Sri Lankan Traditional Foods

Milk Rice (Kiri Bath)

Milk rice is one of the traditional food in Sri Lanka which is made using rice. This dish is made at any auspicious moment. The ingredients used are rice, coconut milk and therefore this dish got the name Kiri Bath. This is prepared by cooking rice with coconut milk, where the recipe is fairly simple.

Rice and Curry

Rice is the staple food of the Sri Lankans. Almost every household in Sri Lanka takes rice and curry as its main meal. Meat, fish and vegetables are prepared as curries. Sliced onions, green chilies, black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and saffron are used to add flavors. A basic rice and curry requires one fish (or beef or chicken) curry, two different vegetables, one portion of fried crispy stuff like ‘papadam’, a ‘mallum’ of chopped leaves and coconut, and a gravy or ‘hodda’ of spiced and cooked with coconut milk.

Koththu Roti

Koththu roti is a delicious dish which is usually eaten at dinner time. This is made using Gothamba roti, vegetables, eggs or meat and different spices. The Gothamba roti is cut or chopped with the use of two metal blades on wooden handles held on both hands on this sheet or skillet. The clashing of metal blades and the skillet creates a very unique musical sound which kind of announces the making of this Koththu to the people passing by.

Pittu

Pittu is a popular and often prepared food among Sri Lankans, both Sinhalese and Tamils. This is usually eaten at the breakfast. Traditionally the main ingradient of “Pittu” is rice flour, but kurakkan flour or wheat flour also can be used.

Traditional dances of Sri Lanka.

The traditional dances in Sri Lanka was initiated in 14^th century B.C for the sake of banishing natural disasters, sickness and greet people and the land. During time changes, dancing forms are advanced and varied according to the region and local traditions.

There are three principal dancing forms are available. Such as: Kandyan Dance, pahatharata dance, and sabaragamuwa dance. All three dances differs from each other by the way of dancing, drums and songs and the costumes they wear, movements etc.

The drum used in Kandyan dancing is known as the GETA BERE, the drum in Ruhunu dancing as the YAK BERE, and drum in Sabaragamuwa dancing as the DAVULA.

Kandyan Dance

Kandyan dance is developed from the period of kandyan kings. They imitate the movements of animals. The costumes worn by the performers take after the costumes of deities to whom they dedicate the Dance which are colourful with white, red, yellow and black mixed. The drums used in kandyan dance is known as GETA BERE.

Sabaragamuwa Dance

Sabaragamuwa dance is performed to worship God Saman, the deity who is considered as the guardian of Rathnapura. In this dance both men and women are allowed to participate. . The drums used in sabaragamuwa dance is known as DAVULA.

Pahatharata Dance

The word pahatharata means Low country. These dances basically performed in Low countries. The purpose of this dance is to plead the evil spirits which causes sicknesses hence highly ritualistic. The performers wear masks represents many characters such as demons, birds, reptiles etc.

Adam’s Peak is a well-known colonial mountain which is situated at the sambaragamuwa province and central province of Srilanka. This mountain is 2,243m tall. This is the fourth highest mountain in Sri Lanka. Adam’s Peak is the best for nature lovers. It might take 4 – 5 hours to reach the mountaintop by foot. The area is rich in biodiversity and surrounded by the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary.

This is a sacred mountain in Sri Lanka. Many religious devotees climb the mountain to invoke blessings. Mainly this is a sacred mountain for Buddhists, they believes the impression on the mountaintop is the footprint of Buddha. This also named as samanala kandha or Butterfly Mountain. The long flights of butterflies that frequent the mountain during their annual migrations to the region has resulted in naming the mountain Samanala Kanda (the hill of the butterflies). On the mountaintop of Adam’s Peak is located a temple, a belfry and a resting place. The middle of the attraction is the footprint covered by the stone tablet. The pilgrimage done only for the sake of paying homage to the sacred foot print called Sri Pada (splendid feet). 

Hindus believe it as the footprint of Lord Shiva. It is also fabled that the mountain is the legendary mount Trikuta the capital of Ravana during the Ramayana times from where he ruled Lanka. Christians and Muslims in Sri Lanka assign it to where the first Ancestor Adam, kept foot as he was exiled from the Garden of Eden. The myths of Adam are joined to the idea that Sri Lanka was the original Eden.

The holy season of Adam’s peak traditionally starts in the full moon day of December and ends in the full moon day of April. During the first half of the season the night ascent isn’t crowded. Anyhow during the second half of the season, the ascent gets crowded more and more on each passing day.

The sunrise and the sunset at the mountain top will be amazingly superb. The tourists and pilgrims rush to the eastern side to watch the marvellous view of sunrise. The perfect colour mix of sun and the sky will be attractive and you won’t like to take your eyes off the scenery. You will be loving the view of sunset at the western side of the peak.

You can see some adorable birds on your way to the peak. There are so many kinds of tall and shade trees. You can feel the fresh breeze. Once you reach the mountain top, you will feel that it is the most fabulous place ever.

And you might have a question like whether there are nice restaurants or hotels available in this big mountain? The answer will be, yes. There are perfect restaurants and hotels available near this Adam’s peak like Wathsala inn, White Elephant Hotel, Slightly Chilled (formerly yellow house). Meanwhile you can get all three meals in the hotel itself and rooms also available to stay.

We will provide you the best guide. You will find there is no superior destination than the Sri Lanka tourist places. Everyone says this is an unforgettable experience. Having individual beliefs of each religion, Adam’s peak is tops to one of the most sacred places in Sri Lanka that requires a definite visit. Simply defining; it’s worth the climb.