Sri Lanka

Gems ln Sri Lanka

Rathnapura, the city of Gems

Rathnapura as its name implies had been centre of a long-established industry of precious stone mining and had been hailed for its precious rubies and sapphire even back in the first century AC.

Being the central city of the Sabaragamuwa province Rathnapura is a major crossroad between southern plains and the hill country to the east. With lush plantations of tea and rubber and water falls governing the sights the district is also a popular tourist destination.

Sinharaja Forest Reserve, a biodiversity hot spot, a biosphere reserve and a UNESCO world heritage site borders the Rathnapura district while Udawalawa National Wildlife Park is the most accessible elephant habitat from capital, Colombo.

Rathnapura’s numerous waterfalls provide ideal picnic spots and recreation to many who flock to the city during the vacations while sacred Samanala Kanda or the Adam’s Peak is believed to hold the footmark of Lord Buddha himself.

In the midst of Rathnapura is the Maha Saman Devalaya, the main temple of God Saman, the patron deity of Sri Lanka itself.

World's End (Horten Place)

Horton Plains National Park is a protected area in the central highlands of Sri Lanka and is covered by montane grassland and cloud forest. This plateau at an altitude of 2,100–2,300 metres (6,900–7,500 ft) is rich in biodiversity and many species found here are endemic to the region. This region was designated a national park in 1988. It is also a popular tourist destination and is situated 32 kilometres (20 mi) from Nuwara Eliya and 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Ohiya

The Horton Plains are the headwaters of three major Sri Lankan rivers, the Mahaweli, Kelani, and Walawe. In Sinhala the plains are known as Maha Eliya Plains. Stone tools dating back to Balangoda culture have been found here. The plains' vegetation is grasslands interspersed with montane forest, and includes many endemic woody plants. Large herds of Sri Lankan Sambar Deer feature as typical mammals, and the park is also an Important Bird Area with many species not only endemic to Sri Lanka but restricted to the Horton Plains. Forest dieback is one of the major threats to the park and some studies suggest that it is caused by a natural phenomenon. The sheer precipice of World's End and Baker's Falls are among the tourist attractions of the park

Peradeniya Botanical Garden

Royal Botanical Garden, Peradeniya is situated about 5.5 km to the west from the city of Kandy in the Central Province of Sri Lanka and attracts 2 million visitors annually.^[1] It is renowned for its collection of a variety of orchids. It includes more than 4000 species of plants, including of orchids, spices, medicinal plants and palm trees.^[2] Attached to it is the National Herbarium. The total area of the botanical garden is 147 acres (0.59 km²), at 460 meters above sea level, and with a 200-day annual rainfall. It is managed by the Division of National Botanic Gardens of the Department of Agriculture.
The origins of the Botanic Gardens date as far back as 1371 when King Wickramabahu III ascended the throne and kept court at Peradeniya near Mahaweli river. This was followed by King Kirti Sri and King Rajadhi Rajasinghe. A temple was built on this location by King Wimala Dharma, but it was destroyed by the British when they were given control over the Kingdom of Kandy. Thereafter, the groundwork for a botanical garden was formed by Alexandar Moon in 1821. The Botanical Garden at Peradeniya was formally established in 1843 with plants brought from Kew Garden, Slave Island, Colombo, and the Kalutara Garden in Kalutara. The Royal Botanic Garden, Peradeniya was made more independent and expanded under George Gardner as superintendent in 1844.On his death in 1849 George Henry Kendrick Thwaites became superintendent. He served until 1879, when he was succeeded by Henry Trimen,^[3] who served until 1895.^[4] The Garden came under the administration of the Department of Agriculture when it was established in 1912.

Vesak in Sri Lanka

Vesak is considered as both a religious and cultural festival in Sri Lanka. It is celebrated on the day of the full moon in May. Vesak Day is one of the biggest days of the year in the Buddhist calendar and is celebrated by Buddhists all over the world. Buddhists commemorate the important events that took place in the life of Lord Buddha on this Vesak Full Moon Poya Day. First comes the birth of Siddhartha Gautama in Lumbini in Nepal which took place under the arbor of Sat trees where queen Mahamaya gave birth to him. The second event was Siddharta Gautam's supreme attainment as the Buddha, the Enlightened One. The third event was Lord Buddha's Parinibbana over 2500 years ago at Kusinagar.

Apart from Sri Lanka, many Asian countries including India, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia and Nepal celebrate Vesak. Many religious activities are organized during this period in Sri Lanka such as Sil campaigns, Bodhi Poojas, Dansalas (Freely giving foods, coffee, tea from people), Vesak devotional songs (Bakthi Gee), pandols (thoran) and lanterns.

Dams in Sri Lanka

The following pages most dams in Sri Lanka. Most of these dams are governed by the Mahaweli Authority, while the Ceylon Electricity Board operates dams used for hydroelectric power generation. Most dams are used for irrigation or water supply, while others are used for hydroelectric power generation. Some dams are also utilized for more than one purpose. Only dams with a length of more than 100 m (330 ft) or a height of 10 m (33 ft) are listed.
Hydroelectric dams, including dam-less hydro such and pumped-storage and run-of-the-river, and small hydros accounts for nearly half of the installed power capacity of Sri Lanka.

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Embekke Dewalaya,Kandy in Sri Lanka

Around 13 km from the Kandy city, a Buddhist temple dates from the 14th century is situated in "Arathtana". It is decorated by wooden columns richly carved with animals, dancers, and wrestlers.

Gardener of the flower garden in Embekke of Queen Henakanda Bissobandara tried to remove a "Kaduru" tree from the garden. When he cut it a stream of blood began to flow from the tree. After knowing the miracle, drummer perform the rituals there as he was ordered to do by the god. He built a small temple called the "Embekke Devalaya".After some days the king Wickramabahu in Senkadagala era, ordered to build a three story building there and gave land, queens' jewelry and elephants as gifts. Since then the temple of Embekka is worshipped by people.Today, the drummers' relatives perform rituals

in Embekke.

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Hantana in Sri Lanka

The Hanthana Mountain Range lies in central Sri Lanka, south-west of the city of Kandy. It was declared as an environmental protection area in February 2010 under the National Environment Act. The maximus height of the range is 3800 ft. The mountain range consists of seven peaks. The highest one being the Uura Kanda .The range is a favourite destination among the mountain hikers in Sri Lanka. University of Peradeniya is situated adjacent to the Hanthana mountain range.