Serendib - March 2011

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The small hill country towns of Hatton-Dikoya and Maskeliya, located in the Nuwara Eliya District are well-traversed regions of Sri Lanka, and though its marvels are renowned, oddly enough they are two destinations rarely written of.

Brushstrokes of acrylics on canvas, barrels painted in camouflage, scraps of metal twisted into lifelike forms, photographs digitally deconstructed and layered: an exhibition capturing the multiplicity of Sri Lankan contemporary art will take place in London.

There are 245 different species of butterflies in Sri Lanka, and on a beautiful sunny morning, we encounter some of the more common ones that often tend to go unnoticed, and the not so common ones that we stop to admire.

Sri Lankan food, with its mix of distinctively-spiced curries, to be enjoyed with soft, string hoppers and a chilli-hot sambol relish, is marked by its richly-varied combination of contrasting flavours and textures.

There is much more to Mahiyanganaya than the Veddhas. This area boasts of a proud Buddhist heritage. Ancient Buddhist and historical sources of Sri Lanka assert that Lord Buddha visited Mahiyanganaya.