WORLD HERITAGE SITES IN SRILANKA

   

 ANURADAPURA 

The best known of Sri Lanka's ancient city. Founded about the 4th century BC. Sri Lanka's first capital. It was the capital of a Sinhalese kingdom until the 8th century AD. The city is in northern Sri Lanka, capital of North-Central Province. A number of Buddhist monuments here date back over 2,200 years.

    POLONNARUWA

135 miles (216 km) from Colombo and South East of Anuradhapura is the island's medieval capital.The city in its day was fortified with three concentric walls, beautified with parks and gardens and sanctified by many a shrine and sacred place. The city itself, as well as the surrounding plain was watered by a unique irrigational complex known as the Sea of Parakrama (Parakrama Samudra).

 The Cave Temples of Dambulla

The Cave Temples of Dambulla has been declared a world heritage site.

Distance from Colombo 148 km ; Typical Weather: Warm & Sunny

Dambulla or the Golden Rock is a cave temple, which dates back to the 1st century BC. Complex of Buddhist image houses containing Buddhist wall and ceiling painting and sculpture with its origin going back to the Anuradhapura period.

Its rock ceiling is one large sweep of colorful frescoes, which depicts Buddhist mythology, and the tales of the Buddha's previous births. Within the cave temple is the collection of the largest number of Buddha statues in one place.

Dambulla is a vast isolated rock mass and it was here that King Valagam Bahu took refuge in the 1st century B.C. He later turned the caves into a rock temple. Some of the frescoes are over 2,000 years old and there is a colossal figure of the recumbent Buddha carved out of the living rock, some 14 meter long.

  The Royal City of Kandy

Kandy is the Sri Lanka's hill capital(488 metres above sea level), Capital of Central Province, and the most beautiful cultural city. The city was born in the 14th century and became the capital of the Kandyan Kingdom in the 16th century. Kandy was the capital of a Sinhalese kingdom from 1592 to 1815, when it became one of the last sections of the island to be annexed by the British as part of colonial Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

This beautiful city, with its hills and valleys, rivers, lakes and cascading waterfalls around the hills. The Mahaweli River is in the Kandy Plateau. It is one of the island nation's largest cities and the economic focus of the tea-producing central highlands.

 Journey to the Citadel of SIGIRIYA

 The 8th Wonder of the World

 The palace in the Sky

 The 200m high Lion Rock.

 The best preserved city centre in Asia from the first millennium.

 This rock fortress was a royal citadel for more than 18 years.

 declared a World Heritage site in 1982.

In a sheltered pocket on the western face of the Sigiriya rock, approached by a spiral stairway, are the famous frescoes. Epigraphical evidenced refers to the existence of 500 such portraits, but only 19 remain today.

The pleasure garden of the western side of the rock is studded with ponds, islets, promenades and pavilions. Some underground and surface drainage systems have been discovered during excavations. The wall abutting the moat encircling the fortress is one of the most arresting features.

On the western and northern sides of the steep rock face runs a gallery or pathway which provides access to the seemingly inaccessible summit. Shielding this pathway is a 9 1/2 ft. plaster wall, so highly polished, that even today, after fifteen centuries of exposure to sun, wind and rain, one can see one's reflection in it. Hence the name "Mirror Wall".

The summit of the rock, with an area of nearly one hectare, was the site of the old palace - the outer wall of which was built on the very brink of the precipice. There were gardens, cisterns and ponds laid out attractively.

  The Sinharaja Forest Reserve

Sinharaja is situated close to Ratnapura and is between the villages of Rakwana, Deniyaya and Matugama.Sinharaja forest reserve is one of the least disturbed and biologically unique lowland rain forest in Sri lanka. It covers about 11,187 hectares from east to west. The length of the forest is about 21km and width from North to South is about 3.7km.It was declared a Man and Biosphere Reserve (MAB) in 1978,as representative of tropical humid evergreen forest Eco system in Sri Lanka and has been recognized by UNESCO as part of it’s International Network of Biosphere reserves.

A variety of indigenous plants and animals, flowing rivers and silent streamlets cover up nearly 9800 hectares. Out of a total of 830 indigenous flowering plants in the Island Sinharaja has nearly 500 plants and out of 21 native bird species in the country 17 species have made Sinharaja their home.

It was declared a National wilderness area in 1988 and lately a world heritage site in 1989.It is situated in the southwest lowland wet zone of the country in the districts of Ratnapura, Galle and Matara. The average annual temperature of Sinharaja is 23.6 C. Annual rainfall is more than 2500mm. The rain fall is well distributed during two monsoons, May to July and October to December.

The Dutch Fortifications at Galle

Galle-The Southern Capital. Today, Galle is the bustling provincial capital and administrative centre of the south. Galle was an ancient port (said to be the legendary Tarshish of the Bible), and our first international commerce and trade centre. The National Museum of Galle occupies the oldest extent building built by the Dutch in the 17th century.

Its main attraction is the Fort that has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The Fort is the heart of Galle's history. The old Dutch 'Star' fort covering 36 hectaers, the well-preserved Groote Kerk (Dutch Church), Dutch Government House, the New Oriental Hotel (built in 1684) old bell tower and a tide-based Sewage-System, also introduced by the Dutch. In Gale they still make the Dutch 'pillo-lace' and do fine ebony-carving and gem-polishing.

The Fort was built by the Portuguese in 1619 and subsequently expanded and developed by the Dutch and the British the one time colonial masters of the Island.

Galle is the excellent sea bathing spot. It is famous for its lovely Unawatuna Bay, where the sea is reef protected and therefore safe for swimming and snorkeling.