Buddhism in Sri Lanka

The Theravada tradition of Buddhism, which emphasizes the original teachings of the Buddha, has remained the dominant form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BCE during the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa. The introduction is attributed to Arahat Mahinda, the son of the Indian Emperor Ashoka. He brought the Theravada form of Buddhism to the island, which became the dominant tradition. Buddhism has deeply influenced Sri Lankan culture, influencing art, literature, architecture, and daily practices. Festivals, rituals, and traditions are often tied to Buddhist teachings and stories.

 

 

 Knuckles Mountain

 Knuckles Mountain 1515 m

Knuckles is one the most important bio-diversity environments with a range of mountains and a great

 water and wildlife resources. The Knuckles National Heritage and Wilderness Area or the Knuckles Mountain Range is a mountain range that covers an area of 155 sq km. The forest contains five major Forest formations and includes a wide variety of uncommon and endemic fauna & flora. The knuckles are a mountain range with fascinating and out-of-this-world mountain scenery. A number of large mammals like Elephants, Leopards, Sambhur, Deer, a large number of reptiles, birds, and fishes, etc. are found in abundance at the knuckles range. Out of the many endemic birds and reptile species, the Blotched Filamented Barb & Martins tine Barb (Fish), Tenant's Horned Lizard, and the Marbled Cliff Frog are endemic to this mountain range.

Loved by travelers for its beauty Knuckles mountains has become a hot spot in eco-tourism in Sri Lanka.

 Pidirutalagala Mountain  2534 m

Sri Lanka's highest mountain which is 2534 m above sea level, it will take you through some exciting

and anxious moments because of its difficulty in getting to the top, but the climb is worth your effort

 because it will take you through some beautiful scenery that you won't forget. One will come across

 beautiful small waterfalls because many waterfalls begin from this mountain. 

 There is no island in the world., Great Britain itself not excepted., that has attracted the attention of authors in so many distant ages and so many different countries as Ceylon. There is no nation in ancient or modern times possessed of a language and literature, the writers of which have not at some time made it their theme. Its aspect, its religion, its antiquities, and productions, have been described as well by the classic Greeks, as by those of the Lower Empire; by the Romans; by the writers of China, Burmah, India, and Kashmir; by the geographers of Arabia and Persia; by the medieval voyagers of Italy and France; by the annalists of Portugal and Spain; by the merchant adventurers of Holland, and by the travellers and topographers of Great Britain. ………..

Copied by  reference of Ceylon – an account of the Island physical, historical and topographical (1859)

by James E. Tennent

 

 

 

 Ancient Reservoirs and Irrigation Systems of Sri Lanka 

Irrigation systems of ancient Sri Lanka consist of a large number of village reservoirs to gigantic reservoirs.

In Sri Lanka, there are over 30,000 reservoirs, the majority of which date from the third century BC to the 12th century.

In the third century BC, Abaya Wewa was the first large reservoir to be constructed in recorded history. Since that time, Sri Lankan tank builders have developed a remarkable skill for managing big bodies of water, enabling them to construct enormous reservoirs that no other civilization could have imagined.

As stated in H. Parker;s book "Ancient Ceylon.", an irrigation engineer who was in charge of rebuilding several historic irrigation reservoirs in the late 1800s, Europeans didn't begin using the valve pits in their reservoirs until the middle of the 18th century.

but  Sri Lankan irrigation experts  inventioned the "Biso Kotuwa" valve pit, which could easily control the outflow of very big water bodies, in the third century BC that inspired Sri Lankan irrigation experts to construct such enormous reservoirs.

The incredible instrumentation precision of the old irrigation systems is another advancement. 

The ancient irrigation engineers first discovered that the Kala Wewa in Pollonaruwa was created on a little raised ground compared to Tissa Wewa in Anuradhapura when king Dathusena (459-477 AD) built Yodha Ela, also known as Jayaganga. Then, in order to transport extra water from the Kala Wewa to the Tissa Wewa, he constructed the 54-mile (87-kilometer) Yoda Ela, which has a gradient of 6–12 inches per mile (about 10–20 cm per kilometer).

Experts are still perplexed as to how these engineers were able to reach such precision.

 

Sri Lanka Dive Sites

Over 100 Sri Lanka Dive Sites are related to historical shipwrecks in Sri Lankan waters. They are scattered around the country, and there may be many unknown historical shipwrecks around the country. Most of the identified historical shipwrecks belong to the colonial period, and the oldest shipwreck site identified is the 2000-year-old Godawaya Shipwreck Site, the oldest shipwreck site in the Asia-Pacific Region. Most of the identified shipwreck sites were in service from 1850 to 1950. The deepest known shipwreck lies 65-67 meters under the sea.

A popular motif in the visual and literary arts - Butterfly

There are over 245  species of butterflies in Sri Lanka and  of which 25 of them are endemic to the island.
The largest Sri Lankan butterfly which has  glossy black and bright yellow colors with attractive pattern, was categorized as flagship species due to its wide distribution.

 World’s biggest blue sapphire ‘Queen of Asia’ found in Sri Lanka

A 310kg heavy natural corundum blue sapphire

A gem company in Sri Lanka has unveiled a rare and massive gemstone weighing 310kg's that has been certified as one of the biggest corundums ever found in the country.

The rare gem stone had been found three months ago from a gem pit in Ratnapura, popularly known as gem city situated around 85 km away from capital Colombo.

 

According to the Global Wellness Institute,

Sri Lanka ranks the top of the world's Wellness Tourisum Destination for 2021!

Experience Sri Lankan Ayurveda spa session which based on the country’s centuries old treasure trove of indigenous knowledge base, natural environment and cultural repertory.

 

 Aukana statue - The tallest ancient Buddha statue in Sri Lanka

The Avukana statue is considered to be one of the best examples of a standing statue of the Buddha from ancient Sri Lanka and  is situated in a village named Avukana, close to the Kala Wewa reservoir in Anuradhapura District. Aukana Buddha Statue in Sri Lanka that rise to a height of 11.36 meters, is the tallest ancient Buddha statue in Sri Lanka.

According to legend, this magnificent standing Aukana Buddha was sculpted during the reign of Dhatusena in the 5th century, though some sources date it to the 12th or 13th century. 

The artist of this magnificent work of art is still unknown.

A unique feature is that the statue has been carved out of a great granite rock face and appears to stand alone, but is in fact connected by a narrow strip of rock which also supports the statue. The Buddha image stands on a Lotus flower pedestal which has been carved separately and placed under the statue.

The robe is worn tightly, clearly outlining the shape of the body, and its pleats are carved clearly and delicately. 

Aukana Buddha Statue is in { Asisa Mudra } the “posture of blessing” .

Aukana Buddha Statue is carved alone in the proportion of nine faces: the body height is nine times the length of the face. The proportion of nine faces is the iconometry followed by the sculptors in the eighth century AC of Sri Lanka.

 An art of living of old Ceylonese.- Stilt Fishermen

 – Ahangama

An age old fishing technique that is unique to Sri Lanka, it came into being just after World War II.

 Mihintale - The birthplace of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. 

Historically recorded as the birthplace of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Mihintale is believed to be the meeting place of the Buddhist monk Mahinda, son of Emperor Ashoka of India, and King Devanampiyatissa in the 3rd century BC.

This meeting was the beginning of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, which quickly became a core part of Sinhalese culture.

 The traditional costume of Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan traditional dress for women is Saree and like other South Asia countries, sarongs are also the basic attire for men in Sri Lanka. 

Sri Lankan traditional dress was affected by both Asian and European cultures. Traditional Sri Lankan attires have many other features like appearance, decoration, color which changed over time. 

Sri Lankan Authentic food 

Since Sri Lanka is a multi cultural country, nothing anything less influence when it comes to Sri Lankan food . 

Sri Lanka is filled with its regional flavours while the cuisine is known for a rich combination of rice specialities, spices, herbs, seafood, seasonal vegetables and fruits and of course, legumes.

Many of these dishes are centred around the main staple rice, rice flour and coconut. The curries have immense flavour and colours which are derived from a list of Sri Lankan Hot Spices. These spices not only add great flavour to the food but also adds ayurvedic value to the dish.