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Ratnapura
Ratnapura (, ; , ) ("City of Gems" in Sinhala and Tamil) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as the Ratnapura District, and is a traditional centre for the Sri Lankan gem trade. It is located on the Kalu Ganga (Black River) in south-central Sri Lanka, some southeast of the country's capital, Colombo. Ratnapura is also spelled as Rathnapura. The name 'Ratnapura' is a Sanskrit word meaning "city of gems", from the Sanskrit words ''pura'' (town) and ''ratna'' (gemstone). Over 2000 years ago, when the first Buddhist monks arrived here from the north eastern provinces of India namely Bodh-Gaya, Varanasi and Pataliputra, they not only brought with them the Buddhist religion, but since their teachings were mainly in Sanskrit and Pali they also influenced the local language. While candy produced from the jaggery palm is traditionally known in this region as ''ratnapura'', it is more likely that the candy was named for the locale ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ratnapura District
Ratnapura ( Sinhala: රත්නපුර දිස්ත්රික්කය, Tamil: இரத்தினபுரம் மாவட்டம்) is a district of Sri Lanka in the Sabaragamuwa Province. This gem-mining centre of Sri Lanka is also a major crossroad between southern plains and the hill country to the east. A bustling market city servicing most of the surrounding towns, many of the prominent gem dealers in Sri Lanka operate from this town. There is a route to Sri Pada from Ratnapura direction. Excursions include Sinharaja Forest Reserve and Udawalawe National Park. The surrounding area is a popular trekking destination and a good place for bird watching. The district is home to Kukulugala, the 18th tallest mountain in Sri Lanka. Religion The majority of the population are Buddhists. Other religions include Hinduism, Islam and Christianity.Department of Census and StatisticThe Census of Population and Housing of Sri Lanka-2011/ref> Major cities * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sabaragamuwa Province
The Sabaragamuwa Province (, , ) is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, provinces of Sri Lanka. Ratnapura is the capital of the province. History The provinces of Sri Lanka were created by the British Empire, British in the 19th century, but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka established Provincial councils of Sri Lanka, provincial councils. The province is named after its former indigenous inhabitants, namely the Sabara, an Indic term for hunter-gatherer tribes, a term seldom used in ancient Sri Lanka. The Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka is located in the town of Belihuloya, and was founded in 1991. Geography The province has an area of 4,968 km2 and a population of 1,918,880. Major towns include Ratnapura and Kegalle. Demographics Ethnic groups The Sinhalese people, Sinhalese are the majority ethnic group of the Sabaragamuwa province. Additionally, there are sizeable minority populations of India ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adam's Peak
Adam's Peak is a conical sacred mountain located in central Sri Lanka.Capper, Daniel (2022), ''Roaming Free Like a Deer: Buddhism and the Natural World,'' Cornell University Press. It is well known for the ''Sri Pada'' (; ), a rock formation near the summit whose name is also used for the mountain itself. In Buddhist tradition the print is held to be the footprint of the Buddha, in Sri Lankan Hindu tradition that of Hanuman or Shiva (its Tamil name, , ''Sivanolipaathamalai'', means 'Mountain of Shiva's Light'), and in some Islamic and Christian traditions that of Adam or St Thomas the Apostle. The mountain is also known as Mount Malaya in Buddhist sources, particularly the Mahayana ''Lankavatara Sutra'', which states that the Buddha preached this ''sutra'' on top of the mountain. According to this ''sutra'', the mountain was the abode of Ravana, overlord of the Rakshasas and ruler of Lanka. Other names in Sanskrit sources include Mount Lanka, Ratnagiri ("Mountain of Gems ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kalu Ganga
Kalu Ganga (; literally: Black River) is a river in Sri Lanka. The river originates from Sri Pada Peak Wilderness Sanctuary, reaching the sea at Kalutara after a journey. The Black River flows through the Ratnapura and the Kalutara District and passes the city Ratnapura. The mountainous forests in the Central Province and the Sinharaja Forest Reserve are the main sources of water for the river. The Edwardian manor, Richmond Castle is on the banks of the river near Kalutara Kalutara (, ) or Kalutota is a major city in Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is also the administrative capital of Kalutara District. It is located approximately south of the capital Colombo. The city holds a unique posit .... See also * List of rivers in Sri Lanka References Rivers of Sri Lanka Bodies of water of Kalutara District {{SriLanka-river-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Districts Of Sri Lanka
Districts (, ) are the second level administrative divisions of Sri Lanka, preceded by Provinces of Sri Lanka, provinces. Sri Lanka has 25 districts organized into 9 provinces. Districts are further divided into a number of Divisional Secretariats of Sri Lanka, divisional secretariats (commonly known as D.S. divisions), which are in turn subdivided into 14,022 grama niladhari divisions. There are 331 DS divisions in Sri Lanka. Each district is administered under a District Secretary, district secretary, who is appointed by the central government. The main tasks of the district secretariat involve coordinating communications and activities of the central government and divisional secretariats. The district secretariat is also responsible for implementing and monitoring development projects at the district level and assisting lower-level subdivisions in their activities, as well as revenue collection and coordination of elections in the district. History The country was first di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sapphire
Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire'' is derived from the Latin word ', itself from the Greek language, Greek word (), which referred to lapis lazuli. It is typically blue, but natural "fancy" sapphires also occur in yellow, purple, orange, and green colors; "parti sapphires" show two or more colors. Red corundum stones also occur, but are called ruby, rubies rather than sapphires. Pink-colored corundum may be classified either as ruby or sapphire depending on the locale. Commonly, natural sapphires are cut and polished into gemstones and worn in jewellery, jewelry. They also may be created synthetically in laboratories for industrial or decorative purposes in large boule (crystal), crystal boules. Because of the remarkable hardness of sapphires 9 on the Mohs scale of miner ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. It shares a maritime border with the Maldives in the southwest and India in the northwest. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital of Sri Lanka, while the largest city, Colombo, is the administrative and judicial capital which is the nation's political, financial and cultural centre. Kandy is the second-largest urban area and also the capital of the last native kingdom of Sri Lanka. The most spoken language Sinhala language, Sinhala, is spoken by the majority of the population (approximately 17 million). Tamil language, Tamil is also spoken by approximately five million people, making it the second most-spoken language in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has a population of appr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gems Of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s gem industry has a very long and colorful history. Sri Lanka was affectionately known as Ratna-Dweepa which means Gem Island. The name is a reflection of its natural wealth. Marco Polo wrote that the island had the best sapphires, topazes, amethysts, and other gems in the world. Ptolemy, the 2nd century astronomer recorded that beryl and sapphire were the mainstay of Sri Lanka’s gem industry. Records from sailors that visited the island state that they brought back “jewels of Serendib”. Serendib was the ancient name given to the island by middle eastern and Persian traders that crossed the Indian Ocean to trade gems from Sri Lanka to the East during the 4th and 5th century. Often the historical word "Ceylon" is used within gem industries to denote stones that come from the island. Sri Lanka, geologically speaking is an extremely old country. Ninety percent of the rocks of the island are of Precambrian age, 560 million to 2,400 million years ago. The gems f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinharaja Forest Reserve
Sinharaja Forest Reserve is a forest reserve and a biodiversity hotspot in Sri Lanka. It is of international significance and has been designated a Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site by UNESCO. According to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Sinharaja is the country's last viable area of primary Forestry in Sri Lanka, tropical rainforest. Over 60% of the trees are endemic, many of them considered rare. 50% of Sri Lankan's endemics species of animals (especially butterfly, amphibians, birds, snakes and fish species). It is home to 95% endemic birds. The hilly virgin rainforest, part of the Sri Lanka lowland rain forests ecoregion, was saved from the worst of commercial logging by its inaccessibility, and was designated a World Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and a World Heritage Site in 1988. Because of the dense vegetation, wildlife is not as easily seen as at dry-zone national parks such as Yala National Park, Yala. The most common larger mammal is the ende ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the financial centre of the island and a tourist destination. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to the Greater Colombo area which includes Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the legislative capital of Sri Lanka, and Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. Colombo is often referred to as the capital since Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is situated within the Colombo metro area. It is also the administrative capital of the Western Province and the district capital of Colombo District. Colombo is a busy and vibrant city with a mixture of modern life, colonial buildings and monuments. It was made the capital of the island when Sri Lanka was ceded to the British Empire in 1815, retaining its capital status when Sri Lanka gained independence in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Provinces Of Sri Lanka
Provinces (; ) are the first level administrative division, administrative divisions of Sri Lanka. Currently, Sri Lanka is divided into 9 provinces. Each province is further divided into Districts of Sri Lanka, districts, which are further divided into Divisional Secretariats of Sri Lanka, divisional secretariats. The provinces were first established by the United Kingdom, British rulers of British Ceylon, Ceylon in 1833. Over the next century, most of the administrative functions of the provinces were transferred to the districts, the second level administrative division of the country. By the middle of the 20th century, the provinces had become mostly ceremonial. This changed in 1987 when, following several decades of increasing demand for Devolution, decentralization, the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established Provincial councils of Sri Lanka, provincial councils. Hist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Time In Sri Lanka
Time in Sri Lanka since is officially represented by the Sri Lanka Standard Time (SLST, UTC+05:30). Historic UTC offsets were: * UTC+05:30 * UTC+06:00 * UTC+06:30 Daylight saving time In history daylight saving time was used too. IANA time zone database The IANA time zone database contains one zone for Sri Lanka in the file zone.tab, named Asia/Colombo. See also * Sri Lanka Standard Time Sri Lankan Standard Time (SLST) (, ) is the time zone for Sri Lanka. It is 5 hours and 30 minutes ahead of GMT/ UTC ( UTC+05:30) as observed since 15 April 2006. Sri Lanka does not currently observe daylight saving time. History On 15 Apri ... External links Official website for Sri Lanka Standard Time Geography of Sri Lanka {{standard-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
