SRI LANKA

Sri lanka is our country. It's a beautifull island of in the Indian Ocean. Sometimes it is called "The Pearl of the indian ocean".  The Capital of sri lanka is sri Jayawardanapura Kotte. Colombo is its business centre. Sri lanka has a population of more than eighteen million people.

In ancient times Sri lanka was known by many different names. The greek travellres called it Taprobana and Arabs called it Serendib..........................

Sri lanka is home for a rich mixture of people. They are the Sihalese, the Tamils, the Muslims, the Burghers and a number of other small groups of people. They practise different religions like Buddhisum, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. They have their different cuctoms and festivals.

Sigiriya

The rock fortress Sigiriya, rises some 600 feet above the scrub jungle plain in the north central part of Sri Lanka. It is this very feature that drove young prince Kasyapa, after killing his father King Dhatusena, by entombing him alive, to this lonely rock in the jungle to hide from his older brother who was gathering an army to retake the throne. Kasyapa while in self imposed exile made his new kingdom as liveable and pleasant as possible by surrounding himself with his loyal followers, and for his personal enjoyment, what could only be described as "pinups". These frescos are to this day preserved in a grotto in the sheer west face of the rock.The top of the rock in itself is a marvel of agro-engineering. About 3 acres in area, every square foot was utilized. Bathing pools were cut out of living rock and every drop of (rain) water was used and re-used. Sigiriya  was so named because the visitors had to go through the throat of a lion to get to the top of the rock.