Sigiriya

Type: Anciant Place

Location: Central Mathale Distric, Near the town of Dabulla

Sigiriya is an historic construction situated in the middle of Matale District close to the city of Dambulla in the Central Province, Sri Lanka.Sigiriya currently is a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site. It is one of the greatest preserved good examples of old urban organizing. It is the many visited historic site in Sri Lanka.The name relates to a site of ancient and archaeological importance that is focused by a large column of rock nearly 200 m high. According to the old Sri Lankan chronicle the Culavamsa, this site was chosen by King Kasyapa for his different capital. He constructed his palace on the top of this rock and embellished its sides with colourful frescoes. On a small plateau about half way up the side of this rock he developed a gateway in the form of an enormous lion. The name of this place is made from this structure -" the Lion Rock." The capital and the regal palace was abandoned after the king's death. It was used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century.

•The water Gardens,
•The Boulder Gardens and
•The Terraced Gardens
Although distinct, the gardens are also linked.

The Water Gardens consist of a complex underground water supply method. The network provides water to the Regal bath, the many little moated islands & fountains. Some fountains continue to work during the rainy period! A superb view of the Gardens could be had from half way up the rock.

The Boulder Garden includes of collection of strategically placed huge rock linked by a network of winding paths. Most of the boulders had pavilions with brick structures created on them. The boulders were not only aesthetically pleasing, but also acted as a security against enemies. The boulders could be pushed off on enemies below at short notice.

The Terraced Garden is a stepped garden that rises from the boulder garden. The terraced garden is designed in a rough circular formation around the r

Frescoes – The Sigiriya Damsels

Sigiri art

The water Gardens About half way up the rock is a sheltered collection of frescoes painted on the pure rock face. The ‘Heavenly Maidens’ are related in type to the paintings of Ajantha in India. Some of them are still in remarkably good condition. Only 22 out of an estimated 500 images now remain. Flash photography is not allowed at this site.

Adam's Peak(Sri Pada)

Sri Pada

Sri Pada

 Type-Mountain
Location- southern reaches of the Central Highlands, Sri Lanka



The hill is situated in the southern reaches of the Central Highlands, in the Ratnapura District and Nuwara Eliya district of the Sabaragamuwa Province and Central Province -lying about 40 km northeast of the town of Ratnapura and 32 km southwest of the city of Hatton. The around region is largely forested mountains, with no mountain of comparable size nearby. The location along the mountain is a wildlife reserve, housing many types varying from elephants to leopards, and including many endemic species.

Sri Pada

Adam's Peak (also Sri Pada; Sinhalese Samanalakanda - "Butterfly Mountain"; Tamil Sivanolipatha Malai  is a 2,243 m (7,359 ft) tall conical mountain situated in central Sri Lanka. It is well known for the Sri Pada,"sacred footprint", a 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) rock creation near the summit, which in Buddhist custom is held to be the footprint of the Buddha, in Hindu custom that of Shiva and in Islamic and Christian custom that of Adam, or that of St. Thomas
         

According to the Mahavamsa; the historical chronicle of Sri Lanka, Lord Buddha visited the island three times. It was during the last sojourn of Buddha, at the request of the deity of Adam’s Peak God Maha Suman Saman, the footprint was planted upon the summit of the rock.

The Chrakasamvara Tantra of Mahayana Buddhism reveals the tale of Lord Buddha leaving the impression of his foot on a hill. However the failure to record the name of the hill has resulted in a mistaken information by a Tibetan scholar a leading to Mount Kailash in the western Himalayas.

Thinking by the Christians, Hindus and Muslims concerning footprint upon the summit of Adam’s Peak Sri Pada.

Tamil Hindus think about it as the footprint of Lord Shiva. It is also magical that the mountain is the famous mount Trikuta the capital of Ravana during the Ramayana times from where he ruled Lanka.

Muslims and Christians in Sri Lanka ascribe it to where Adam, the first Ancestor, set foot as he was exiled from the Garden of Eden. The legends of Adam are related to the idea that Sri Lanka was the original Eden itself.

Sun Rice at Sri Pada

               When the sun is just about to rise, the pilgrims and visitors rush to the eastern side to witness an amazng spectacle. The sun nearly leaps over the eastern horizon drawing a great triangle of a shadow of the hill spreading over the western backdrop of the mountain. As the sun keeps on rising, the shadow shifts towards the base of the hill until it totally disappears, a grand finale to a breathtaking natural spectacle.

Sun Rice at Sri Pada

It is an important pilgrimage site, mainly for Buddhists. Pilgrims walk up the hill, following a variety of hard ways up thousands of steps. The journey takes several hrs at least. The peak pilgrimage period is in April, and the goal is to be on top of the hill at sunrise, when the distinctive shape of the mountain casts a triangular shadow on the surrounding plain and can be seen to move quickly downward as the sun rises.

Climbing at night can be a amazing experience, with the lights of the path leading up and into the stars overhead. There are rest stops along the way.

Sri Pada

Ruwanwalimaha Saya.

Ruwanwalimaha Saya

Type-Stupa

Location-Anuradapura, Sri Lanka

Developed-Circa 140 BC

Ruwanwalimaha Saya

The Ruwanwelisaya is a stupa in Sri Lanka, regarded a wonder for its architectural features and religious to many Buddhists all over the world.[1] It was constructed by King Dutugemunu c. 140 B.C., who became lord of all Sri Lanka after a war in which the Chola King Elara, was defeated. It is also known as Mahathupa, Swarnamali Chaitya, Suvarnamali Mahaceti (in Pali) and Rathnamali Dagaba.

             

          This is one of the Solosmasthana (the 16 places of veneration) and the Atamasthana (the 8 places of veneration in the historic religious area of Anuradhapura.

When the unique Excellent Stūpa Ruvanveli was finished as far as the square turret 10, and while ninety-six koñis of Arahants were chanting protective suttas, the great king Dutugemunu who ruled in Srī Lanka for twenty-four years, had his record of meritorious deeds read and, while looking at the Great Stūpa, he died and was born as a divine king in the Tusita-heaven. His sibling, the king Saddhatissa, finished the remaining work at the Fantastic Stūpa and later was also born in the Tusita-heaven.

Ruwanwalimaha Saya

The stupa is one of the world's tallest monuments, standing at 338 feet (103 m) and with a circumference of 950 ft (290 m).^[2] The Kaunghmudaw Pagoda in Sagaing, Myanmar is modeled after this stupa.^[3]

Peradeniya Botanical Garden

Peradeniya Botanical Garden

Type-Botanical Garden
Location-Peradeniya,Sri Lanka
Handel-Department of National Botanic Garden,Sri Lanka
Developed-1750

Royal Botanical Garden, Peradeniya is about 5.5 km to the west from the town of Kandy in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It attracts 2 million guests every year.[1] It is near the Mahaweli River (the longest in Sri Lanka).[2] It is well-known for its collection of orchids. The garden contains more than 4000 species of plants, like orchids, spices, medicinal plants and palm trees.[1] Attached to it is the National Herbarium of Sri Lanka. The full 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 handled by the Section 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 held court at Peradeniya near the Mahaweli river. This was accompanied by King Kirti Sri and King Rajadhi Rajasinghe. A temple was constructed on this place by King Wimala Dharma, but it was damaged by the British when they were given handle over the Kingdom of Kandy.

While in World War II, the Botanical Garden was used by Master Louis Mountbatten, the great commander of the allied forces in the South Asia, as the head office of the South East Asia Command.

         


The plants is purely tropical, being recognized by an abundance of climbing plants or lianas, palms, bamboos, pandanus or screw-pines, epiphytes (orchids, ferns etc.), and lofty trees, the other often having buttresses roots. The leaves are usually large, heavy and leathery; the flowers normally brilliant and significant in size, and the fruits often of immense proportions and borne on the trunks of trees or older branches.
H.F. Macmillan, F.L.S, F.R. H.S. 1906 (Curator)

Sri Dalada Maligawa

Sri Dalada Maligawa

Type-Buddhist Temple
Location-Kandy, Sri Lanka
Developed-1592-1604


Kandy has been the capital of the Sinhalese Kings from 1592 to 1815. Fortified by a landscape of mountains and the difficult approach Kandy handled to operate in independence from Dutch, Portuguese and the English till 1815. The city is a world heritage site reported by UNESCO, in part due to this temple.

Sri dalada maligawa

                   The Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, the temple which houses the Sacred Tooth Relic of The Buddha, is possibly the most sacred Buddhist shrine in the world. It is venerated not only by Buddhists in Sri Lanka but by Buddhists all over the world.














                         Sri Dalada Maligawa or the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a Buddhist temple in the city of Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country. Kandy was the last capital of the Sri Lankan kings and is a World Heritage Site mainly due to the temple.

Bhikkhus of the two chapters of Malwatte and Asgiriya conduct daily worship in the inner chamber of the temple. Rituals are performed three times daily: at dawn, at noon and in the evenings. On Wednesdays there is a symbolic bathing of the relic with an herbal preparation made from scented water and fragrant flowers called Nanumura Mangallaya. This holy water is believed to contain healing powers and is distributed among those present.