The shape of Sri Lanka has evoked visions of a teardrop on India's cheek, a pear, a mango, a pearl and, in Dutch eyes some what insensitive to the misgivings of Muslims and vegetarian Buddhists who live on it, a west phalian ham. Even more politically incorrect, the Portuguese poet,Camoens, vivdly described how:
Ceylon lifts her spicy breast,
And waves her woods above the watery waste
A contour map will show just how accurate his image is, and the evidence of geology shows that Sri Lanka was indeed once under the sea, before it thrust itself skywards. The fossilised remains of prehistoric creatures formed the limestone rock that rose out of the watery waste. Its woods waving in the monsoon-bearing tradewinds are far less abundant than they once were, but otherwise the poet has summed up the island well; mountains, forests and sea.
For those unable to enter Paradise itself, its neighbour has enough diversity of landscapes, people and culture to make one forget about eternal salvation: mountains, jungles, ruined cities, vast man-made lakes, statuse as impressive as anywhere in the world, fertiled uplands where tea estates reach as far as the eye can see; elephants, leopars, birds, turtles, coral and darting tropical fish. And then there are the beaches...
Early travellers arrived by boat, eventually turning the harbour in Colombo into a lively and active port. The entire Southwest Coast is now thriving and busy with holiday resorts, but you are never for from history and legend; the old Portuguese port of Galle was said to be the location of Tarshish of the Bible. Inland coconut, tea, rubber and spices estates to explore, and the unparalleled Sinharaja rainforest , but venture further afield and you will have even more to take your breath away. Kandy, the second largest city, was the last capital of the Sinhalese Kingdom and is still home to culture, religion and traditional arts. It is here, each July-August, that the stupendous Perahera festival takes place, featuring more than 100 robed elephants, fiendish dancers,acrobats and a procession so ancient it was chronicled by Marco Polo. From Kandy, the sheer beauty of the tea estates punctuated by water falls will draw you into the Hill Country, which surrounds the town of NuwaraEliya; or southwards to the fabled Adam's Peak, which is a sacred goal to the multitude of pilgrims who scale it every season. At its foot lies the ancient city of gems, Ratnapura, one of the five major gem producers of the world.
In the arid North Central Province, in the so-called Cultural Triangle, cities dating back to 250BC have survived the ravages of time. Anuradhapura was the capital of the island for 1500 years and has ruins that rate not far behind the Egyptian Pyramids. Polonnaruwa succeeded it for a short but glorious medieval reign, with impressive ruins in fine fettle. Last but not least, the stupendous monolith of the fortress of Sigiriya has been declared the eighth wonder of the world. While northern Sri Lanka has little to appeal to visitors, the East Coast is slowly opening up, with Trincomalee as the center of some magnificent beaches.
The final temptation for the traveller is idleness. With a tradition of hospitality and facilities that cater for all budgets and degrees of comfort, it is an ideal spot to lie back and do nathing but stare at the coconut palms. Most visitors succumb.
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*** THE GEMS***
"When you leave the Island of Angamanain and sail about a thousand miles in a direction a little south west, you come to the Island of Seilan, witch is in good sooth the best Island of its size in the world....
Now I will quit these particulars, and tell you of the most precious article that exists in the world. You must know that rubies are found in this Island and in no other country in the world but this. They find there also sapphires and topazes and amethysts, and many other stones of price. And the King of this Island possesses a ruby which is the finest and biggest in the world; I will tell you what it is like. It is about a palm in a length, and as thick as a man's arm; to look at, it is the most resplendent object upon earth; it is quite free from flaw and as red as fire. Its value is so great that a price for it in money could hardly be named at all."
-Marco Polo, The Travels
The gems of Sri Lanka have been famous since Biblical times. It was to Ratnapura, the city of Gems, that King Solomon sent emissaries to procure the jewel which won him the heart of Queen Sheba. In the best gems were to be found in Serendib, as the Arabs then called Sri Lanka.
More recently British royals have been struck by Lank's exquisite stones. A Cat's eye discovered in a rice paddy field and weight about 105 carats had the distinction of being admired and caressed by four British royal in turn-Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII and Elizabeth II - when they visited the Island. Indeed, the largest sapphire in the crown is the Blue Belle of Asia, Found in a village near Ratnapura. The famous Panther Brooch made by Cartier in the 1930s for the Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson, hold another Sri Lankan sapphire of 152.34 carats.
A curious phenomenon about the Sri Lankan gem pits is that a variety of gems are usually found together. There always seems to be an assorted collection of spinels, corundums (sapphire and ruby) and star stones. Aquamarines, tourmalines, topaz, garnets, amethyst, cat's eyes and zircons are also found here. Their names in the Sinhala language are even more melodious: pushparaga, virodi, nila, rathu keta, mola neero, padmaraga. But the most outstanding of all are the glistening rubies and sapphires for which Sri Lanka has been one of the oldest sources in the world.
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