SRI LANKA
Sri lanka is a small island with an area of around 65525 square kilometer and is 31 km from the Southeast coast of India.
It is positioned between 5 and 10 North latitude. It is surrounded by Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.
The word Srilanka is derived form Sanskrit which means “Resplendent land”. It was called as the land of Serendipity by Portuguese. It was also called the “land of Fortune” because of its strategic location. It was a popular halt for sea travellers sailing from West to East for trading in South Asia.
Srilanka is rich in its natural beauty and its cultural legacy from the past. That makes it a excellent Travel destination for everyone.
CAPITAL
Colombo is the capital city of Srilanka. It is a commercial city that represents the fast and modern lifestyle.
The city perfectly reflects the culture of its people blended with modern style of living.
People travelling to Srilanka can take a visit to the city of Colombo for Shopping at Pettah- shopping destination which offers Real Street shopping experience and visit some historical monuments like Colombo National Museum, The Natural History Museum, and the Dutch Period Museum Wolvendaal Church. The city has Botanical Gardens, Colombo Zoo, Ruhuna(Yala) National Park as well.
The monuments reflect the Buddhism culture and time of colonial rule in Srilanka.
CLIMATE
The climate of Srilanka is Tropical and Humid.
It recieves rainfall in the months of June to September from South-West Monsoon winds in southern, westerns coasts ans central highland.
North and East area recieves low rainfalls. The temperatures warm in soastal areas and cool in the highland areas.
The mean average temperature ranges from 280 C to 300 C and low cold up to 160C in highland.
ECONOMY OF SRI LANKA
The economy of Sri Lanka is changing from Socialistic economy to Mixed economy. It is introducing privatization and foreign investments that is pushing the economic growth rate. The real GDP in terms of PPP (Purchase Power Parity) is $ 1,902.811 in 2008. The economic growth rate was 6.8% in 2008.
The main economic sectors of the country are tourism, tea export, apparel, textile, rice production and other agricultural products. In addition to these economic sectors, overseas employment contributes highly in foreign exchange, most of them from the Middle-East.
The economy is affected by natural disasters like Tsunami, earthquakes. In recent years the economy has witnessed rapid growth.
CURRENCY
the currency of Sri Lanka is Sri lankan Rupee (LRK)Sri Lanka follows decimal currency system in Rupees (Rs.) and cents (Cts.) with 100 cents equal to a rupee. Currency notes are available in the denominations of Rs. 2,10,20,50,100,200, 500 and 1000. Coins are issued in values of Cts.1, 2,5,10, 25 and 50 and Rs.1, 2, 5 and 10.
LANGUAGES
Sinhalese, English and Tamil are common language spoken in Sri Lanaka.
Sri Lanka's native inhabitants known as Sinhalese. They speak Sinhala language. The Sri lanka was ruled by the Portuguese and British, so they get English language as legacy from them. And the minority inhabitants from Tamil Nadu (a state in India) speak Tamil language too.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN SRI LANKA
Buddhist form the major part of the population in Sri lanka, then next ethnic group is of Hindu followed by Christians and Muslims.
The culture of Sri Lanka is influenced by the South Indians who spoke Dravidian language, Colonial rule, Portuguese and Buddhism.
It is said that Buddhism was intorduced in Sri Lanka by the son of Emperor Ashoka named Mahendra.
Mahendra and his colleagues traveled to the Mihintale hill that is 13 km from Anuradhapura.
They met with the king of Sinhalese and with his help Buddhism was introduced in Sri Lanka. Sanghmita, the sister of Mahindra who brought a sapling of the Bo tree at Bodh Gaya, under which Buddha had attained enlightenment.
The sapling is still exists in the ancient city of Annuradhapura.
FESTIVALS IN SRI LANKA
People of Sri Lanka celebrate festivals through out the year. It has the mix of so many religion that there is festival every month.
Two of grand festivals celebrated by Buddhist community are:
Duruthu Perahera
The word Perahera means a dramatic representation of some event and is a spectacular one. The Duruthu Perahera represents the visit of Lord Buddha to temple of Kelaniya, nine km from the capital city of Colombia. The festival is normally held in the month of January.
Kandy Perahera
This Perahera is marked by beautifully decorated elephants and the replica of the tooth of Lord Buddha is carried in the Perahera, which was once brought from India and is said to be preserved in the temple of Kandy.
Kandy Perahera celebrated for ten days and is also know as the Esala Perahera.
FESTIVALS CELEBRATED BY HINDU COMMUNITY
Dipawali
The festival of lights and crackers that is celebrated as the day when Lord Rama returned from the fourteen years of exile. On this auspicious day Goddess Laxmi is worshiped and the homes are decorated with lights and lamps.
Vel
Vel is also one of the festivals celebrated by Hindus. It is dedicated to the War God Skandha. The colorful Vel Chariot is carried from Sea Street temple to Bambalapitiya temple and back to the Sea Street temple.
NEW YEAR IN SRI LANKA
New Year in Sri Lanka is celebrated in the mid of April.
It is the harvesting for the farmers and they harvest rice. In this time people visit their relatives and play games.
A famous game Guddu is played by the children as well as adults during the New Year. It is similar to cricket or baseball.
Festivals like Christmas and Eid are also celebrated in Sri Lanka.
TRAVEL IN SRI LANKA
Travelers are attracted by its tropical green forest, wild life, beaches and cultural heritage.
Sri Lanka offers the experience of wild life adventure as well as a journey through the age old history.
Sri Lanka is known as land of Paradise. The Flora and fauna are conserved under various categories of protected areas.
There are many national parks, forest and marine reserves, Sanctuaries, buffer zones and jungle corridors.
The visitors can enjoy the forest and wild life in Sri lanka which would be incomparable to anywhere else in the world.
Sri Lanka has one of the richest biodiversity in the world. Many of the species found in Sri Lanka are endemic to this land.
There are 13 national parks and over 100 other protected areas.
Sinharaja Rain Forest is an UNESCO world heritage site.
Located in in the South West of Sri Lanka is a tropical wet evergreen forest. It receives heavy rainfall from South-West monsoon winds.
This is known as green canopy among nature lovers as it is one of the virgin forests left on the earth.
Sinharaj was designated as world’s biosphere reserve in 1978 and world heritage site in 1998.
Among wild animals like sloth bear, dugon, wild boar, porcupine, grey langur, lion, tiger are found and the most attractive feature in wildlife of Sri Lanka are the herds of Asian elephant.
Asian elephants are a part of every ceremony or festival in Sri lanka.
Gal Oya, Lahugala, Uda Walawe and Minneriya are the national parks well known for elephant herds in Sri Lanka.
Wilpattu National Park is famous for wild leopards.
Fauna of Sri Lanka
Apart from being a home for wild life, Sri Lanka is also blessed with a variety of Fauna. Awesome vegetation that you can't stop yourself from exploring like Patanas, Elk Plains, Dark Rhododendron forest, flowering orchids, cherry blossoms, white Mesua Ferrea are present here.
These all varied vegetation makes Sri Lanka the first choice of the Botanists.
Spices like cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and pepper are cultivated and exported all over the world.
Those who love spicy food can take away the packed spices from Royal Botanical Garden.
Visitors can make visit to the gardens to see spices growing. There are private spice gardens like Peradeniya which are open for the public as well.
The rolling hills located in the inland are covered with tea gardens and are open for visitor who loves dwelling in the beautiful green tea gardens.
Botanical gardens that offer a collection of orchids and roses are Hakgala and Henarathgoda.
Peradeniya is another botanical garden that has an orphanage for elephants.
Here elephants that loose their natural habitat are conserved. Along with elephant orphanage it has orchids, medicinal plants, and palm trees as well to lure the visitors with its natural beauty.
March to May is the flowering season in Sri lanka. Those who want to enjoy these amazing flowering views can take a trip to Sri Lanka during these months.
The coastal regions of the wet zone are filled with beautiful coconut trees.
ADVENTURE SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES IN SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka offers adventure sports like Cycling, mountain biking, trekking in the central hilly land, bird watching and wild safari.
Water sports like Scuba diving, surfing, water skiing, Whales and Dolphin watching, rafting can be taken up for recreational activity.
Sri lanka also has Ayurveda spas and medicinal therapies to release the body and mind stress
Some popular destinations in Sri lanka are
Cultural Triangle
Cultural triangle is the combination of three ancient cities that represents the remains of ancient and medieval civilization of Sri Lanka. These are the best archaeological heritage sites in Asia.
Annuradhapura, Polonnaruva, Kandy and Sigiriya are link together to make cultural triangle. Dambulla is in the center of cultural triangle.
The cultural triangle offers the opportunity of exploring ancient cities with views of Sri Lanka's magnificent birds and animals.
Annuradhapura has many enshrines of Buddha, monasteries, palaces and temples.
In the center of Annuradhapura there is Bo tree which is the oldest tree on the earth. It grew from sapling of Bo Tree at Gaya under which Lord Buddha got enlightenment.
Sigiriya has the royal palace on the rock that is 600 feet above the surrounding area.
There are water gardens around the rock. The rock is known as Lion's Rock because the stairs that lead to the summit are guarded by the lions paw on both the sides.
Sigiriya is an example of well planned ancient city consisting of ponds, fountains, water gardens and monasteries.
Beaches in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has more than 1000 km sandy coastal region which offers sunshine and is calm as well. Its best to visit West and South coast during November to March and East coast during the month of April to October due to direction of Monsoon winds.
The resorts on the coasts of Srilanka have facilities for snorkeling, scuba diving, water skiing on the lagoons. Coral reefs of Hikkaduwa are very attractive places for scuba diving.
How to Reach Sri Lanka
There are two ways of reaching Sri Lanka. One is by Air and the other is by Sea route.
The international Airport is located 29 km to North of Colombo. There are regular bus services from Airport to the city and vice versa.
There are famous ports like Colombo, Galle, Trincomalle to reach Sri Lanka by sea route. Many famous Cruise Ships visit these ports through the year.
ROAMING AROUND IN SRI LANKA
To travel in the country there are facilities for road transportation. One can travel by bus. There are public and private bus services available.
There are taxi and car hire services available for easy and convenient travelling. One can also take help from local travel agencies.
The country has good rail network that connects major destinations. And can also select domestic airlines to move around the country.
For accommodation there are hotels from one star to five stars, guest houses, resorts, spas available. To experience Sri Lanka's culture closely one can also take up homestay accommodation which is available in the country.
For communication to stay connected with your family and friends some mobile phone companies have roaming agreements With some international companies. Or
Phone cards are easily available at post offices and shops and internet cafe are also available in most of the towns and cities.
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