Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian Ocean, situated 50 kms. or 31 miles off the Southern tip of India, and is separated from India by the Palk Strait. The Aryan Prince Vijaya called it Tambapanni as he saw the soil of the west coast a copper colour. The Graeco-Roman mariners called it Taprobane as it was dificult for them to pronounce Tambapanni. The Geographer Ptolemy called it Taprobanam on his Map. It is also called Serendib, Ratnadvipa (Isle of Gems), Zeilan and Ceylon, among others: all of which echo its paradisiacal qualities and character. The island figures as the focal point in the Ramayana legend of Rama and Sita, and is said to have been blessed by three separate visits of the Buddha to Kelaniya, Nagadeepaya, and Mahiyanganaya. The island impressed travellers from the Chinese monk Fa Hsien (5th century AD) to Marco Polo (circa 1293); and still charms tourists of varied pursuits, persuasions and pleasures to this day with its myriad magical mysteries; and – not least of all – continues to enamour its people with fresh facets of what was long considered the “crowning jewel” of the British Empire.

Resembling a teardrop-shaped, gold-fringed emerald set on the blue bosom of the Indian Ocean, it lies pendant from the southernmost tip of the subcontinent between 5O 55’-9O 50’ north and 79O 42’-81O 52’ east. A mere 435 km north-south from Point Pedro to Dondra Head and 225 km across at its widest, it contains within its compact 65,610 sq. km (25,332 square miles) an unparalleled diversity of scenic sights, sounds and scents; colourful ceremonies and quaint customs, culture and crafts; monolithic ruins and titanic monuments of a civilization both ancient and advanced; a multitude of climes and ecosystems from tropical rainforests to subalpine evergreen, rich farmlands to arid scrub jungle; extravagant fauna and flora, wonderful wilderness and wildlife; plus over 1125 km of pristine palm-fringed shoreline where one can swim, surf, snorkel, sail or simply soak up the sun … All within a short 6 hour drive at most, one from another.
In 2004, a very powerful earthquake erupted in the Indian Ocean near Sumatra on 26th December. It caused deadly tidal waves in nearly a dozen countries, killing tens of thousands of people living in coastal areas. A long stretch of Sri Lanka’s Eastern and Southern coast was devastated by these waves, leaving in its wake more than 60,000 dead and displacing 2.5 million people. Waves as high as six metres crashed into coastal villages, swept away people, buildings, cars and even a train (Thelawala - near Galle) with 1700 passengers. It was the worst human disaster in Sri Lanka history.