Beautiful Sri Lanka

2011-07-13T05:28:00.000-07:00

2011-05-23T22:40:00.000-07:00

2011-05-19T04:37:00.002-07:00

THE SAMADHI BUDDA STATUE

Considered one of the greatest pieces of sculptural art of the early period, this statue shows the Buddha in a state of deep meditation. Said to date back to the 4^th century, the Samadhi statue is possibly at least one century older and is widely acknowledged to be a masterpiece of Sinhalese sculpture.

2011-05-19T04:37:00.001-07:00

ISURUMUNIYA LOVERS

Isurumuniya temple, in Anuradhapura, built in the 3^rd century BC, was the first repository of the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha. It was originally calls Meghagiri Vihara or the Shrine of the Clouded Mountain. The temple is known best for its rock carvings, the most popular being ‘The Lovers’. There many theories offered as to their identity. The style of the sculpture resembles the Gupta Art of India. The lovers, therefore, may have been carved in the 5^th century.

2011-05-19T04:35:00.000-07:00

LANKATHILAKA VIHARAYA

Built by King Parakramabahu, and later restored by Vijayabahu IV, this dramatic brick building was once five story’s high and embellished with flowers, creepers, animals, birds and statues of gods. The two gigantic columns at the entrance, now broken to a highest of 58 ft., must originally have been at least double that height. The cathedral-like aisle leads to a standing Buddha statue, now headless, which was 41 ft., tall. The extenior

Walls are ornamented with delicate sculpture which depicts various buildings of the Polonnaruwa era. In front of the Lankathilaka is a pillared ‘mandapaya’ with 40 stone chaste-ornamented pillars.

2011-05-19T04:30:00.000-07:00

KELANIYA TEMPLE

This temple dates from and is built in the traditional bell-shape

2011-05-19T04:10:00.000-07:00

PERADENIYA BOTANICAL GARDEN IN KANDY

Peradeniya Botanical garden, the finest of its kind in Asia, the largest of the three botanical gardens in the island, couldn’t be better located. In the Mediterranean climate of kandy. The gateway to the central highlands, the Gardens was bounded on three sides by a loop of river Mahaweli.

2010-11-23T22:32:00.000-08:00

Kandy

Kandy (maha nuvara, pronounced [maha nuʋərə]; Tamil: கண்டி kaṇṭi, pronounced [kaɳɖi]) is the English name for the city of Maha Nuvara (Senkadagalapura) in the centre of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is one of the most scenic cities in Sri Lanka; it is both an administrative and religious city. It is the capital of the Central Province (which encompasses the districts of Kandy, Matale and Nuwara Eliya) and also of Kandy District. Kandy is the home of The Temple of the Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa) one of the most venerable places for the Buddhist community of Sri Lanka and all around the world. It was declared by the UNESCO has a world heritage in 1988.

Key words: Kandy,Sri lanka

2009-11-18T11:02:00.000-08:00

Dambulla Viharaya

The city of Dambulla is situated in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, situated 148 km north-east of Colombo and 72 km north of Kandy.

Ibbankatuwa prehistoric burial site near Dhambulla cave temple complexes is the latest archaeological site of significant historical importance found in Dambulla, which is located within 3 kilometers of the cave temples providing evidence on presence of indigenous civilisations long before the arrival of Indian influence on the Island nation.

Bopath Ella

The name "Bopath Ella" has been given to the waterfall because of its shape. The water flows through a narrow gap in the rocks and then widens, forming the shape of a leaf of a "Bo tree which is the Sinhalese name for sacred fig."Path" means leaves of a tree and "Ella" means waterfall.Virgin forests with a rich biodiversity surround the waterfall.

Bopath Ella is 30 metres (98 ft) high. It is formed from the Kuru Ganga, which is a tributary of theKaluGanga.ts mean rate of flow is 6 square metres (65 sq ft) per second, and its catchment area receives an average rainfall of 5,080 millimetres (200 in) annually. Water from the falls is used for paddy cultivation. Bopath Ella is also the most comprehensively studied waterfall in the country.

Ruwanwelimahasaya

The Ruwanwelisaya is astupa in Sri Lanka, considered a marvel for its architectural qualities and sacred to many Buddhists all over the world. It was built by King Dutugamunu, who became lord of all Sri Lanka after a war in which theChola King Elara, was defeated. It is also known as Mahathupa, Swarnamali Chaitya and Rathnamali Dagaba.

The stupa is also one of theSolosmasthana (the 16 places of veneration) and the Atamasthana (the 8 places of veneration in the ancient sacred city ofAnuradhapra. The stupa is one of the world's tallest monuments, standing at 300 ft (92 m) and with a circumference of 950 ft.

Gal Viharaya Polonnaruwa

The Gal Vihara a Polonnaruwa represents the pinnacle of Sinhalese rock carving. The four great Buddha statues herein with the serene facial expressions & liquid flow of the robes, all carved from the same massive slab of granite, originally formed part of King Parakrambahu's northern monastery complex. As the sockets cut into rock behind the statues indicate, each statue would originally have been housed in its own enclosure.

The great reclining image of the Buddha entering nirvana is 14m long. A huge but supremely graceful figure is carved in a serene posture. The face, delicately flecked with variations in the natural colour of the rock is especially beautiful. The unknown sculptor has carved the great statue with such tenderness even the bolster like pillow carry a subtle depression under the head & sun-wheel symbol on the pillow end. Buddha's parnirvana (final extinction, rather than death) is indicated in part, by means of the higher foot which is slightly withdrawn: the pain caused by the last breath. This Buddha statue is of such beauty that it inspired hundreds of years of Sinhalese art, but was never matched.

Sigiriya

Sri Lankan architectural tradition is well displayed at Sigiriya, the best preserved city centre in Asia from the first millennium, with its combination of buildings and gardens with their trees, pathways, water gardens, the fusion of symmetrical and asymmetrical elements, use of varying levels and of axial and radial planning.

The Complex consists of the central rock, rising 200 meters above the surrounding plain, and the two rectangular precincts on the east (90 hectares) and the west (40 hectares), surrounded by two moats and three ramparts.

2009-04-21T14:44:00.000-07:00

Dalada Maligawa

One of the chief objects of interests in Kandy is the 'Dalada Maligawa' or Temple of the Sacred Tooth. This is the heart of Kandy, and the Tooth of Buddha is the heart of it. The relic came from India sixteen centuries ago, and moved from capital to capital always with the king. It is rarely shown and never leaves the temple. The temple and the 'Pattirippuwa', which is the octagonal building on the right of the main entrance, are enclosed by an ornamental stone wall and a moat. Upon entering, you pass through a small quadrangle and turn to the right, up a flight of stone steps, to the temple. The most striking features that attract one's attention are the unusual carvings, brightly coloured frescoes representing torments for various classes of sinners, and many images of Lord Buddha. The flower-sellers are ranged on either side and the atmosphere is heavy with the perfume of the white blossoms. Polonnaruwa

After Nissankamalla's death, Polonnaruwa went to decline, civil war, lawlessness and constant invasions from the South Indian Chola Empire, and Malay barbarians who sacked the city several times, virtually destroyed the social structure and religious order of the country. A whole century after this were the 'Dark Ages' of Sri Lanka, a century from which few historical records survive. The capital was shifted to Kurunegala, and Polonnaruwa returned to the jungle; it's great reservoirs survived as a series of swampy lakes, and its large brick buildings became lost under thick tropical forest. The Portuguese are said to have raided and looted Polonnaruwa, but by the early nineteenth century the site was completely lost.

Traditional Dances

Traditional Dances of Sri LankaDance was then initiated in Sri Lanka during the 4th century B.C for the purpose of expelling natural disasters, sickness and greet people and land. At the end of Polonnaruwa period (15th century A.D.), chola influence came into Sri Lanka and was adopted in Sri Lanka folk dancing. The classical dance forms are associated with the performance of various rituals and ceremonies which are centuries old and are based on the folk religion and folk beliefs going back to times before the advent and acceptance of Buddhism by the Sinhalese people in the third century B.C. These rituals and ceremonies reflect the values, beliefs and customs of an agricultural civilization of Sri Lanka.

Kuttam Pokuna

The Kuttam Pokuna, which means Twin Ponds, is a beautiful set of bathing ponds located in Abhayagiri, in northern Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. These ponds were built in 6th-8th century Anuradhapura. If you look at these two seemingly identical ponds of Kuttam Pokuna carefully, you would realise that one is larger than the other (by about 12 m in length). Nevertheless, the ponds of Kuttam Pokuna are positioned in such a way that they appear almost the same. Although the design and lines of the Kuttam Pokuna are simple, the effect is nothing less than impressive.The Kuttam Pokuna is one of the ancient sites that I visited together with a small group of members of AsiaExplorers when we explored the ancient city of Anuradhapura. I find that the Kuttam Pokuna is one of the loveliest ancient architectural wonder. Not only is it

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