"Classic Ceylon" a Sri Lanka Travel Page by trisanna

Sri Lanka is a diverse country. From the peaceful grasslands, where wild elephants live to the hectic city pace of Colombo. It's hard to imagine that in the north of the country-there is a stretch of desert. For almost ten years, the government and the tamil tigers have been at peace. Hopefully this will continue, since it will bring better economic stability to the country thru tourism and business.

We concentrated our trip on the cultural triangle, where Sri Lanka's ancient capitals area. Now UNESCO heritage sites. We didn't visit tsunami hit areas, but it's obvious that the lack of tourists is affecting everyone.

Sri Lanka is made up of a few different ethnic groups. There are the Sinhalese, who are priimarily Buddhist. The Tamils arrived in Sri Lanka around 2,000 years ago, originally from south India or Tamil Nadu. The majority of the hindu population is concentrated in the northern city of Jaffna. Besides the Buddhists and Christians-there is a sizable Muslim population. Beautiful and ornate mosques are located in Colombo and Kandy.

Through time, Sri Lanka went through many historical and name changes. From Serendib to colonial Ceylon to the Independent country of Sri Lanka.

4th b.c.-10th century a.d. Reign of the first capital of Sri lanka-the city of Anuradhapura. Located in the northern central part of the country, this capital suffered many invasions from India, due to various religious differences.

1253-1400 the capital is moved to Polonnaruwa. Suffered attacks by Chinese

1505-Portuguese arrive

1658- Portuguese leave, Dutch take over.

1796-Dutch leave, British take over.

1815- The British have full control of Sri Lanka. Before this, Kandy was an independent state.

1948-Ceylon becomes an independent member of the British commonwealth. Now known as Sri Lanka.