trekking and Hiking

With multitude of roads winding through expanding mountains, lush green forests, paddy fields, parks and sleepy villages, Sri Lanka offers a plethora of opportunities to the Keen hikers and trekkers. The highlands of Sri Lanka with virgin rain forests, sacred mountains, lush tea gardens and plains filled with rare birds and insects coupled with mild temperatures and welcoming smiles of the villagers provide the ideal setting to an unforgettable walking experience.

Diving

Surrounded by the Indian Ocean with its coral gardens, multitudeof exotic fishes and ancient wrecks Sri Lanka offers one of the best diving experiences in the world. The colorful coral gardens along southern coasts and old and new ship wrecks around the Galle harbor and little and great basses are the favourite Sri Lankan dive sites yet Kalpitiya, Ampara and Trincomalee in Eastern and Western coasts offering rare chances of wreck diving, skin diving and diving with dolphins.

Deep Sea Fishing

Surrounded by the Indian Ocean and filled with fresh water reservoir inland, Sri Lanka is the hidden paradise for extreme anglers. With a shoreline of 1,140 miles and a continental shelf of 10,000 square miles, the seas around Sri Lanka is one of the most challenging marine game fishing locations while The outfalls of 103 major river basins and hundreds of estuaries, lagoons and coastal lakes all around the country are yet to be fully explored by sporting anglers.

Rock Climbing

Experience the thrills of crumbling rocks beneath the feet, head spinning heights and the earth expanding beneath conquering the mountains of Sri Lanka. The ranges of mountains standing guard around the highlands of Sri Lanka including the Knuckles range, Ella range, Habarana, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, Horton Plains and Buttala provide challenging climbs to armature as well as experienced climbers. The newest experience in mountaineering in waterfall climbing with exciting climbs like the rock face of Bambarakanda waterfall, the tallest in the country.