Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Useful information for tourists about Sri Lanka

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, known until 1972 as Ceylon, is an island nation in South Asia.

Tourism in Sri Lanka is one of the most developed sectors of the economy, which is facilitated by the presence in the country of a large number of both historical and natural attractions. As of 2011, 8 World Heritage sites in Sri Lanka are divided into 7 cultural sites and 1 natural site. 2 cultural objects recognized as masterpieces of human genius

Historical sights are concentrated in the central part of the country, the so-called “Cultural Triangle”, which includes the city of Dambulla with the same temple, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura, Mihintale and Sigiriya Plateau. The second center of the area of ​​interest is Kandy and Nuwara Eliya (translated as “city of light”). The Cultural Triangle is an area of ​​the ancient, two thousand year history of the Sinhalese kingdoms and empire, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya, a new history, as part of the British Empire.

There are several world-famous Buddhist relics in the country: the Bodhi tree in Anuradhapura is the “descendant” of the sacred banyan from the Indian Bodh-Gaya, under which Gautam Buddha found enlightenment. In the Middle Ages, Buddhists received a banyan branch from India. From this branch grew a tree. When the banyan tree in Bodh Gaye died of old age, the tree branch from Sri Lanka was sent back, and the sacred banyan tree in Bodh Gaye, in its former place, was revived from this branch. The Temple of the Tooth of Buddha in Kandy officially contains the tooth of Buddha, carried away from the cremation of the body of Gautama Buddha, the only remaining material evidence of the existence of Gautama Buddha. The history of this tooth is dark and doubtful, even to the extent of doubts about the existence of the tooth itself as such in the temple.