Gnanendra Dhammika Hettiarachchi

Sri Lanka is one of those places where history seems to fade into the mist of legend. Is not Adam’s Peak said to be the very place where Adam set foot on earth, having been sent out of heaven? Isn’t that his footprint squarely on top of the mountain to prove it? Or is it the Buddha’s footprint on Sri Pada? And isn’t Adam’s Bridge (the chain of islands linking Sri Lanka to India) the very series of stepping stones Rama, aided by his faithful ally, the monkey god Hanuman, stepped across in his mission to rescue Sita from the clutches of the Rawana,King of Lanka, in the epic Ramayana? “Ayurveda” is not only a form of medication – it is a total way of life know to generations of Sri Lankan for over 3000 years. It is a gentle method of treating the root causes of illness in both mind and body. The health conscious today are searching for effective alternatives to the spiraling costs and side effects that at times result from the use of modern medicine. Royal and sacred cities, colonial strongholds, temple caves and virgin forests – with no fewer than seven World Heritage Sites declared and listed by UNESCO, Sri Lanka is one of Asia’s richest treasure troves of both natural and man-made wonders. abstracted from srilankatourism.org