Sights in Sri Lanka
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A
Old Town Hall
Colombo's white-domed Old Town Hall overlooks Viharamahadevi Park from the northeast.
reviewed
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B
Holy Family Convent
Colonnades and topiary make the Holy Family Convent a beautiful, peaceful oasis.
reviewed
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C
St James'
The grandest church is St James', a classical Italianate edifice.
reviewed
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D
Lagoon Resthouse
This is one of several old Dutch buildings that is still in use.
reviewed
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E
Tissa Wewa
The 160-hectare Tissa Wewa is the southern tank in the old city.
reviewed
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F
St John the Baptist's
St John the Baptist's is a fine, column-sided Catholic church.
reviewed
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G
Perumal Kovil
Perumal Kovil has a spectacularly colourful gopuram.
reviewed
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Tangamalai
Tangamalai is a bird sanctuary and nature reserve.
reviewed
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H
Auliya Mosque
The tiny Auliya Mosque has curious green minaret.
reviewed
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I
Jummah Mosque
The Jummah Mosque is quirkily colourful.
reviewed
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J
Grand Jummah Mosque
This mosque is pretty grand.
reviewed
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Gangatilaka Vihara
The massively, impressive Gangatilaka Viharahas a hollow dagoba (stupa) with an interesting painted interior depicting scenes from the life of the Buddha. It’s immediately south of the Kalu Ganga bridge on the main road.
reviewed
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Thirukketeeswaram Kovil
Between the 76km and 77km markers on the road from Vavuniya To Mannar is a large military camp and a big, colourful gateway. ID checks are still required here to pass through the latter on a side road that leads 5km north to Thirukketeeswaram Kovil. Thirukketeeswaram is one of the pancha vishwaram, the five historical Sri Lankan Hindu temples dedicated to Shiva and established to protect the island from natural disaster. It’s an imposing site, with a towering, colourful gopuram that leads to relatively new structures. Pujas(offerings or prayers) occur at 5.30am, 8.05am, 12.30pm and 5.30pm, and are busiest on Fridays. Ranged around the temple are open-fronted pavilions…
reviewed
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K
SJV Chelvanayakum Monument
The strange, top-heavy pillar erected near the Jaffna Public Library is the SJV Chelvanayakum Monument, celebrating the founder of the Tamil Federal Party. His somewhat Gandhi-esque statue stands beside the monument.
reviewed
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Our Lady of Madhu Church
This church is Sri Lanka’s most hallowed Christian shrine. Its walls shelter Our Lady of Madhu, a diminutive but revered Madonna-and-child statue brought here in 1670 by Catholics fleeing Protestant Dutch persecution in Mannar. The statue rapidly developed a reputation for miracles, notably as a protector against snakebites. Madhu has been a place of pilgrimage – and, in modern times, refuge – ever since. During the last round of fighting, the statue was removed from the church and taken further into LTTE territory, apparently to protect it from damage. It was reinstated in August 2008.
The present church dates from 1872 and has soaring, if unembellished, central…
reviewed
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L
New Rest House
Tidy, good-value rooms with slightly tatty attached bathrooms in a house-restaurant with great food (breakfast Rs 150, meals Rs 200 to 300).
reviewed
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M
Clock Tower
An architectural curiosity, the spindly Clock Tower, has a Moorish domed top which makes it look like it belongs somewhere in North Africa.
reviewed
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Sinharaja Forest Reserve
The last major undisturbed area of rainforest in Sri Lanka, this forest reserve occupies a broad ridge at the heart of the island’s wet zone. On most days the forest is shrouded by copious rain clouds that replenish its deep soils and balance water resources for much of southwestern Sri Lanka. Recognising its importance to the island’s ecosystem, Unesco declared the Sinharaja Forest Reserve a World Heritage Site in 1989.
Sinharaja (Lion King) is bordered by rivers: the Koskulana Ganga in the north and the Gin Ganga in the south. An old foot track that goes past the Beverley Estate marks the eastern border, close to the highest peak in the forest, Hinipitigala (1171m).…
reviewed