In praise of my beautiful Island,
Sri Lanka -
Information,Photographs and Video.
Prologue
DISCOVER - SRI LANKA : PROLOGUE
IN PRAISE OF MY BEAUTIFUL ISLAND,
INFORMATION, PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEO
THE 13th CENTURY VENETIAN TRAVELER MARCO POLO DESCRIBED THE ISLAND AS 'THE JADE PENDANT IN THE INDIAN OCEAN'. THE ABUNDANCE OF GEMSTONES, SPICES, RAIN FORESTS AND WILDLIFE; THE MAGNIFICENT BEACHES, ANCIENT RUINS AND A WRITTEN HISTORY OF OVER 2500 YEARS MAKE THIS ISLAND A TOURISTS' PARADISE.
THE RUINED CITIES OF ANURADHAPURA AND POLONNARUWA ILLUSTRATE THE GLORY OF THE ANCIENT KINGDOMS. THE GIGANTIC STUPAS AND BUDDHA STATUTES ARE AMONG THE BIGGEST MAN MADE STRUCTURES OF THE WORLD. THE MASSIVE RESERVOIRS, BUILT BY ANCIENT KINGS TO IRRIGATE THOUSANDS OF ACRES OF LAND, ARE MARVELS OF HYDRO ENGINEERING. THERE ARE EIGHT UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES IN SRI LANKA
THE ISLAND WAS KNOWN TO THE GREEKS AS 'TAPROBANE' AND TO THE ARABS AS 'SERENDIB'. EARLY MERCHANTS VISITED THE ISLAND IN SEARCH OF GEMSTONES AND SPICES, MAINLY CINNAMON AND PEPPER. COFFEE AND TEA PLANTATIONS WERE STARTED BY THE BRITISH COLONIAL RULERS. CEYLON TEA IS FAMOUS THE WORLD OVER.
TOURISM INDUSTRY IS A MAJOR MONEY SPINNER FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL ISLAND. THE VAST EXPANSE OF BEACHES, RAIN FORESTS AND NATIONAL PARKS WITH HERDS OF WILD ELEPHANTS, THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS WITH LITHE WATER FALLS, BRING IN THE TOURISTS. THE ISLAND IS DOTTED WITH HUNDREDS OF HOTELS TO ACCOMMODATE THE TRAVELER. AN ISLAND OF 25,000 SQ; MILES HAS 103 RIVERS AND 25000 RESERVOIRS, MOSTLY MAN MADE. WITH VARYING CLIMATIC CONDITIONS THIS IS TRULY A 'SMALL MIRACLE'.
Nelsonlanka
" THE ISLAND OF SRI LANKA IS A SMALL UNIVERSE, IT CONTAINS AS MANY VARIATIONS OF CULTURE, SCENERY AND CLIMATE AS SOME COUNTRIES A DOZEN TIMES ITS SIZE........I FIND IT HARD TO BELiEVE THAT THERE IS ANY COUNTRY WHICH SCORES SO HIGHLY IN ALL DEPARTMENTS - WHICH HAVE SO MANY ADVANTAGES AND SO FEW DISADVANTAGES. LOVELY BEACHES, BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPES, IMPRESSIVE RUINS, A VIBRANT CULTURE AND CHARMING PEOPLE- NO WONDER SRI LANKA IS A SMALL MIRACLE ".
ARTHUR C.CLARKE.
Quote - Joseph Pulitzer
"PUT IT BEFORE THEM BRIEFLY SO
THEY WILL READ IT, CLEARLY SO
THEY WILL APPRECIATE IT,
PICTURESQUELY SO THEY WILL
REMEMBER IT AND,
ABOVE ALL, ACCURATELY SO THEY
WILL BE GUIDED
BY ITS LIGHT" *****
JOSEPH PULITZER *****
Thank you very much to all the readers of Discover - Sri Lanka for 150,000 Page Views. I hope I know something about Photography and writing captions and descriptions for the photographs. Thank you Gerrit, Netty, Hans and Hanneke of Belgium, Ashan of Little Adventures, Mohan, Druvi and Dimitri and Channa for your wonderful photographs.
The Bambarakanda Falls is the highest waterfall in Sri Lanka, formed by the KudaOya, it has a height of 863 feet [ 263 m ] and adorns the mountains of Kalupahana in the Badulla District.
Turtles normally live in shallow marine habitats, there are several turtle conservation projects and hatcheries on the Southern coastal areas of Sri Lanka. The eggs collected by the villagers in these areas are bought by the hatcheries to be hatched in protected shelters and the hatched young are released to the sea.
With the ability to change color, this chameleon sheds its green and crimson and turns pale brown, a perfect camouflage on the trunk of the coconut palm
A fertile valley irrigated by the waters of the Randenigala reservoir, Mahiyangana is an important agricultural success story where farmers have grown corn in addition to rice.
Native to South America, the Cannonball tree has spread all over the world due to its beauty. This massive tree bears fruit resembling rusted cannon balls and the pretty thick petaled large flowers have a sweet fragrance.