Sri Lanka is an island off the southern coast of India that boasts many cultural and natural tourist destinations. With the recent end of the country’s civil war, it is now open for tourism.
Kandy is a great place to start a Sri Lankan vacation. Kandy is a sacred Buddhist site and the cultural center of Sri Lanka. Kandy is home to the Temple of the Tooth, which is said to house one of the Buddha’s teeth. Legend has it that the tooth was smuggled into Kandy in the hair of a princess after the tooth was removed from the Buddha’s funeral pyre. The temple was built during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Ambalangoda is a quiet seaside town and a perfect place to relax and enjoy your Sri Lanka vacation. There are several Buddhist temples in the area, including the Thalwatta Totagamuwa. This beautiful temple dates back to the 9th century and is definitely worth a visit.
Ambalangoda also serves as a center for devil dancing and mask and puppet making traditions. Devil dances are performed on a variety of different occasions to ward off evil spirits and seek blessings from good spirits. Also near Ambalangoda is the resort of Hikkaduwa. The resort features the Coral Sanctuary, which is a haven for both snorkelers and snorkelers looking for the abundance of reef fish and turtles.
The Dambulla cave temples have been used by local monks as a place of meditation since the 1st century BC The main attraction in Dambulla is the Golden Temple of Dambulla, considered the largest and best preserved temple in holiday in sri lanka. The Golden Temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and contains an impressive array of Buddhist and Hindu statues and paintings. The cave temples in Dambulla consist of four different caves, each containing a variety of different Buddhist and Hindu works of art.