Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (Nilakshi) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 03:26:00 +0000

Districts map of Sri Lanka

Ampara
Anuradhapura
Badulla
Batticaloa
Colombo
Galle
Gampaha
Hambantota
Jaffna
Kalutara
Kandy
Kegalle
Kilinochchi
Kurunegala
Mannar
Matale
Matara
Moneragala
Mullaitivu
Nuwara Eliya
Polonnaruwa
Puttalam
Ratnapura
Trincomalee
Vavuniya

Sigiriya Rock Fortress

noreply@blogger.com (Nilakshi) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 05:42:00 +0000

Sigiriya (Lion's rock) is an ancient rock fortress and castle/palace ruin situated in the central Matale District of Sri lanka, surrounded by the remains of an extensive network of gardens, reservoirs, and other structures. It is a popular tourist destination, also known for its ancient paintings ( frescos). The Sigiraya was built during the reign of King Kasyapa I(AC 477 – 495), and it is one of the seven World heritage sites of Sri lanka.

In 477 A.D, prince Kasyapa seized the throne from King Dhatusena, following a coup assisted by Migara, the king’snephew and army commander. Kasyapa, the king’s son by a non-royal consort, usurped the rightful heir, Moggallana, who fled to South India. Fearing an attack from Moggallana, Kasyapa moved the capital and his residence from the traditional capital of Anuradhapura to the more secure Sigiriya. During King Kasyapa’s reign from 477 to 495 A.D, Sigiriya was developed into a complex city and fortress. Most of the elaborate constructions on the rock summit and around it, including defensive structures, palaces and gardens, date back to this period.

Kasyapa was defeated in 495 A.D by Moggallana, who moved the capital again to Anuradhapura. Sigiriya was then turned back into a Buddhist monastery, which lasted until the thirteenth or fourteenth century. After this period, no records are found on Sigirya until the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when it was used as an outpost of the Kingdom of Kandy. When the kingdom ended, it was abandoned again.

Mirror Wall

Originally this wall was so well polished that the king could see himself whilst he walked alongside it. Make of a kind of porcelain, the wall is now partially covered with verses scribbled by visitors to the rock. Well preserved, the mirror wall has verses dating from the 8th century. People of all types wrote on the wall, on varying subjects such as love, irony, and experiences of all sorts. Further writing on the mirror wall has now been banned.

Frescos

The paintings would have covered most of the western face of the rock, covering an area 140m long and 40m high. There are references in the graffiti to 500 ladies in these paintings. However, many more are lost forever, having been wiped out when the Palace once more became a Monastery so that they would not disturb meditation. Some more frescos different from the popular collection can be seen elsewhere on the rock surface, for example on the surface of the location called the "Cobra Hood Cave".

It is a tale of treachery and deceit, love and hate, triumph and disaster that has fascinated people down the ages. It is also a tale of craftsmanship and sensuous art, the legacy of which still holds people in awe, more than 15 centuries later.

Many are familiar with the Kasyapan period (477 - 495 AC), when King Kasyapa, after murdering his father King Dhatusena made his home at Sigiriya, creating a different image of this forbidding rock outcrop, starting with a passage leading through the lion's paws and encompassing the lion staircase, the mirror wall, the beautiful apsaras, the water gardens, moated palaces, boulder gardens, terrace gardens at all.

Sigiriya, in addition to being a World Heritage Site, is also one of the very few large secular sites with an unbroken history from 5,000 BC to contemporary periods. It depicts a "microcosm" of the cultural and technological phases of Sri Lanka.

It's history :

Period 1 : Prehistory - prehistoric humans are believed to have lived at Sigiriya between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago.

Period 2 : Proto - history, between 1,000 and 300 BC, when village settlements began along with irrigation and the production and use of iron.

Period 3 : Early monastic, from about the 3rd to 1st century BC marking the establishment of early Buddhist monks' settlements around rock-shelter residences.

Period 4 : Pre-Kasyapa between the 1st and 5th centuries AC. Development of large - scale iron production and construction of fortified Mapalagala complex, with 'cyclopean' walls and terraces, south of Sigiriya rock.

Period 5 : Kasyapa I from 477 - 495 AC.

Period 6 & 7 : Later monastic A & B from 6th to 10th century, with the setting up of a new Buddhist monastery in the western sector and the Boulder Garden area in the early part.

Period 8 : Plonnaruwa Period - From 11th to 13th century, rise of Polonnaruwa and decline of monastery construction at Sigiriya.

Period 9 : Abandonment from the late 13th to the 17th century, with rural settlements surviving but no urban and monastic activity.

Period 10 : Sigiriya appears to have been an outer province of the Kandyan kingfom.

Period 11 : Antiquarian interest when in the 19th century Sigiriya seems to have "recovered".

Period 12 : Modern recovery when in 1894, archaeological investigation, restoration and conservation by the Archaeological Department begins.

Jaya Sri Maha Bodhiya

noreply@blogger.com (Nilakshi) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:25:00 +0000

Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi is in Mahameuna park in Anuradhapura. It was planted in 249 BC, the regal period of king Devanampiyatissa. This the southern branch of the Sri Maha Bodhi at Boddagaya in India under which Lord Buddha attained Enlightenment. Theri Sangamitta brought Sri Maha Bodhi to Sri lanka. It happened in Esala full moon day in 249 BC.

After that many kings built walls and gateways to protect the Sri Maha Bodhi. And also bodhi terrace and statues of Lord Buddha built by kings. Nowadays there are two golden fences around the Sri Maha Bodhi. This is the oldest surviving historical tree in the world.

Kumana National Park

noreply@blogger.com (Nilakshi) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:15:00 +0000

Kumana is a bird sanctuary. It is 391 kms southeast of Colombo and near the Hambantota City. The annual rainfall is 1300 mm and annual temperature ia 27.3 degrees Celsius. The southern boundary of the park is Kumbukkan Oya. There about 20 lagoons and tanks. Kumana is one of the most important bird nesting and breeding grounds in Sri Lanka.

There are 255 species of birds identified in the national park. Thousands of birds migrate to the Kumana annually. Some of the birds that you can see,
Blach-necked stork
Lesser adjutant
Eurasian spoonbill
great thich-knee
waterfowl
pintail snipes

And also there are mugger crocldile, Indian flap-shelled turtle, Indian Black turtle and mammals such as golden jackal, wild boar, elephant, European otter and fishing cat.

Wilpattu National Park

noreply@blogger.com (Nilakshi) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:14:00 +0000

Wilpattu is one of the largest national parks in Sri Lanka. Wilpattu is situated 176 kms north of Colombo. It is located 30km west Anuradhapura and 26 km north of Puttalam. It is 131,693 hectares large and It has more than 50 lakes (Willu) and tanks. The annual rainfall is about 1000 mm and annual temperature is about 27.2 degrees Celsius

There are elephant, sloth bear, leopard, water buffalo, sambhur, spotted deer, mongoose, mouse and shrew mostly living in Wilpattu.

You can watch birds like painted stork, the open bill, little cormorant, owls, gulls, eagles, pin tail, purple heron and more.

The most common reptiles found in the Wilpattu are the Monitor lizard, Mugger crocodile, common cobra, ratsnake, Indian python, pond turtle and soft shelled turtle.

You can visit their by train from Colombo and also by bus. Or you can use your own vehicle to reach their. To watch wild animals, visitors must hire a tourist cab.

Yala National Park

noreply@blogger.com (Nilakshi) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:13:00 +0000

Yala is the largest National Park in Sri Lanka.It is located in Sri Lanka at latitude 06°16' - 06°42' North and longitude 81°15' - 81°42' East. You can visit here via the town of Tissamaharama in the Hambantota District of the Southern Province. The climate of Yala national park is usually hot and dry. The mean annual temperature near sea level is 27 degrees Celcius and in the dry season it may be more than 33 degrees Celcius.

Yala National Park is one of the best park in the world to observe leopards.

There are 32 species of mammals in Yala. Some of them are,

Sri Lankan elephant

Sloth bear
Sri lankan leopard
Sri lankan Sambar deer, Axis deer, Mouse deer
Wild boar
Black naped Hare
Tufted Gray langur
Water buffalo

Ruddy mongoose
Grizzled gian squirrel
Indian Crested porcupine
Golden jackal
Fishing cat
Sri Lankan Jungle cat

There are over 100 species of birds you can watch in Yala.

Sri Lankan Junglefowl
Brown capped Babbler
Shikra
Sri Lanka grey hornbill
Indian Darter
Asian openbill stork
Black-necked Stork
Changeable Hawk-eagle
Gre-headed fish eagle
Peocoke
Orange-breasted green pigeon
Black bittern
Blue-faced Malkoha

And also there are reptiles lived in Yala National Park. Here are the few of them.

Estuarine crocodile
Mugger crocodile
Water monitor

Green vine snake
Russel's Viper
Sri lankan krait
Indian star tortoise
Fan-throated lizard
Indian Cobra
saw-scaled viper
Sri lanka cat snake

Elephants in Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (Nilakshi) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:08:00 +0000

One of the great pleasures of a visit to Sri Lanka is the sight of domesticated elephants. You come upon them quite often and quite by surprise. Traveling the winding lanes of the arid north central region, you round a bend and there is a mahout bathing a troupe of elephants in a muddy pond. In the city of Kandy, an elephant strides the streets carrying a huge bundle of freshly chopped tree foliage in its trunk. On the beach at Bentota, an elephant tolerantly carries two European women tourists riding bareback then sits to let them slide down to earth in a burst of shrieks and yells.

Elephants are indigenous to Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan species, fittingly known to science as elephas maximus maximus, is the largest of the Asian elephants, the male having a height of up to 3.5 metres and a weight of up to five tonnes. There are widely varying estimates on the number of elephants in the wild today, from as low as 2,000 to as high as 3,500, but whatever the figure it is vastly below that for the 19th century. Domesticated elephants today number somewhere between 400 and 600. This figure is also somewhat vague because not all elephants are registered in line with the official system.

Elephant keeping has at least a 2,600 year history in Sri Lanka. Historical accounts of international trade in elephants begin at that time, in the sixth century BC. As far away as the Greco-Roman world, Alexander recognised the superiority of Sri Lankan elephants and they were exported to the Romans from 200 BC or before. Aristocrats have always been the principal elephant owners in Sri Lanka, royalty above all. As long ago as the third century AD, the king kept an Elephant establishment as a department of state. The king owned the supply too: in royal times, all wild elephants were the property of the crown.

Elephants were used in war, in startling quantity: 2,200 were said to have taken part in a single battle in 1588. in 1675, a European resident noted their superb quality: "These (elephants) are finer and more docile than in other countries. Therefore they catch a great many of them which they make tame and fit for war, and send them to the kingdoms of Persia, Surat, the Great Mogul, and other places..." In 1681, king Rajasingha II was said to have had hundreds of elephants in his stables.

Elephants were bred in captivity but also continuously supplemented by the taking of animals from the wild. The age-old method was the kraal, driving wild elephants out of the forest and channelling them into a timber-walled stockade from which they could not escape. Then they were tamed and trained. The last kraal capture was in 1950. It is necessary to obtain an official licence for capturting elephants, and decreasing numbers were issued after Sri Lanka's independence from Britain in 1948.

Great changes also occurred after independence in land ownership and use, both of which strongly affected the elephant population. The forests were increasingly logged, which gave plenty of emplyment for elephants while it lasted, but - sadly for the faithful pachyderms - the deforestation eventually eliminated most of the employment in log dragging and lifting, and drastically curtailed the natural environment. The great aristocratic estates were broken up, bringing influxes of poor farmers and human pressure on the wild elephant habitat, and diminishing the ability of the aristocrats to keep elephants.

Today, the great majority of working elephants are found in the region which also has the most dense human population, the south-west, and more than half of the number are found in the busy central strip that runs from the modern capital, Colombo, to the old royal capital of Kandy. This combination derives from a combination of factors: environmental, economic and cultural. Food and water are plentiful in the area, there is paying work for the animals, and there are many wealthy families who keep elephants as symols of their status.

Historically, elephants were chiefly employed in trasporting goods and people over rough terrain. In the past, Sri Lanka was heavily forested and had few roads: elephants were a useful means of transport for those who could afford it. Most military elephants were transporters, carrying supplies or dragging cannons, while a chosen few found glory as battle elephants for the princes and generals. Elephants were employed in lifting, dragging or carrying work of various kinds, such as in building work where they dragged boulders or cut stones, or assisted in the excavation of earth. The great tmeples and tank reservoirs of ancient Sri Lanka owe much to elephant labour.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, under colonial rule, logging became a major employment. The elephant is ideally suited to the task. A creature of the forest, it knows how to negotiate the terrain; immensely strong, it can lift and drag heavy logs like no other animal. In a cruel irony, it was employed to participate in the destruction of the forests which once sheltered it. Ceremonial duties completed the gamut of work: taking part in religious parades, gorgeously caparisoned.

Employment for elephants today is, not surprisingly, rather differen. Military duties, other than ceremonial, vanished long ago: the tank, with its own potent trunk, has replaced the jumbo at the sharp end of battle. Automoiles, trains and planes have taken virtually all the transport jobs, but tourism has stepped in with new forms of work, providing about 30 percent of employment. Participation in religious and other ceremonies happily continues to be significant, offering approximately a further third of all work available. Logging and various other forms of labour involving lifting, carrying and dragging provide the biggest category of employment at roughly 40 percent.

Elephants are still used in forestry in the low level of logging that persists. There they continue the age-old work of dragging logs, or log skidding, using chains attached to a harness, taking cut timber from inaccessible forest locations to roads or rivers from where the logs can be transported in quantity by truck or barge. Elephants are extremely valuable in such work, doing no damage to natural resources and directly assisting sustainable forest harvesting, by distinct contrast with mechanised transport. Logging accounts for about 15 percent of all work available, with another 25 percent provided by a wide variety of labouring tasks. In contruction, work such as lifting beams and dragging equipment is performed. In agriculture, elephants plough fields and trasport crops, among other jobs. In road works, tasks include pulling rollers and graders, and crushing rocks.

In tourism, elephants perform shows, pose for photos and give rides, largely in the beach resorts of the south-west coast, or at institutions such as Colombo's Dehiwela Zoo. The work is perhaps not the most dignified emplyment, but one likes to think that the elephants recognise the affection in which they are held by tourists, both foreigh and local. One of the greatest tourist attractions, even though it wasn't planned that way, is undoubtedly the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage, an institution which has become prominent in the preservation of Sri Lanka's elephants in domesticity.

If labouring is plain hard work and tourism duties are rather below such a majestic beast, elephas maximu s maximus gest the honour it is due when it takes part in the vibrant ceremonies of ancient Sri Lankan tradition. In particula, Buddhist temples hold peraheras or processions, once a year, and the most improtant ones are splendid affairs to which elephant owners hire out their animals or, in the case of the wealthy, contribute animals for prestige and merit. In an ancient tradition, major Buddhist temples such as Kandy's Temple of the Tooth actually receive donations of elephants from well-wishers and those wishing to gain merit. The animals are then kept in the monks'permanent care.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the domesticated Sri Lankan elephant reaches his apotheosis in the Esala Perahera at Kandy. The most spectaular elephant show in Sri Lanka, and most likely the whole world, this event is held each July or August, typically featuring 60 or 70 gloriously apparelled animals amid thousands of costumed paraders with huge crowds of spectators lining the route. The tree-hour long procession of musicians, dancers, dignitaries and elephants is climaxed by the Maligawa tusker, a huge tusked elephant adorned in rich cloth, spangled with tiny lights, carrying an illuminated howdah containing the replica of the golden dagoba shaped casket in which the sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha is enshrined.

Despite such honours, the working elephant in Sri Lanka is now not in the best of circumstances. Their numbers are in steady decline, with captive births rare and few being captured in the wild. The median age is high and the quality of management and care is plummeting. The 1997 book, Gone Astray, published by the UN food and Agriculture Organisation, attributes this to major problems such as a precipitous decline in mahout skills and inadequate veterinary facilities, which treaten the ling-term survival of Sri Lanka's domestic elephants.

Even as growing mechanisation deprives the elephant of much of its work, and management deficiencies threaten its health, two factors would still seem to ensure a continuing working population. One is tourism, for a visit to Sri Lanka is becoming synonymous with elephantine treats such as a joyful excursion to Pinnewalwa and a fun ride on the beach. Elephants will always be one of Sri Lanka's key attractions for the intercontinental tourist, a sine qua non of the island's character in the minds of people from distant pachydermless lands.

The other factor is religion. Elephants are crucial to the grand traditional ceremonies of Sri Lanka. The Kandy Esala Perehera seems to increase in grandeur rather than diminish with each passing year, such is the prestige and national importance of this festival in which magnificent elephants are the key element. The enthusiastic demand of foreigners through tourism and Sri Lankans trough religion should guarantee continued employment for a few hundred elephas maximus maximus.

What do you find in Sri Lanka?

noreply@blogger.com (Nilakshi) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:05:00 +0000

Warm and Friendly people.

Heritage. (7 UNESCO world heritage sites.)

Wildlife. (about 20 sanctuaries, elephant orphanage, blue whales and zoo)

Nature. (waterfalls, mountain peaks, sandy beaches, different landscapes and forests)

Festivals and Culture. (The Sinhala & Hindu New year festival, religious festivals and Esala Perahera at Kandy and there are many festivals throughout the year)

Adventur. (white water rafting, hot air ballooning, surfing and mountain climbing)

Ease of travel to attractions.

Shopping. (handicrafts, such as hand made jewellery, wooden masks, etc.)

Beaches. ( Sunny, sandy, uncrowded and unspoilt beaches. Standard, luxury hotels to stay.)

Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (Nilakshi) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Sri Lanka is a most beautiful and wonderful island situated in Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka has more than 2,500 years old civilised history. Sri Lanka has rich culture cherish with Buddhism. This is a peaceful country. The people live in Sri Lanka belonging to different nationalities and different religion. Sri Lankans are very hopitality people.

Introduction

Official Name :- Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Capital :- Sri Jayawardenepura, Kotte

Commercial capital :- Colombo

Government :- Republic

Area :- 65,610 sq.km.

Location :- island off the south-eastern shores of India, 880km north of the equator.

Population :- more than 18 million

Religion :- Buddhism 69%, Hinduism 15%, Chistianity 8%, Islam 8%

Ethnic groups :- Sinhalese 74%, Tamils 18.1%, Muslims 7.1%, others 0.8%

Lannguages :- Sinhala, Tamil, English. English is widely spoken throughout Sri Lanka, except in remote villages.

Climate :- Lowlands - tropical, average 27 centigrades; central hills - cooler, with temperatures dropping to 16 centigrades. The southwest monsoon brings rain to the western, southern and central regions from may to July, while the northeastern monsoon occurs in the north and east in December and January.

Major exports :- textiles and garments, tea, diamonds and jewelery, petroleum products, rubber products, gems, machinery and equipment.

Currency :- Sri lanka rupee Bank notes- Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 500, RS 1000, Rs 2000. Coins - Rs. 1, Rs 2, Rs. 5, Rs. 10 plus 25 cent and 50 cent

Visas :- consult with your local Sri Lankan embassy or consulte working week : Sri lanka works a five-day week, from Monday to Friday.

Transport

Taxis - radio cars can be called by telephone. Other taxis are available, but most of them are not metered. Cabs from the airport taxi counter at Bandaranaike International airport cost less than other taxi counters charge.

Hire cars - Hire and self-drive hire cars are readily available.

Auto-rickshaws - There are lot of rickshaws to serve you in everywhere in country. Most drivers are open to negotiation about charges.

Trains - Most places of interest are served by trains from Colombo Fort station. There is also a luxury Hitachi tourist train, a modified steam train, the Viceroy special and a luxury railcar on the southern line.

Buses - State-owned yellow buses, alongside privately operated coaches, maintain a comprehensive network covering the island, Coach journey are extremely good value, and express services are offered between Colombo and the principal towns. Air-conditioned coaches also operate between cities.

Telephones and telexes - Government operated post offices, privately operated agency post offices open 24 hours for domestic or international telephone calls, telexes and faxes. And also there are public telephone boxes and communication shops and internet caffe every where in the country open round the clock.

Travel Agencies open Monday to Friday 8.30 am to 5.00 pm or 5.30 pm. Saturdays mostly 9.00 am to 1.00 pm.

Medical Facilities

The professional standards of doctors and surgeons are excellent, and many of them hold British qualification. Good private facilities are also available at reasonable rates.

Colombo General Hospital - E.W. Perera Mawatha, Colombo 10
Sri Jayawardenepura Hospital - Pelawatte, Sri Jayawardenepura.

Every cities has a hospital or medical center with facilities.

Aurvadic Hospitals are always to open to everyone who want to come. In this time lot of people like aurvadic medicine.

Hotels and Resturants

Hotels and restaurants are situated every cities, town throughout the country. Every place you visit you can find luxury hotels. Hotels near beaches, Hotels near forests, Hotels in hill country are all with air-conditioned rooms, non-air conditioned rooms, delicious eastern and western foods, swimming pools, gims, spars, arurvadic treatments and music and dance. And also there are bungalows to stay relaxing your self.