Horton plains - The Heaven's branch on earth!

Horton plains is one of the most enchanted places you can find in Sri lanka and is the only park in the country that visitors are allowed to walk.As mentioned in the post on Nuwaraeliya it is located in the Nuwaraeliya district and is one of the places someone should visit at the hill country.It is also one of the most popular places among the foreigners as it has a very comfortable,cold weather through out the year,thus most Europeans and Americans prefer to stay at Horton plains.

It is a well known fact that most of the rivers(main 3 rivers other than the Kalu river) in Sri lanka are started at the Horton plains as it is a very pure,cold and well preserved untouched part of the Hill country(to get an idea about Sri lankan rivers please read the post on Mahaweli river).The green untouched nature of the Horton plains plays a major role in attracting visitors towards it and it competes with all the other beautiful locations in the world for the most beautiful scenes.Watch a video

Though every where your eye catches at Horton plains make you feel like walking in the heaven,
there are few places you should not miss,like

• the worlds end(the most acute angle and the gap between two locations within Sri lanka that makes you to think you have come to the end of the world!)
• Bakers water fall (one of the most enchanted water falls you will find even you travel all around the world)watch a video on Bakers falls
  
• Kirigalpoththa and thotupola the 2nd and 3rd highest mountains in Sri lanka respectively.

The park is one of the places in Sri lanka with the most varied bio diversities and is consist of various beautiful species of animals and trees.While leopard,Sambhur and wild boar are the most common large mammals in the park,black napped hare,giant squirrel,endemic bear,monkey and otter are not uncommon.Due to the wetness within the Horton plains throughout the year by the northeast,southwest monsoons and the inter monsoonal rains,various types of ferns and orchids and reptiles and amphibians are remarkably high that leads to bring a lot of scientists to the park from various parts of the world.It is also a well known fact that Horton plains is filled with different varieties of beautiful and colourful flowers throughout the year.

Things which will bring joy to you at Horton plains would be

1. beautiful landscapes
2. camping
3. Hiking
4. birds and other flora

Ruwanwelisaya - one of the most sacred stupa in Sri lanka

Ruwanwelisaya(also called Swarnamali saaya) is one of the most renowned"stupa"(a construction made for to be worshiped with sacred relics deposited inside)in Sri lanka.It's considered a wonder due to the splendid architecture it bears and the great sanctitiy which has made it sacred to the Buddhists all over the world.This great structure was built by the King"Dutugemunu",one of the few kings who were able to fight for the countries freedom when it was in danger and brought the country under one flag.

As mentioned in an early post this stupa is another one of the most sacred 8 places (atamasthana)a budhist visits at anuradhapura(see the post on Samadhi buddha statue,another one of "atamasthana").Of all the sacred places in the country,16 places are categorized("solosmasthana" or 16 places of veneration)as the most sacred and,a Buddhist considers its their great fortune to visit all these places and to worship them.Ruwanwelisaya is one of the top places in that list.

It is said king Dutugemunu started to build this wonder on a Wesak full moon day which is the most sacred day for the Buddhists and as you can see if you visit the stupa,it was such massive(the pinnacle of the stupa is 24 meters high and its circumference is 950ft!!)that most say he was not been able to finish the work till his death and it was finished by his brother king Saddhathissa who followed him after.There are a lot of reasons why Ruwanwelisaya is very sacred to Buddhists and some reasons would be that it has Lord Buddha's sacred relics deposited inside,made by the great king Dutugemunu and made on a Wesak full moon day.

Want to watch elephants closely? a lot? visit Pinnawala

would you like to watch 60 or more elephants of all ages at a single location?if so,Pinnawala is the place you should visit which is the Sri lankan elephant orphanage situated 90km from Colombo. This elephant orphanage has been established on 1972 and been relocated to the present location 3years later.

At Pinnawala,you will be able to watch a lot of baby elephants wondering around their new foster home and how they are been bottlefed and been cared.As this is the place in Sri lanka you can watch most number of elephants at once,the place is always filled with local and foreign visitors.watch a video

There are fixed shedules at Pinnawala where you can watch all the elephants having a bath at "Ma oya"(a river branch) sharp at 10am and 2pm.This "Ma oya" is located just in front of the orphanage.During the bathing time you will see these jumbo creatures natural behaviours at wild enjoying the refreshing coolness of the water.The feeding time is usually around one hour earlier to the bathing time.Watch another video

Because most of the elephants at Pinnawala have seen alot of humans,they are not aggressive and you might get a chance to get closer to them and also to touch and bottle feed some cute baby elephants( its done around 8am) if you are there at the right time.There are various beautiful crafts,most representing elephants that you can buy at Pinnawala to make your visit memorable!!!

Samadhi Buddha statue - A spiritual iconography of The Anuradhapura era

Samadhi Buddha statue is considered one of the best crafts made during the Anuradhapura era.It is a sitting Buddha statue(see the post on Aukana statue which is a standing statue). There are 8 sacred places a Buddhist never forgets to visit at Anuradhapura.This samadhi statue is one of that sacred places(there will be a post on these 8 sacred places in the future).By a single glance at it,the statue has the capability to throw away ones agitation and to winds down the mind.(A fact that you will appreciate,if you ever visit the place).

Samadhi statue is made up of Dolomite and is considered more than 7feet tall standing.It is also believed that the eyes of the statue were impressed with precious stones as they are hollow.The characteristic feature of this great ancient craft is that it gives three different emotions when you look at the face of the statue from front,left side and from right side.


When someone looks at the face from the right side it shows a slight sadness and from the left side a slight smile indicating happiness,while from the front it gives neutral feelings.Buddhism is a philosophy that teaches us to accept sadness and joy as normal occurrings in our lives and it teaches us not to be overrod by those feelings.So some argue this Samadhi statue expresses that deep lesson to us.


As the samadhi Buddha statue was found,there was a damage to the nose which has been now reconstructed.But still,the reconstruction has given some artificial appearance to the face which indicates,how brilliant and precise the ancient stone craftsmanship was during that ancient Anuradhapura era which was many centuries back,by appreciating the fact that it is difficult even to be replaced it by modern high technologies.

watch a short video of Samadhi Buddha statue....

Nilaveli - The perfect beach

Nilaveli is considered one of the most beautiful unspoiled beaches in the world with white sand and clear blue sea.It is located in the East coast area(in Trincomalee district),which was in the terrorists territory until recently,where been cleared by the government forces.The distance is around 275km to Nilaveli, from Colombo,the capital of Sri lanka.

There is a multi hued reef located in the ocean around this part of the island,which has led to the creation of this beautiful shallow light blue ocean and the adjoining flat white sanded beach.So in this area you can enter the underwater world to see the colourful translucent reef and the beautiful darting fish.The ideal season to visit Nilaveli is from April to October.

Nilaveli is a picture perfect place as what ever you will be focusing will be merely describing the elegance and the pure natural beauty of a tropical beach.There are places of ancient values nearby as well,as father Philip's church,where you can give a visit to relax your self for a while.

Kandyan dance - A world class traditional masterpiece

As been mentioned in the post on Temple of the sacred tooth relic,kandy was the last kingdom of Sri lanka.It is believed the origin of Kandyan dancing is from the "kohomba kandariya"which was made to relieve the king Paduwasdev from an illness called "divi dosha" and it has been able to brake the spell on the king.

There are 4 main streams of dances found in Sri lanka.They are Kandyan dance,Low country dance,Sabaragamuwa dance and Baratha natyam.Of these,Kandyan dance consists of different kinds of dances representing Vannam,Ves dance,Udekki dance,Pantheru dance etc.

There are 18 main dances in Kandyan style named as "Vannam" that display the styles of birds and animals well known in the country.A main dance is called a 'Vannama"and some of the vannams are
Mayura vannama - Peacock dance(see the article on peacock on this blog)watch mayura vannama
Uraga vannama - Snake dance
Ukusa vannama - dance of the eagle
thuranga vannama - dance of the horse etc.
all these dances are displaying the movements and emotions of the animals in a great pleasurable way and always very fascinating to watch.

Ves dance is the unique and essential upcountry symbolization of traditional sinhalese dance.It is only performed by the males.The ves costume,mostly the headgear is considered sacred and believed to be belong to the divine spirits.One of the best parts of this Ves dance that includes vigoruous rhythmic movements with brilliant foot works is kohomba kankariya.It is a ritual dance made for "kohomba god"of the kohomba tree,as an appeal for his blessings.watch a Ves dance

Another type of Kandyan dance is Udekki dance which is believed to be a very esteemed one.Udekki is a type of a hand drum that is believed to be given by the god and is said it's also had been played in the heaven.It should be mentioned that it is very difficult to play.The characteristic feature of Udekki dance is that the dancer plays the udekki by him self by tightning the strings of udekki to obtain various pitches while he dances
.
Naiyandi dance is another type of dance believed to be evolved by kohomba kankariya,The dancer is adorned by various decorations like beadwork on chest,silver chains and brass shoulder plates.

Pantheru dance has had its name by the drum pantheru,which is different from other types of drums by not having the skin.This dance is dedicated to the goddess Pattini and it has a very long history which runs to the ages of Lord Buddha.The costume is somewhat similar to the udekki(when males are dancing)costume but most of the times,the jacket is not beaded like in Udekki dance(substituted by a cloth at the waist).watch a Pantheru dance
You can have the great opportunity to watch almost all the types of Kandyan dances at the Esala perahera which is an annual colourful event.(there is a post on temple of sacred tooth relic).

watch a video of a crative Kandyan dance

Kumana park - the bird's paradise

Kumana is also called the Yala East park(though is a separate national park) due to it's geographical location.Its a well known bird sanctuary in Sri lanka where millions of birds breed and roost.This more than 18,000 hectare landscape has a great deal of biodiversity and the most significant feature that attracts birds to Kumana is believed to be the 200 hectare "Kumana villu" which is a natural swamp(many waterbirds used to nest here).

Because Yala national park(there is a seperate post on Yala national park on this blog) and Kumana park are joined together at the West side, some animals found at Yala can also be found at Kumana as well.The regular ones you see at Kumana park would be Pelicans,painted storks,spoonbills,herons etc.It is said that the very rare black necked stork(you may have heard of it )has also been sited at Kumana.

The abundance of bird life has made Sri lanka an ornithologists paradise.The country has more than 400 species of birds within it where around 230 are resident and 23 species are considered as endemic.While Kumana park plays a major role in bird watching,there are several other bird sanctuaries in the country as well which are located at Wirawila,Bundala and Kalametiya.


Ways you can enjoy at Kuamana park includes bird watching,luxury camping,going safari,doing photography and filming and lot more.