Sri Lanka, an Island with a Colourful Heritage

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Ceylon, Colombo, geography, history, India, Indian Ocean, Lands and people, Maldives, Peker O’ Tool, South Asia, Sri Lanka, video, YouTube

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. By Peker O’ Tool ©

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The island paradise, Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, śrī laṃkāva, Tamil: இலங்கை, ilaṅkai) is the pearl of the Indian Ocean and nature’s treasure chest. It is an island country in the northern Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia.

Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon until 1972, has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest. It is the home to one of the oldest civilizations in the world.

Though Sri Lanka has a documented history that spans over 3,000 years there are evidences that show the island had pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years.

Sri Lanka due to its geographic location and endowed with natural harbours has been the cynosure of strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to World War II.

Today, Sri Lanka is a republic and a unitary state governed by a presidential system. The capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka’s largest city.

Sri Lanka is home to many races speaking diverse languages, and following different religious faiths,. It is the land of the Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Tamils, Indian Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Veddas.

Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage spanning from the time of the Indian Emperor Ashoka Maurya (304–232 BC) of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all the Indian subcontinent from circa 269 to 232 BCE. The first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, the Pāli Canon, dates back to the Fourth Buddhist Council in 29 BCE.

The island is one of the most beautiful and delightful destinations in the world for tourists to visit. Its historical planned cities, magnificent palaces, temples, dagobas, monasteries, monuments, sculptures and other works of art, expansive artificial reservoirs, green gardens, etc., illustrate the characteristic rich history of its ancient rulers.

Here is a video titled “Heritage of Sri Lanka” produced by The Ministry of National Heritage Sri Lanka, which I enjoyed viewing and I hope you too will be delighted to view it as well.

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RELATED ARTICLES

•  Sri Lanka (en.wikipedia.org)
• Sri Lanka (wikitravel.org)
• Introducing Sri Lanka (lonelyplanet.com)
• Sri Lanka – Wonder of Asia (srilanka.travel)
• You’re our world – SriLankan Airlines (srilankan.com)
• Sri Lanka (travel.state.gov)

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