SRI LANKA’S LEGENDARY DOORMAN TURNS 90

February 14, 2010  02:06 pm

In 70 years of greeting guests to Sri Lanka’s venerable Galle Face Hotel, doorman K. Chattu Kuttan has hobnobbed with everyone from royal heads of state to Bond girls and Soviet cosmonauts.

Kuttan, who turns 90 on Monday, has watched the hotel change with the country, from colonial days, through independence and the dark decades of ethnic conflict.

And he has pretty much seen it all, from a Japanese Zero fighter plane crash-landing on the hotel grounds during World War II, to sultry film star Ursula Andress dancing in the ballroom on New Year’s Eve 1976.

Born in India’s Kerala province, Kuttan left his home and took the ferry to Sri Lanka’s northern seaport town ofTalaimannar and then made his way to Colombo in 1938.

He worked as a servant for one of Colombo’s elite families before landing a job at the hotel in 1942, weeks after the Japanese bombed the capital. He started as a waiter, and took 50 years to gravitate to the front door.

“Ceylon, as Sri Lankawas known, was a different country then. Famous people like Emperor Hirohito, Richard Nixon, Sir Laurence Olivier and George Bernard Shaw came and stayed with us,” Kuttan recalled.           

In colonial days, the adjoining Galle Face promenade that overlooks the Indian Ocean used to host horse races on the green. – (The News International)

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Sri Lanka at a Glance

Official name:	Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Government type:	republic
Location:	Latitude 5° 55. to 9° 50. north, longitude 79° 42. to 81° 52., 650km north of the equator
Dimensions:	430km north to south, 225km east to west
Coastline:	1,340km
Area:	65,525km
Currency (code):	Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)
Independence:	4 February 1948
Administrative capital:	Sri Jayewardenepura
Commercial capital:	Colombo
Administrative divisions:	9 provinces; Central, North Central, North Eastern, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Western, Eastern Province.
Climate:	Typically tropical, with a northeast monsoon (December to March) bringing unsettled weather to the north and east, and a southwest monsoon (June to October) bringing bad weather to the south and west
Terrain:	Mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior
Highest mountain:	Pidurutalagala, 2,524m
Highest waterfall:	Bambarakanda, 263m
National Flower	The Blue Water Lily (Nymphaea stellata).
National parks and nature reserves area:	8,000sq.km
Population:	21,128,773 (? Census)
Population growth rate:	1.3%
Population Density:	309 people per sq km
Life Expectancy at Birth	74 female, 64 male
Literacy rate :	Female 87.9 Male 92.5
Ethnic groups:	Sinhalese 73.8%, Sri Lankan Moors 7.2%, Indian Tamil 4.6%, Sri Lankan Tamil 3.9%, other 0.5%, unspecified 10% (2001 census)
Languages:	Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% Note: English (a link language commonly) is used in government and spoken competently by about 10% of the population
Religion:	Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census)
Time zone:	Sri Lanka Standard Time is five and a half hours ahead of GMT. (Allowance should be made for summer-time changes in Europe.)
International dialing:	+94
Electricity:	230 . 240 volts, 50 cycles AC. If you travel with a laptop computer bring a stabilizer
Economy:	Sri Lanka.s most dynamic sectors are food processing, textiles and apparel, food and beverages, port construction, telecommunications, and insurance and banking. In 2006, plantation crops made up only 15% of exports (90% in 1970), while textiles and garments accounted for more than 60%. About 800,000 Sri Lankans work abroad, 90% of them in the Middle East. They send home more than US$1 billion a year.
Labour force	34.3% of the labour population is employed in agriculture, 25.3% in industry and 40.4% in services: 40.4% (30 June 2006 est.) The unemployment rate is 5.7% (2007 est.)
Agriculture & products	Rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconutsm milk, eggs, hides, beef, fish
Industries:	Processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, tobacco and other agricultural commodities; telecommunications, insurance, banking; clothing, textiles; cement, petroleum refining.
Exports:	Textiles and apparel; tea and spices; diamonds, emeralds, rubies; coconut products, rubber manufactures, fish
Imports:	Main import commodities are textile fabrics, mineral products, petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and transportation equipment: $10.61 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.). Percentage of main commodities from main import partners: India 19.6%, China 10.5%, Singapore 8.8%, Iran 5.7%, Malaysia 5.1%, Hong Kong 4.2%, Japan 4.1% (2006)
Gross Domestic Product (GDP):	Purchasing power parity: $81.29 billion (2007 est.). Official exchange rate: $30.01 billion (2007 est.) Real growth rate: 6.3% (2007 est.) Per capita: $4,100 (2007 est.) composition by sector: Agriculture: 16.5% Industry: 26.9%
Gross National Product (GNP):	Sri Lanka is placed in 76th place in GNP figures of the world.s nations with $22.8billion (2005)
Flag description:	yellow with two panels; the smaller hoist-side panel has two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and orange; the other panel is a large dark red rectangle with a yellow lion holding a sword, and there is a yellow bo leaf in each corner; the yellow field appears as a border around the entire flag and extends between the two panels

http://inlanka.lkwebhost.com/

SRI LANKA’S WILDLIFE SANCTUARY SITES REOPENED FOR TOURISM

January 31, 2010  10:10 am

Two of Sri Lanka’s renowned wildlife sanctuary sites were reopened on Saturday after years of closure because of the conflict between the government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels, a government official said.

Ananda Wijesuriya, director of the Wildlife Conservation Department said the two sites were opened to the public on Saturday were located at southeastern and eastern parts of the island.

Kumana, a bird sanctuary and a main eco-tourism attraction, is 312 km southeast of the Colombowhile Lahugala, a wildlife park/ sanctuary reserve, is 318 km east of the capital.

They have been shut for tourists since 2005 when the fighting between the two sides escalated.

Both areas were under security clouds due to clashes until May last year when the rebels were defeated.

“After the end of the war we received security clearance,” Wijesuriya said.

The end to the civil conflict has made Sri Lanka a major tourism attraction, the tourism authority said.

Xinhua

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Sri Lanka No. 1 travel destination for 2010

Daily Candy Website proclaims 'Best place we've ever been'

The New York Times has named Sri Lanka as the No. One travel destination worldwide in a ranking of '31 Places To Go in 2010.' At the same time, Daily Candy, a luxury-living website, has devoted its entire travel issue to Sri Lanka, informing the readers that you'll be roaming the south for adventure (elephant safaris), history (colonial fort towns, old Buddhist temples), rain forests (and mountains and tea plantations), and beautiful beaches. It's pretty much the best place we've ever been.
Both articles note that security is no longer a concern since the recent successful conclusion of the conflict with the LTTE terrorists last year.
Tourism in Sri Lanka leaped forward in the last seven months, increasing at double digit rates each month since June 2009. Sri Lankan tourism officials plan to add 25,000 3-to-5 star hotel rooms to the island nation of 20 million people by 2016, many of them luxurious beach and mountainside accommodations like the ones the two articles rave about.
Sri Lanka expects more than 500,000 visitors in 2010, but more than two million annually six years from now. But while the number of tourists are increasing, the total number of visitors have yet to catch up with other Asian destinations. That makes Sri Lanka an affordable, relatively undiscovered gem, giving travellers a world unto themselves.
"People are discovering how wonderful Sri Lanka truly is," said Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Sri Lanka's ambassador to the U.S. We have many people to thank for making this country a peaceful, pleasant and prosperous place to live in. The leaders who successfully ended a long-war against terrorists now welcome tourists and foreign friends with open arms. Sri Lankans living abroad spread the goodwill and charm of the native land. As these articles proclaim, 'Sri Lanka is a beautiful place that is getting better.'
The Times reports that, 'The island, with a population of just 20 million, feels like one big tropical zoo: elephants roam freely, water buffaloes idle in paddy fields and monkeys swing from trees.
And then there's the pristine coastline. The miles of sugary white sand flanked by bamboo groves that were off-limits to most visitors until recently are a happy, if unintended byproduct of the war.'
Daily Candy observes: 'Sri Lanka is incredibly chic, very India meets Vietnam.
The Times reports that visitors can find pristine beaches -and still a few road checkpoints - in Northern Sri Lanka, where the fighting occurred. While a few military checkpoints remain, it reports, travellers can lounge on poolside hammocks under palm trees or snorkel in its crystal-clear waters.
Or they can order cocktails at the Nilaveli Beach Hotel a collection of recently renovated bungalows with private terraces.
Daily Candy takes readers on a cross-country tour of Sri Lanka, suggesting stops at Kandy, highland tea gardens and beaches, such as those in Tangalle and Galle. The swank Amanwella compound, consists of bungalows scattered across a coconut grove outside Tangalle. But the prices are more affordable than Aman's usual rates (a rare civil war perk).
Force yourself away from the blissful beach to visit Udawalawe National Park. You'll see monkeys and peacocks, but elephants are the main event.

The Sri Lankan National Flag

When Vijaya, the first King of the island of Sri Lanka, arrived in Sri Lanka from India in 486 BC, he brought with him a flag with a symbol of a lion on it. Since then the Lion symbol played a significant role in the history of Sri Lanka. It was used extensively by monarchs who followed King Vijaya and it became a symbol of freedom and hope. When the legendary King Dutugemunu embarked on the campaign in which he defeated the Tamil King Elara, who had occupied part of Sri Lanka, he carried with him a banner which portrayed a lion carrying a sword on his right forepaw along with two other symbols, the Sun and the Moon. King Dutugemunu's Flag Flag of the Kandyan Kingdom (1469 – 1815) Bands of green and orange added in 1951 The Flag as of today – pinnacles replaced by Bo leaves The banner was in use until 1815, when the reign of the last king of the Kandyan Kingdom, King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, was brought to an end with the Kandyan nobility's signing of the Kandy convention on March 2 proclaiming King George III as King of Ceylon and replacing the Lion Flag with the Union Flag as the national flag of Ceylon. The government of British Ceylon used its own flag. The Lion Flag was taken to England and kept at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. As the years passed, the design of the flag was forgotten by the Sri Lankan public. Then, as the independence movement in Sri Lanka gained strength in the early 20th century, E. W. Perera, a prominent figure of the independence movement with the help of D. R. Wijewardene, owner of the Sinhala newspaper 'Dinamina' discovered the original Lion Flag kept at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, UK. A picture of it was subsequently published in a special edition of the Dinamina newspaper to mark 100 years since the end of Sri Lankan independence. The Lion flag then became a centrepiece of attraction to the public, who for the first time since the fall of the Kandyan Kingdom were now aware of its actual design. The first Prime Minister of independent Ceylon Hon. D.S. Senanayake, hoisted the Lion Flag at the ceremony on February 4, 1948. This flag depicted a yellow lion holding a sword in the right hand, facing the hoist, on a dark red background, with a yellow border, with four pinnacles of a Buddhist dagaba in the four corners. The National Flag Committee was formed in March 1948 and on March 2, 1951, the Lion Flag was accepted, with a few changes as the country's National Flag. Two vertical bands, one green and the other orange, were included in the flag to represent the Muslim and Tamil communities respectively. Finally in 1972, when the country adopted the local name of Sri Lanka, the flag was modified once more, with four stylized leaves of the Bo (Pipul) tree, a Buddhist symbol, added to the four corners to replace the four pinnacles. In 1978, the leaves were made more natural. Symbolism of the Lion Flag The lion The Sinhalese ethnicity and the strength of the nation The Bo leaves Buddhism and its influence on the nation. They also stand for the four virtues of Kindness (Mettha), Compassion (Karuna), Equanimity (Upeksha) and (Muditha) Happiness. Sword The soverignty of the nation Vertical Orange stripe The Tamil community Vertical green stripe The Muslim community Yellow border People from other cultures living in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Tourism and CNN Collaborate on Global Campaign

The launch of the website www.visitsrilanka-2011.com for the CNN global campaign will be launched tomorrow as part of a wider and comprehensive global communication campaign which began in November 2009. A press release from the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) said the website is interactive and is designed in such a manner that users are invited them to be a part of the campaign. The SLTPB said this is the first time a 360 degree social networking campaign will be launched on CNN through Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Flicker and a contest whereby the winners get their dream itinerary for them and nine friends. This contest, carried out in collaboration with SriLankan Airlines and the industry partners will be launched on a CNN microsite. Speaking on the collaboration, Junji Sumitani, Sales Director, S.E. Asia, CNN International said CNN is proud to collaborate with Sri Lanka tourism on its unique travel campaign to showcase the best the country has to offer, adding that CNN’s multi-platform campaign leverages the channel’s extensive reach amongst travellers around the world. Tourism Minister Achala Jagoda said in the press release the website, launched with Visit Sri Lanka 2011, will serve as an impetus to kick start the campaign. Minister of Tourism Promotion Faizer Musthapha said it is an experiment for Sri Lanka Tourism by using new marketing tools. The SLTPB said it has carefully chosen a panel of Sri Lanka personalities, who will serve as experts on the micro-site, responsible for addressing questions and concerns raised by users. They include recognized film maker Vimukthi Jayasundara, Director Design at Buddhi Batiks- Darshi Keerthisena, CEO of Jetwing Eco Holidays - Gehan De S. Wijeratne, Miss Sri Lanka 2009 - Gamya Wijayadasa, representative of Sri Lanka in the Olympic games for three years -Julian Bolling, ODEL CEO- Otara Gunewardene and Sri Lanka cricket captain Kumar Sangakkara.