Attractions in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka is a highly acclaimed tourist destination of south Asia renowned for its ancient monuments, sun-kissed beaches, museums and art galleries. The singular charm exhibited by the tourist attractions in Sri Lanka will surely engulf you with ecstasy. The most beguiling among the highlights of Sri Lanka are its monuments that reveal a rich past and a colonial charm that has been well preserved in the country. While on your tour to Sri Lanka, you will come across large number of attractions.  Anuradhapura  Polonnaruwa  Kandy  Galle  Nuwara Eliya  Sigiriya  Dambulla  Yapahuwa  Negombo  Hikkaduwa  Colombo  Kalutara  Kurunegala  Ratnapura  Hambantota  Matara Ancient Kingdoms and Cities (206km north-east of Colombo) Anuradhapura is an ancient city, located at a distance of 206 km from Colombo. The city is in northern Sri Lanka and is the capital of North-Central province. Anuradhapura was established in 4th century BC. It was the first capital of Sri Lanka and remained so until 8th century AD. Anuradhapura is an archaeologist's delight and contains several monuments of historical importance. The city is considered very sacred by the Buddhists and is home to the largest dagobas in Sri Lanka. A dagoba is a dome enshrining sacred relics or the bodily remains of the Buddha, or articles used by Him like the alms bowl and other objects of veneration. It is built in different sizes on a pedestal with a spire on top crowned with a pinnacle. The earliest dagobas had a stone umbrella on top of the dome in place of the spire. Polonnurawa-located at a distance of 216 km from Colombo-was the capital of Sri Lanka in medieval times. Used by the Sri Lankan kings as a 'country residence' from the 7th century, Polonnurawa became Sri Lanka's capital in the 11th century AD. During its time the city was fortified with three concentric walls, beautified with parks and gardens and sanctified by many a shrine and sacred place. The city and the surrounding area were watered by a unique irrigational complex known as the Sea of Parakrama (Parakrama Samudra). Kandy-a major tourist destination-is also known as the cultural capital of Sri Lanka. Nestled in the hills at an altitude of 488 m, it is located at a distance of 115 km from Colombo. Kandy has a rich history. It was originally known as Senkadagalapura after a hermit named Senkada who lived there. Many of Sinhalese people call it Mahanuwara meaning the Great City. The name Kandy was derived by the colonial rulers from the word Kanda in Sinhala, meaning a hill. Kandy was the stronghold of the Sinhalese kings, who promoted and protected the local culture until the city fell to the British in 1815. Galle-located 116 km to the south of Colombo on the southwest corner of the island-was founded in the 16th century by the Portuguese. It is the best example of a fortified city built by Europeans in South and South-East Asia, showing the interaction between European architectural styles and South Asian traditions. Galle has been declared a World Heritage City by the UNESCO. An early 20th century English writer commented on Nuwara Eliya: “When he looks out of his window in the early morning and sees the whole world glistening under hoar-frost and the garden brimming with geraniums, pansies, sweet peas and every English flower, he wonders if he is really in the tropics at all.” There’s no need to wonder. It is the tropics and it’s for real. Sri Lanka is well-known for hot sunny days and beautiful stretches of palm-fringed beaches. So how can there exist a place that has grey, cold, drizzly days and chilly nights with a mean temperature of 57F? Where there is a need for wood fires and extra blankets at bedtime to stave off the cold? Where there is a golf course, English-style pubs, trout fishing - and not even a palm tree in sight? Sigiriya (Lion's rock) is an ancient rock fortress and palace ruin situated in the central Matale District of Sri Lanka, surrounded by the remains of an extensive network of gardens, reservoirs, and other structures. A popular tourist destination, Sigiriya is also renowned for its ancient paintings (frescos), which are reminiscent of the Ajanta Caves of India. The Sigiriya was built during the reign of King Kassapa I (AD 477 – 495), and it is one of the seven World Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka. (148km north-east of Colombo) A century ago, Dambulla was a mere collection of wattle-and-daub huts and ‘native shops’ that extended for no more than 200m. True, it was the location of a spacious and comfortable rest-house, but that was about all the place had to offer the 19th century tourist, except, of course, the experience of a visit to the famous cave temple on the massive rock that provided the backdrop to the village. In addition, the rest-house was sometimes used as a night stopover before an excursion to the nearby rock of Sigiriya early the next day. The rock fortress complex of Yapahuwa is situated in the Wayamba province of Sri Lanka. Yapahuwa served as the capital of Sri Lanka in the latter part of the 13th century (1273-1284). Built on a huge, 90 meter high rock boulder in the style of the Sigiriya rock fortress, Yapahuwa was a palace and military stronghold against foreign invaders. The palace and fortress were built by King Buvanekabahu I (1272-1284) in the year 1273. Many traces of ancient battle defences can still be seen, while an ornamental stairway, is its biggest showpiece. This valuable spice is native to the island, as its botanical name, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, suggests. Discovered by the Moors (a term first used during the Portuguese period to refer to Muslims) who settled on the west coast, cinnamon soon became the source of conflict between nations vying for a stake in its lucrative trade. The Portuguese ousted the Moors from Negombo towards the end of the 16th century and took over the cinnamon trade, even building a fort to protect their interests. Although the Portuguese just cut the cinnamon growing wild in this region, it was the Dutch, who on capturing Negombo in the 1640s, encouraged planting in commercial groves to maximize production. Many who visit Hikkaduwa are usually sun worshippers, sea worshippers or wave worshippers. The foreign influx began in the late sixties and before long the town began to bustle with fun-seeking visitors.. The Germans were the biggest influence for a long time, and although today many signboards and menus are still in German, the clientele is now much more international. In particular, the number of Australians is rising as the fame of Hikkaduwa as a surfer’s destination grows. In 1803, Robert Percival claimed of Colombo: “There is no part of the world where so many different languages are spoken, or which contains such a mixture of nations, manners, and religions.” In 1914, Bella Woolf declared: “It is the meeting place of the world. It palpitates with life and with the romance of those who wander the earth.” What is the key to appreciating Colombo when so many people complain of the hustle and bustle? Well, for those who like the capital and revel in the mix of influences, food, activities and religions, there is a certain satisfaction in believing yourself one of the few who can see through the surface to the core. (42km south of Colombo) Kalutara is memorable to tourists passing through the town firstly for their driver’s obligatory stop at a temple where he deposits a coin into a till to pray for safe passage to their destination, and secondly for the bright purple heaps of locally-produced mangosteens during the season. There are many interior Sri Lankan towns that have mysterious mountains and towering rocks as backdrops, and Kurunegala is one of them. Thanks to its picturesque setting with eight peaks, most especially the famed Elephant Rock, Kurunegala has much that makes it remarkable. Once an ancient capital, it also has a history worth becoming acquainted with. Kurunegala was a royal capital for only 50 years, from the end of the 13th century to the start of the next, though even before this it was strategically placed in the middle of other majestic strongholds such as Yapahuwa to the north, Dambadeniya to the south and Panduwasnuwara in the east. Although gems are found in many places in Sri Lanka, the best locations are in the river valleys at the foot of Adam’s Peak (Sri Pada), near the town of Ratnapura. No surprise, then, that Ratnapura became the country’s gem centre. As mechanized gem-mining is banned in Sri Lanka, the extraction of gemstones is an unsophisticated and small-scale affair, which has the advantage that the traditional methods employed are observable. Ratnapura is the capital of the province of Sabaragamuwa and the capital of the gem-mining industry in Sri Lanka. In fact the name means “City of Gems.” (237km south-east of Colombo) “It was the eastern part of the district that won my heart and which I still see when I hear the word Hambantota: the sea perpetually thundering on the long shore, the empty lagoons, behind the lagoons the stretch of jungle, and behind the jungle far away in the north the purple line of the mountains.” – Leonard Woolf, Growing: An Autobiography of the Years 1904 -1911 (1961). In recent years the provincial capital of Hambantota has become far better known for the devastation it suffered in the 2004 tsunami than for the merits of the town itself. Hambantota is a one-of-a-kind tranquil town characterized by its dry landscape, Malay population, colonial architecture, and great expanses of salt. From Tangalla to Matara the road reveals new and unexplained beauty. It skirts the seashore and for mile upon mile, bay succeeds bay, a curve of yellow sand, dazzling blue water and palm-crowned headlands. Matara important under the Dutch due to its strategic position for trade in spices, gems, and elephants, and so the colonists built two forts called the city Mature, while many other names - among them Mahatara, meaning “Great Harbour”, and Maturai, meaning “Great Fortress”, both used by the Portuguese - have been given to the city over the years.