HISTORIC & CULTURE
Sri Lanka is an extension of peninsular India that separated from the mainland roughly 2 to 5 million years ago, the island was inhabitant from 75,000 to 125,000 years. The earliest occupants of the region were, like other paleolithic people, gatherers and hunters who made and used fairly rough Stone tools. Nevertheless, around 28,000 years ago people had gained access to some of the iron tools produced on the continent and begun to experiment with food production and irrigation. Though the Sri Lankan civilization has been shaped largely by that of the Indian subcontinent it had a continuous record of human settlement for more than two millennia. The provenance of early settlers was Prince Vijaya and crew hailed from Bengal India from 550 BCE, the ship called Supara from the west coast of India landed in Sri Lanka, at Tambapanni, near Puttalam.
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With the growth of Buddhism flourishing in the country; despite it's obvious empathies from India, Sri Lanka nevertheless developed it's unique identity over the ages that eventually set it spaced out from the region, Cultural personalities transported from India certainly endured self-determining evolution in Sri Lanka.
Built by King Kashyapa (477-495 A.D), the “Lion Rock” is a citadel of unusual beauty rising 200m from the scrub jungle. The rock was the innermost stronghold of the 70-hectare fortified town and the base is ringed by a moat, rampart, and extensive gardens. The world-renowned frescoes (originally 500, of which only 19 remain today) which are in a sheltered pocket of the rock approached by a spiral stairway are painted in earth pigments on plaster.
Sri Lanka has an enthralling recorded history of civilization. It's unique and proud historical record of a great civilization spans over 25 chronicled centuries and is documented primarily in three books; the Mahawansha (Great Genealogy or Dynasty), Dipawansha and Kulawansha. Sri Lankan history is distinctive as it has a historical record, which is ancient, continuous and trustworthy, and begins with the occupation of the island by civilized men in the 5th century, BC. The story continues under each successive king for over 20 centuries.
There are three main styles of Sri Lankan classical dances, The Kandyan dances of the Hill Country, known as Uda Rata Natuma, the low country dances of the southern part of Sri Lanka, known as Pahatha Rata Natuma and Sabaragamuwa dances known as Sabaragamuwa Natuma.
Almost at the central point of the Highlands in Sri Lanka, Kandy is located and is known as the last kingdom to be ruled by a King. Dalada Maligawa is renowned as the place for the crown jewel which is the sacred tooth of Lord Gautama Buddha. The place also known as the Temple of the Tooth ‘Maligawa’ literally meaning the palace. The scared tooth was preserved in Kalinga, India. And in the 4th century AD the relic was brought to Sri Lanka by Princess Hemamala and Prince Dantha.
Sri Lanka boasts a rich and extensive agricultural industry in which rice cultivation plays a predominant role. Rice has been the staple food of Sri Lankans for centuries and the country is home to a vast amount of luscious green paddy fields also know as “Kumbura” or “Kamatha” in the countries’ native language. Legend also has it that early Ceylon had been among the leading paddy exporters to the world.