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.

style plus tradition = Sri lankan Batik

Though the exact way Batik has been evolved in Sri lanka is uncertain,it is believed to be originated in Indonesia,and was brought in to the country by the Dutch when they came here.Other countries like China,India and Japan are also found to be having the industry of Batik crafts.

In a nutshell,Batiks consist of incorporating beautiful themes and colours into fabric,which can either be traditional or contemporaty.In our country,Batik industry used to produce mens and ladies wear,bed covers,wall pictures,table clothes etc.

Since it's been brought,Sri lanka's Batik industry has been conflated with the other arts crafts,that ultimately has led to produce a unique characteristic artistry to be developed within the island.As a result,most of the batik productions today, are having our own cultural and artistic features well integrated on them.

The process of a Batik production
1)material dipped in boiling water to remove the starch
2)design drawn out
3)colour resist material(wax/mud etc)applied to some areas for the design
4)first round of colours applied and then washed in water
5)again colour resists applied to areas according to the design where colour should not be absorbed during the second round of dying
6)this process continues till all the colours for the design is applied
7)material dipped in boiling water

learn more.....

The Shine that'll never be blown over - Sri lankan Gems

A gem is a naturally occurring crystalline form of a mineral which takes generations to be formed.Though the time it takes to be formed is very long,it can be enjoyed for generations as well.Gem industry in Sri lanka has been existing for thousands of years as it is found that even ancient Emperors of Roam had Sri lankan gems taking places in their crowns.

In past,one of the names given for Sri lanka was "Rathna Deepa" and the meaning of "Rathna" in Sinhala is gems while "Deepa" is land,so it was "Land of Gems."The Gem mining centre of Sri lanka is Rathnapura("Pura"means city)which is a major crossing between Southern plains to Hill country to East.

There are 17 types of precious and semi precious stones identified in the country and some of the most popular ones are Blue sapphire,Alexandrite(the rarest gem in the world),Stur Ruby,Amethyst,Garnet,Moonstone(only found in Sri lanka).

We have The State Gem corporation,which plays a major role in country's the Gem industry.It makes sure that all the gems that produced are within the international standards and also helps people involved in the industry throughout its process,from mining to exportation.

Know more about Sri lankan Gems....

Evincing Sri lankan traditions - Sri lankan wooden Masks"Vesmuhunu"

As an island that has a cultural history of more than 2500 years,Sri lanka has been able to develop a wide variety of spectacular art crafts of its own.Since very ancient times,wooden masks have always had a great position among all the Sri lankan traditional crafts.

One well known purpose of these masks was to be used in various dramatic rituals in Sri lanka like"Bali","Kohomba kankaariya"(Sri lankan devil dance)etc.These masked can be broadly classified as mythological,demonic,animal spirit and human figures.Of these,animal and demonic ones are considered as the oldest and some believe they represent ungodly practices(related to very ancient times)while mythological masks are considered to be an iconography of the folk religions of the historic period of Sri lanka.On the other hand human masks believed to be evolved in recent times.Some of these masks are used for healing purposes as well.

As you can see these masks are very colourful and express different kinds of emotions.They play a key role in dramatic rituals where they give the spectator some joy and excitement while always conveying a deeper meaning for them to catch.

want to see a video? watch a video of Sri lankan mask dance

Another name for refreshment - King coconut (Tambili)

It is a well known fact that unlike artificial soft drinks,natural drinks are very good and nutrious for your body.Like artificial ones,natural drinks don't contain unnecessarily high amounts of sugar which very unhealthy and are not carbonated which can enhances gastric reflux thus causes regurgitation which leads to uncomfort.

What comes to our mind under natural drinks are fruit drinks.People have to pluck the fruits first then have to do processing of some kind to make a drink out of it.It is also a well known fact that during this processing,some amount of it's nutrients will be lost.

Because Sri lanka is a tropical island,we have coconut trees all around the country.King coconut is another variety of the coconut family and the water inside it is very delicious as well as nutritious.The most important fact about the King coconut is that you can drink straight from it without doing any kind of processing.After drinking the water(which is cool and refreshing), you can cut open the King coconut and eat the pulp as well,which is really very tasty.

We Sri lankans consider King coconut as something gifted to us by the great Nature as,the relief and refreshment it gives is immense during hot sweaty days.If you ever visit Sri lanka,drink a King coconut and see how it feels like.

Peacock- Probably the most adorned creature on Earth

No wonder you will agree with me after seeing these photos,that Peacock is one of the most beautiful birds you have ever seen.This staggering creature is a pheasant only found in Sri lanka and India(the blue variety).Considering both sexes of this creatures,most of the photographs you will see are of the male, as it is the most colourful and beautiful.There is a seperate entity of Kandyan dance representing the Peacock's look and it's behaviours,which is named as Mayura(mayura is peacock)vannama.

Though someone might think its one's fortune to watch this stunning bird live ,it is not a big deal for Sri lankans as these birds can be seen very frequently in the dry zone.If you visit Yala National park or even going through the Eastern or Southern areas of the country for some other reason, you will encounter a lot of them for sure..

This bird is a ground feeder that eats insects,plants and small creatures.In southern,these birds have a distinct place as Hindus believe its the vehicle of God Katharagama.
Though the male creature is brilliant blue, its female has a brownish ash colour and thus, colour wise a bit similar to the leopard.So there is a myth among some Sri lankans that when a male Peacock sees a leopard, it gets stunned by the leopard's colours(as leopard is more colourful than its female) and due to that fact forgets to fly away from it, which makes it leopard's ultimate pray(haven't heard of an incident though).

The best time to watch these creatures is the early morning,where males gather around females. Males shout out loudly and make a beautiful dance by stretching out all their feathers to attract the female.Believe me it is one of the most beautiful things you can see under the sun...

want to see more of Peacock? watch a video of Peacock

NuwaraEliya - A landscape filled with pure elegance

If you are someone with a hunger for very good scenes of nature,you are more than welcome to the city NuwaraEliya.It is one of Sri lanka's most beautiful cities.NuwaraEliya is situated in the hill country and is around 2000m above from the sea level.

If you get tired by the rough sunrays and the hot climate of Sri lanka's costal areas and wishing to have some cool breeze for sometime,NuwaraEliya is the place for you.The temperature of NuwaraEliya ranges from 14-21 Celsius throughout the year.
Architecture of NuwaraEliya mimics of an English town made with some red brick walls country house like hill club and mock -Tudor half timberline.

As once Exportation of tea was the main source of income of the country(you may have enjoyed a Sri lankan tea)NuwaraEliya gave a great amount of income to Sri lanka as it is the heart of the tea industry as it is filled with many tea estates.It is very difficult to give a list of places where you should visit at NuwaraEliya as there is a lot.Some very important ones would be

• Hakgala park
• NuwaraEliya Victoria park
• Ramboda falls
• Devon falls
• Hortan plains
  
• Mepilimana lake

During the April season,the whole NuwaraEliya town becomes a carnival city as it fills with lots and lots of various coloured beautiful flowers.So most locals and foreigners prefer visiting NuwaraEliya during this season.Know more.....

Aukana Buddha statue - An exellency of ancient Craftsmanship

Aukana is one of the largest Buddha statues in Sri lanka (12meters) and one of the best handcraft of ancient Sri lankan Artist.This was built by King Dhathusena(5th centuryAD) the father of King Kashyapa who made the Seegiriya fortress.After the destruction of similar but larger Barmiyan Buddha statues at Afghanistan,this statue has taken the position as the tallest standing Buddha statue in existence today made by a single rock.

King Dathusena has gifted another magnificent product to Sri lanka which was the huge man made water tank to get rain water stocked during dry season to use for cultivating purposes which still nurishes those areas of Anuradhapura district, and is called "Kalaa wewa".Aukana statue is located adjoining to this Kalaa wewaa reminding the greatness of its builder King Dathusena.The statue is in the symbolic gesture (or"Mudra")which describes blessing.

If you watch the Aukana Buddha statue closely,you will be amazed by its expressions which are pure calmness and the steadiness that shows out the supreme power and stability of enlightenment.To build out something this magnificent,from a rough coarse rock merely explains the excellency of the ancient Sri lankan craftsmanship.

The best time to watch East facing Aukana statue would be at the crack of dawn as it will be easier for you to appreciate its fine carved features.

learn more about Aukana Buddha statue.

Mahaweli river - Sri lanka's longest river

Mahaweli is the largest river found in Sri lanka.It starts from the Hatton plateau on the western side of the island's hill country and ends in east at trincomalee district.This river is 335km long and it is a significant length,considering Sri lanka's size (maximum length of the country is 432km).It is said that Mahaweli river's drainage basin is almost 1/5th of the country in size!

River Mahawali does an outstanding job in nourishing the country by many means.It helps to gain electricity to the country(you may not know that Sri lanka gets considerable amount ot its electricity by Hydro-power)and supplies water for a huge area of agricultural lands.One of Sri lanka's largest irrigation projets is woven around this great river so,is named as "The Mahaweli development project."

During our childhood days we were taught about 4 great rivers arise from the central hills of the country that flow out towards the ocean and on their way to the ocean nurturing the country throughout..Those rivers were "Mahaweli,Kelani,Kalu and Walawe" rivers.

As Sri lanka is an agricultural land full of beautiful paddy fields ,water is our blood... and Mahaweli river is the best source of that blood for our mother nation.

want to know more about how Mahaweli river has been manipulated in our country? please visit
Mahaweli development project

Our national bird "Ceylon jungle fowl"

Ceylon jungle fowl(Sri lankans call it "Walikukula") is a very colourful and elegant looking bird which has the distinction of being the National bird of Sri lanka.This beautiful cock is native to Sri lanka and as you might know Sri lanka once had been named as Ceylon and that's how this creature has had its name.It eats seeds,grains and insects and it mostly lives on trees.
Because this bird is extremely shy,so it's almost never found as pets in households.Though Ceylon jungle fowl can be found at national parks and jungles all over the country,it's mostly seen at the dry Zone.Ceylon jungle fowl is closely related to the common red jungle fowl but you can identify it by reddish orange legs,head topped with a comb which is slightly jagged and the spot of bright yellow on it's comb.

want to watch a video of this beautiful bird? please visit
watch Ceylon jungle fowl video

The proud Sri lankan landscape - Polonnaruwa

Polonnaruwa became the capital of Sri lanka after Anuradhapura.Today both these cities are full of ancient remnants of a proud Sri lankan history.King Aggabodhi IV was the first king to start his kingdom at Polonnaruwa during 667-675 AD.From there onwards several kings ruled Sri lanka from Polonnaruwa some of them who comes to any Sri lankan's mind would be King Vijayabaahu I and King Paraakramabaahu I who were great kings.

If you love to see ancient relics made by stone,Polonnaruwa is a place where you should visit.Polonnaruwa town is situated 140km North to Kandy.As the roads have been developed during the recent past,it wont take much time for you to travel from Kandy to Polonnaruwa.
Lets see what you can find at Polonnaruwa..
1)Polonnaruwa visitor information center and Museum
2)The Royal palace(King Paraakramabaahu I)
3)King Nissanka Malla's palace
4)Rankoth vihaara
5)Lankathilaka gedige
6)Watadaage(The quadrangle)
7)Kiri vehera
8)Gal vihara
9)Alahana pirivena complex and many more

All these ancient relics have their own story in the ancient polonnaruwa period where all well written in Mahaawansha(The great chronicle of Sri lanka)
During those ancient times Sri lanka was a great agricultural nation.All the kings gave their full support to the the agricultural field.

King Paraakramabaahu was one of the greatest kings as mentioned and during his period he unified the country under one rule and built a remarkable series of irrigation work including the massive "Paraakrama samudraya".if you see the Paraakrama samudraya which is a man made irrigation work to supply water to farmers,you might misjudge it as another ocean inside the country.The oath of this king is very popular.He has said "Even a drop of rain water should not be flown to the ocean without taking any use".

want to know more about Polonnaruwa? please visit
learn more about Polonnaruwa

Resplendency - Dunhinda Waterfalls

Dunhinda is another large and beautiful waterfall situated in Sri lanka.It is located about 10km from the Badulla town which is the head city of Uva province.Though the water fall is not as tall as other waterfalls in Sri lanka like Aberdeen or Diyaluma,beauty wise it gives a good competition to any waterfall.

On the way to watch Dunhinda you will get a bonus because you will encounter another beautiful waterfall similar to Dunhinda but smallet than it so is called "kudaa Dunhinda"('kudaa' means small in sinhala).

Unlike most of the other waterfalls dunhinda makes its water to spread wide which makes the surrounding envirounment misty.Because of this phenomenon you "feel" the waterfall than any other falls you might have visited.This vapour or mist is the meaning of "Dun" in sinhala so you can see how the name of this waterfall has been made.

Do you know that there are more than 40 waterfalls in Sri lanka? visit
Sri lankan Waterfalls

A nature's beauty admiration -Yala National park

Yala National park is the 2nd largest national park in Sri lanka.The climate of the park is hot and dry as you know it is the best climate to go safari.It is located in the arid region of Sri lanka.Yala park is underlain by rocks formed over 600 million years of age in some of the areas.usual daily temperature is around 27 Celsius.The distance from Colombo to Yala park is around 300 kms.

Some of the animals that you are going to see during your safari would be Elephants(lots of them for sure),buffaloes,deers,various kinds of birds(great for a bird watcher),and if you are very lucky you might see a leopard(has the world's highest concentration of leopards even though they are rarely seen on day time) or a bear as well.
Though most of the land of the park is parkland at Yala, jungle,beaches,freshwater lakes,rivers and scrubland are not uncommon.The range of habitats in Yala park give rise to a very good range of wild life.
finally if you are an animal lover and if you want to see more animals during your safari,Yala national park will be your ultimate place of stop for sure....Watch a video

want to see some really good photos taken at Yala national park? please visit
some beautiful photos taken at Yala park

Temple of the sacred tooth relic(Sri Daladaa Maaligaawa)

Kandy was the last kingdom of Sri lanka.In ancient Sri lanka there was a rule that who has the ownership of the sacred tooth owns the crown of the country.So it was the symbol of sovereignty of Sri lanka.It was king's responsibility to protect the sacred tooth.When ever there was a kingdom,(Anuradhapura,Polonnaruwa,Gampola etc)there was a separate palace built for the sacred tooth.As mentioned kandy was the last kingdom the palace build for the sacred tooth relic during that period was Sri daladaa Maaligawa which is the temple of the sacred tooth relic and there we still have our precious sacred tooth relic inside.

At the temple things you can watch and appreciate would be
1)the temple and its structure
2)the museum adjoining the temple
3)room housing the sacred tooth(during poojas)
4)might see some elephants as well if you are lucky
5)Kandy Esala perahara on July (if you are very lucky)

If you want to know about the Sacred tooth relic-it is said to have been snatched from the flames of lord Buddha's pyre in 543BC and brought to Sri lanka during the 4th century AD hidden in the hair of a princess for its safety.

To worship the sacred tooth Sri lankans traditionally do a perahara since ancient times.If you have hot seen a kandy Esala perahara you are unlucky.It is a one of very colourful events happening since 15th century.The Perahara consists of traditional sinhala music and kandyan dancing plus it has a large number of charming beautifully decorated glistening elephants as well.Esala perahara is an event which happens annually on July.Watch Esala perehara video

If you want to know more about temple of the sacred tooth relic you can visit
learn more....

8th wonder of the world - Seegiriya

Seegiriya is an ancient kingdom of Sri lanka and its geographical location has made it a very safe place for king Kashyapa to build his kingdom there.Seegiriya once named as the 8th wonder of the world...When you get to the top of the rock you will see some splendid views over miles from there.Nowadays Seegiriya has been a very popular place among both local and foreign visitors.


If we simply consider what to admire at Seegiriya they would be
1)Paws of the huge lions
2)the royal place at the top of the Seegiriya rock
3)gardens
4)frescoes and graffiti
though there have been constituents of the fortress during the ancient times like the inner rampart now what we can see at the entrance is a huge paws of a lion.it is said that these paws played a great role in identifying Seegiriya as a place with ancient values when it was first discovered.

At the top of the rock there is an area of around 3.5 acres where there has been the palace of king Kashyapa.when you get there to the top you will understand how difficult it would be to build a castle there at the top of that huge rock.surely it tells the outstanding capabilities of ancient srilankan engineering skills as all the other supplies including water were regularly supplied to the palace which was on the top as mentioned earlier.
gardens,footpaths,ponds etc were build at the ground level at Seegiriya in such a manner that one could have a great view of them watching from the top where the palace was been or by getting down to the ground level as well.

Seegiriya is well known of its brilliant frescoes.there are different theories to explain these but even without knowing any of those theories you can appreciate how skill full the ancient sinhala artist was by watching those frescoes and graffiti.Watch Seegiriya video

if you want to see some good photos of seegiriya visit
some good photos taken at Seegiriya

Have you ever been to Hikkaduwa?

Hikkaduwa is one of Sri lanka's most beautiful places where you can enjoy all the beach facilities.It just take some hours to get to Hikkaduwa from Colombo(the capital of the country is Colombo).


If we consider what you can do at Hikkaduwa...they would be
1)enjoy watching the coral reef
2)diving
3)surfing
4)enjoy some delicious Sri lankan sea food
5)beach parties
6)watch the beautiful sunset
coral reef -Hikkaduwa coral reef is an area found to be very rich in biodiversity and you can watch it either riding on glass bottom boats which give fantastic views or if you are someone enjoying diving,you can do snorkeling and diving as all the diving facilities are also available there.
Surf-you want more details on surfing at Hikkaduwa?you can get it at Surf information

want to know about hotel facilities and other stuff?visit
more information about Hikkaduwa

want to go to heaven before you die? visit Srilanka

Are you planning to spend your vacation some where you have never been before?In what kind of an environment do you like to spend it?should it be warm?should there be a beautiful beach?you like mountains?waterfalls? places with ancient values?rivers?forest?animal watching?you name it...Sri lanka has them all.

Sri lanka is an island which is situated just below India(if you look in a map).The beauty of Sri lanka is that its variation.different ethnic groups live in harmony in this beautiful island...after the war has been ended(it was really a humanitarian issue to rescue innocent civilians by Sri lankan Forces...cannot be called as a war) now there is no risk for anyone to visit this beautiful island.

want to visit places with ancient values?In Sri lanka you can go to Anuradhapura,Polonnaruwa,Seegiriya and many more places which are all ancient kingdoms with lots of ancient values....
if you want to see tea estates and want to spend your time without some hot sunshine you can go to Nuwaraeliya... you will come across many beautiful water falls as well, on the way to Nuwaraeliya from Colombo.
What is the use of your visit if you don't see some Elephants..so don't forget to visit Pinnawela as well where you will see the most number of elephants at one place in your life.
The most valuable advantage of visiting Sri lanka is that you don't have to spend much time to shift from one place to another.you can admire the most beautiful beach in the world at Nilaweli(i am pretty sure its the best beach)and see some tea estates and water falls or see the beauty of ancient Anuradhapura city after some 6to 8 hour of travel by a vehicle.its the beauty of it...
If you have decided to visit this beautiful island or even considering it, feel free to ask any thing regarding our country here..thank you.