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History of Sri Lanka

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:25:37 -0500

Colombo

As Colombo possesses a natural harbour, it was known to Romans, Arabs, and Chinese traders over 2,000 years ago. Traveller Ibn Batuta who visited the island in the 14th century, referred to it as Kalanpu. Arabian Muslims, whose prime interests were trade, began to settle in Colombo around the 8th century CE mostly because the port helped their business and controlled much of the trade between the Sinhalese kingdoms and the outside world. They now comprise the local Sri Lankan Moor community.

Portuguese explorers first arrived in Sri Lanka in 1505. During their initial visit they made a treaty with the King of Kotte Parakramabahu VIII (1484-1508) enabling them to trade. In 1638 the Dutch signed a treaty with King Rajasinha II of Kandy. The British captured Colombo in 1796.

This era of colonialism ended peacefully in 1948 when Ceylon gained independence from Britain. Colombo's colonial heritage is visible throughout the city, many historical building are still in use, including the Old Parliament Building, which is now the Presidential Secretariat. The influence of the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British is clearly visible in Colombo’s architecture, names, clothing, food, language and attitudes. Buildings from all three eras stand in their glory as reminders of the turbulent past of Colombo.

Sigiriya

Sigiriya may have been inhabited through prehistoric times. It was used as a rock-shelter mountain monastery from about the 5th century BC, with caves prepared and donated by devotees to the Buddhist Sangha. The garden and palace were built by Kashyapa. Following Kasyapa's death, it was again a monastery complex up to about the 14th century, after which it was abandoned. The ruins were discovered in 1907 by British explorer John Still. The Sigiri inscriptions were deciphered by the archaeologist Senarath Paranavithana who published a renowned two volume work, published by Oxford, known as "Sigiri Graffiti". He also wrote the popular book "Story of Sigiriya".

Dambulla

Dating back to the 1st century BC, this is the most impressive cave temple in Sri Lanka. In 1938 the architecture was embellished with arched colonnades and gabled entrances. The Dambulla cave monastery is still functional and remains the best-preserved ancient edifice in Sri Lanka. This complex dates from the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, when it was already established as one of the largest and most important monasteries. King Valagambahu is traditionally thought to have converted the caves into a temple in the 1st century BC. Exiled from Anuradhapura, he sought refuge here from South Indian usurpers for 15 years. After reclaiming his capital, the King built a temple in thankful worship. Many other kings added to it later and by the 11th century, the caves had become a major religious centre and still are. King Nissanka Malla gilded the caves and added about 70 Buddha statues in 1190. During the 18th century, the caves were restored and painted by the Kandyan Kings.

Galle

According to some historians, Galle was the ancient seaport, from which King Solomon drew ivory, peacocks and other valuables. Certainly, cinnamon was exported from Sri Lanka as early as 1400 BC and the root of the word itself is Hebrew, so Galle may have been the main entrepot for the spice. Galle had been a prominent seaport long before western rule in the country. Persians, Arabs, Greeks, Romans, Malays and Indians were doing business through Galle port. The "modern" history of Galle starts in 1505, when the first Portuguese ship, under Louren�o de Almeida was driven there by a storm. However, the people of the city refused to let the Portuguese enter it, so the Portuguese took it by force. In 1640, the Portuguese had to surrender to the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch built the present Fort in the year 1663. They built a fortified wall, using solid granite, and built three bastions, known as "sun", "moon" and "star". After the British took over the country from the Dutch, they preserved the Fort unchanged, and used it as the administrative centre of Galle.

Know about Vietnam

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:56:39 -0500

Something to share about Vietnam

Complex of the Hue monuments is an UNESCO world heritage site since 1993
Ha Long Bay is an UNESCO world Heritage site since 1994. It features 1000's of limestone Karsts and isles in various shapes and sizes
Hoi, an ancient town is UNESCO world Heritage site since 1999
Danang & Hue have been ranked by National Geographic as " 50 Places of a life time" to visit.
To see the Ho Chi Minh complex, visiting his Mausoleum, the Presidential Palace and his old houses. The Mausoleum is where the body of the greatest president of Vietnam is kept in a glass coffin
To see One Pillar Pagoda: Built in the 11th century as a memorial to the Goddess of Mercy. The whole pagoda stands on a column and it shapes like a lotus flower, erected from a little pond.
To see the The Temple of Literature: the once biggest education center of Vietnam and also the most beautiful temple in the country dedicated to Confucius- the founder of Confucianism
To visit the Museum of Ethnology: Biggest one in town displaying exhibits and lives of 54 groups of people living in Vietnam. The place has an exotic collection of traditional houses of peoples in Vietnam.
To see the Phong Nha -Ke Bang National Park. It protects one of the world's two largest karst regions with several hundred caves and grottoes
To see the Fansipan mountains. At 3143 m it is the highest mountain in Indo China. It is dubbed as " Roof of Indo China and has about 2,024 floral varieties and 327 faunal species.
Chu Chi tunnels are more than 250 kms in length.
The famous James Bond movie “ Tomorrow never Dies” was shot in Ha long Bay
Watch the water puppet show. It is unique and originated in Vietnam.
Did you know? That there are no crocodiles found in Vietnam
Vietnam is the 2nd largest exporter of Rice in the world
In Hoi An you can even have a pair of shoes made in 3 hours
The flag of Vietnam has a red background with a yellow star at the centre of the flag. The yellow color represents the ethnicity of Vietnamese people. The star has five points, they represent the workers, peasants, soldiers, intellectuals and merchants.
Railways is the most popular form of transport in Vietnam
Hung Vyong was the first ruler of Vietnam according to Mythology
A coconut milk dessert is wonderful for soothing the palate after a spicy Vietnamese meal.
The best selling beer in Vietnam is ‘33’

Know about Myanmar (Burma)

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:40:08 -0500

Reasons to visit Myanmar (Burma)

Shwedagon Paya in Yangon is popularly ranked as the 8th wonder of the world
The historic city of Bagan is ranked 17th among the 100 places of a life time in Hillman wonders
Sule Pagoda in Yangon has a 46 metre octagonal shape stupa built over 2000 years ago to house a strand of Lord Buddha’s hair
To see the most significant throne in the world covered with Gold of the last king, Besides each section of the carvings on the throne will tell you so many tales
To see the largest book the man ever created. The Buddhist holy book was engraved on 729 white marble stones and each marble tablet is about 3ftx4 ft wide
To ring the largest ringing bell in the Universe in Sagaing which is 26 feet high and weighs 90.55 tons
To experience a visit to this 2400 year-old miracle Golden Rock, called Kyaiktiyo Pagoda
To walk around on the amazing floating-islands and to row a boat in the highest and largest lake in SE Asia
To see the living mummies-There are approximately 20 prestigious Buddhist monks around the country, who had died decades or some centuries ago and their bodies never decayed
To see the largest man-made stone cave, Narga Cave (Dragon Cave) at Word Peace Pagoda
To see the largest Reclining Buddha in the world that is about 181 feet long
The famous author Rudyard Kipling wrote some of his novels including the jungle book series at the Strand Hotel in Yangon
It was once estimated that there were 13,000 pagodas and Stupas built in Bagan
The shape and construction of each building in Bagan is highly significant in Buddhism with each component part taking on spiritual meaning
The 1st Indian film that was shot in Myanmar was Bose- The forgotten hero and crew shot the film in Yangon, Bagan and Mandalay
Myanmar Sea is an amazing place to go scuba diving
It is a great place to buy genuine jewellery at an extremely low price
Myanmar is an exciting destination to buy some exotic souveniors to hang on the wall
The Khakaborazi Peak is the highest peak in the South East Asia
It is an amazing place to walk around on the amazing floating-islands and to row a boat in the highest and largest lake in SE Asia
Meet a fortune teller in Myanmar and see your future. Just for fun
Myanmar cuisine is similar to thai food but much lighter. You might not many restaurants in the world that serve Burmese cuisine.

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Historical Thailand

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:38:46 -0500

Reasons to visit Thailand

The historic city of Ayutthaya was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1991
Historic town of Sukhothai and its associated historic towns was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1991
Watch the must see show of Thailand in Bangkok” The Siam Niramit Show” with over 150 dancers and 500 costumes and listed in the Guiness book of world records for the “ tallest proscenium arch, measured at 11.95 metres”
See the tallest bronze statue in the world and Buddha’s head on a tree at Ayutthaya
See and take a train ride on the historic “ Bridge on the River Kwai”
Touch, keep a tiger on your lap and take photographs at the only tiger temple in the world at Kanchanaburi
Go see the Grand Palace in Bangkok, the architecture is a great mix of Thai & European styles, the temple of Emerald Buddha is in the same complex
Get dazzled at Wat Phao in Bangkok, famous for the huge reclining Buddha statue
Visit Wat Arun, Bangkok or the temple of Dawn is one of the best known landmarks and one of the most published images of Bangkok
Visit to the ancient city is a must, this park is over 320 acres and has the replicas of the 109 monuments of Thailand and often referred as the world’s largest outdoor museum
Shop till you drop at the night market in Bangkok’s night market

Visit - www.365tours.in

According to a legend the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok was created in India in 43 BC by Nagasena in the city of Patna
The historic city of Ayutthaya was named after Ayodhya, India
Wat Phra Meru in Ayuthaya has two Buddha images, one of which is reputedly 1,300 years old and from Sri Lanka.
Wat Phra Si Samphet was Ayutthaya’s largest temple and a favorite of royalty: the Burmese melted down its 16-meter Buddha image for the 250 kg of gold that covered it.
Sukhothai the capital during the 13th century, translates as “Dawn of Happiness”
Sukhothai was the 1st truly ancient Thai Kingdom and the thai alphabets were created here which is from Pali, Sanskrit and Grantha
In 1360 King Ramathibodi complied the legal code in Ayutthaya based in Indian Dharmashastra in Pali and remained in force till the 19th century
The architecture of Ayutthaya is a fascinating mix of ancient Khmer and early Sukhothai styles
At its peak Sukhothai kingdom stretched from Burma to Laos and down to Malay Penninsula. This was larger than that of modern Thailand
Take a stroll through China Town a very atmospheric place quite different to the rest of the inner city of Bangkok
Bangkok’s official name is “Krungthepmahanakhon Amornrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharat Ratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphiman Awatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit”

For more Exotic detionations visit www.365tours.in