by The island of the Indian Ocean in Sri Lanka is known for its white sandy beaches and huge jungle with wild animals, although it also has an incredibly rich cultural heritage. I had an endless opportunity to adventure after I arrived in Colombo on the west coast, traveled south on the coast and had returned to the cultural triangle of the country in the province of Central Highlands and North Central.
Anuradhapura, Kandy and Dambulla are only three of the extraordinary UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka and there is a lot to learn about the mystical connection between Buddhism and Hinduism.
Here are eight must-see-Sri Lanka experiences that I can recommend for your travel route.
Buddhist temple
From the moment you arrive in Sri Lanka, you are on a literal spiritual journey. The official religion of this pear -shaped country is Buddhism and taxi driver Saman, who picks me up from Bandaranaike International Airport, is happy about his faith. Studying the four noble truths that lead to the end of suffering has controlled his life.
In the capital Colombo I take my shoes to enter the Gangaramaya Temple complex from the 19th century and to learn more about the Buddha, which around 563-483 BC. Born was born and his teachings. Buddha shaved his hair as a symbolic plot and the holy hair relics here in the dome in the dome are part of the overlapped.
Some Buddha statues exhibited are bare, but others have fascinating thick curls. Sri Lanka was part of the Maritime Trade Route Silk Road and confessed to the ancient Greeks as Todage. “These curly sculptures were influenced by Hellenic statues of God Zeus,” explains Nandana.
The “floating” temple of Seema Malaka, the work of the famous architect of Sri Lanka, Geoffrey Bawa, is located within Gangaramaya, which was created on three platforms on Lake Beira. I am surprised to see that it has shrines for Hindu gods, but Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka are open to all creeds and Buddhism and Hinduism are closely linked.
Geoffrey Bawa’s designs
The architect Geoffrey Bawa (1919-2003) loved the view of water and was influenced by a colonial and traditional Keylonesian architecture, which combines indoor and outdoor areas with tropical modernism. In Colombo, his home and studio in No. 11, 33. Lane, the Bagatelle Road can be observed on prepared tours. The light and airy residence in a hidden Away Sackgasse attracts visitors from all over the world. Fans book stays in the guest suite well over a year overnight.
Bawa’s elegant Rolls Royce from 1934 is parked in addition to his Mercedes Benz from 1953 (the garage integrated into the house) at No. 11 and the presence of the designer can still be felt. I enjoy the afternoon tea, which is served on its innovative concrete dining table and sits on a Scandinavian white base chair from the middle of the century. Bawa returned from his global trips with ergonomic furniture and used these pieces to inspire his own blueprints.
In 1948 Bawa bought an abandoned 25 hectare rubber plane in Bentota on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka, which became Lunuganga, to his last resting place. This estate is a beautiful place to make a garden trip and eat for lunch, the Terrace Restaurant next to aromatic Frangipani trees.
BAWA loosened cinnamon gardens for a clear view of the Dedduwa lake. There may be a well -kept English lawn, but wild boar and water monitors – large lizards that come 90 million years ago – roam the country.
Colonial history
Sri Lanka was ruled by the Portuguese, Dutch and British for 450 years, but was granted independence in 1948, and Ceylon became the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka in 1972. The port city of Galle was built in the southwestern tip in the 16th century in the 16th century and attached by the slopes.
Galle Fort is located on a rocky countryland and its walls surround the old town. There is a fish market near the entrance that has probably not changed since the 1500s, with freshly caught shimmering shimmering blue, red and yellow parrot fish that are created on wooden stands. The mix of European and South Asian architectural styles makes Galle a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The walls are built with a mixture of granite and corals, and the houses along the narrow streets have open verands and hidden courtyards.
I look at one of the 14 increased bastions for the Galle International Cricket Stadium, which was rebuilt for test games after the devastating tsunami in December 2004. You have to pause to imagine the devastation and loss.
Holy wildlife
Sri Lanka is plentiful in wild animals within the rough central highlands and also in the flat levels. Sections that are native to the island strut around everywhere, their unmistakable scary cat, which becomes a familiar sound. The birds are sacred in both Buddhism and Hinduism and symbolize beauty and divine wealth. In Kandy I look at the Kandyan dance group, which performs the most important peacock dance in her cultural show.
Before he was born in human form, Buddha is said to have often lived as an elephant. The Elephant Transit Home in the Udawalawe National Park – one of several wildlife reserves – takes care of and rehabilitates orphaned baby elephants and disabled adults. The energetic and Bolshy calves Glug -Gallen milk in planned feeding times that are open to visitors four times a day.
The Sri Lanka Leopard is an endangered subspecies, but the Yala National Park in the southeast, once a hunting area during the British rule, has the world’s largest concentration of these large cats.
Ancient sites
The Holy City of Anuradhapura was the country’s capital from the 4th century BC. BC and the important archaeological remains were released from the strangle of the jungle. “Before Buddhism, there was a shrine for the gods of fire and rain,” says Nandana.
The 2,300-year-old Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Tree, who was supported with golden inserts, is said to be cut from a cut of the mother tree that signed the Buddha when he obtained enlightenment. Animism remains deep in the cultural Sri -Lanka culture and pilgrims make this botanical miracle and hope for meaningful and positive changes in their life.
A mysterious stargate in Anuradhapura’s Ranmasu Uyana (Royal Park) is viewed by some as the secrets of the universe. The concentric circles and symbols that have been shaped in rocks have long been a mystery. One theory is that the star gate holds the secret code at an extra terrestrial gate. Others suspect that it is an early map in the world.
“I think it’s connected to Tantrayana Buddhism,” says Nandana. Also known as tantric Buddhism, rituals, mantras and magic are used to reach Nirvana.
I get up before dawn and rose near Sigiriya Lion Rock, the 200-meter-high residual magma plug of a extinct volcano. This granite summit – great on the sunrise – was 477 AD of King Kashyapa’s fortress city. Frescoes made of naked divine nymphs are in a gap and an hour away, the colorful murals in the cave shrines in the Dambulla Golden Temple are extensive and extraordinary. Just don’t feed the toque’s maca monkeys.
Food, spices and tea
The flat water of the salt road, which separates the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the northern province of Sri Lanka, is easy to cross and the two countries believe in the holistic system of Ayurveda. Food are medicine and curry are made with a balanced mix of local herbs and spices.
In Matale in Räreli Spice Garden I try tea with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, cardamom and vanilla (definitely no sugar). Although Ayurvedic medicine prefers non-caffeine breaks, the tea breeding was introduced in Sri Lanka in 1867 for the export of Sri Lanka by the Scot James Taylor (who worked with Thomas Lipton). Near the highland city of Ella is fascinating, a Uva Halpewatte -Tee -Fabrik tour via the Camellia sinensis plant.
Ellas Café Chill serves those from Sri Lankas, meals, Lampraiswhich goes back to the Dutch period from the 17th century, with rice, curry, fried cooked egg and aubergine, all of which are wrapped into a banana leaf. It is delicious with a buffalo curd and a fruit -lassi drink.
A picturesque train ride
The incredible Kandy to Ella Scenic train trip through the country, mountains and lakes takes many hours, but a landslide is bothered by my plans. Instead, I do a shorter railway ride from Haputal to Nanu-Oya, which is considered one of the best sections through the central highlands, with a view to tea plantations, wavy hills and lush valleys.
The Haputale station has a computer in the ticket office, but the former handwritten main books and railway plans are all exhibited, the vintage decor unaffected. Most tourists book the sealed First Class car with air conditioning, but I go to second class section and opened the windows to really enjoy the journey. Click through the clouds, it’s amazing.
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