Hotel Potaz

A magnificent hotel located on the hills of Kandy with a panoramic view of blue sky kissing lush green mountains.

Leisure facilities include swimming, Tennis, Indoor Games, a Kiddies' park and a Rooftop Restaurant.

Seventy-five tastefully furnished A/C rooms with piped music and hot&cold running water, out of which forty of them are equipped with a TV, mini bar, and bath tub.

The multi-cuisine restaurant and the well-stocked inviting bar has always been the praise of the Hotel's numerous guests.

E mail: topaz@eureka.lk

Etihad Airways Files into 2007

Etihad Airways released its review for the year 2006, marked by a fleet of new aircraft, 16 new routes and winning the accolade of the word's leading new airline for the third year running.

"The last 12 months at Etihad has witnessed a major transformation in all areas of the business and strengthened our place at the very forefront of the aviation industry,"said James Hogan, CEO, Etihad Airways.

From the award-winning Pearl Zone business bed to a significant increase in routes and holiday destinations, Etihad really has set the benchmark for others to follow during 2006, and we are confident this trend will continue into 2007 and beyond," he added.

Etihad triumphed at the prestigious World Travel Awards (WTA), winning the title for the "Worlds Leading New Airline" for the third year in a row, and the award for the "Word's Leading Flat-bed Seat.' A record four million Guests are anti

The Seduction of the soul

As you lie on your bed listening to the hypnotic soundtrack of waves gently breaking on the immaculate beach outside, a feeling of calm and well-being washes over you.

Around you there is truly majestic space. Enough to accommodate a veritable trove of exquisite art and antiques. Enough to liberate the imagination and allow it to wonder.

The air thick with suggestion. A veranda invites lazy exploration as a secluded garden. A balcony offers an exhilarating backdrop of deep blue sea. A private plunge pool bubbles with anticipation.

This is a place that stokes appetites. Some of which many be sated with a gourmet meal, prepared to your desire, saved whenever and wherever you choose.

Others may be contemplated as you bask by the pool, sipping a cocktail that offers a taste of the intoxicating possibilities that lie ahead.

Aditya. It is more than a feast for the senses. It is a seduction for the soul.

Behold The Ancestors

Buddhist Scriptures tell of how queen maha maya, the mother of Prince Siddartha (who attained enlightenment as Gautama Buddha), dreamed of a white elephant holding a white lotus flower and entering foretold the conception of Siddaratha Gautama.

In Indian mythology, "Airavana," the vehicle of the Gold King Sakra, was the first divine elephant to be created by the gods. The Ring Vedas describe the creation of the elephant as " after the sun bird Gurudu was created, Brahma sang seven holy hymns over the two halves of the Guruda's egg and suddenly sixteen elephants sprang up, led by Airavana. They became the ancestors of all elephants."

According to the Vedas, all elephants had wings at one time. This corresponds to the old Arabian tales of flying elephants. They lost their wings when one flying elephant alighted on an old tree branch in the Himalayas under which a hermit was meditating. the branch broke and the disturbed hermit cursed the elephant, depriving it of its means of flight.

Lord Ganesha, the elephant headed god of the Hindu pantheon, is revered for his courage and wisdom. He is also believed to grant prosperity to traders, and one can invariably find a garlanded picture of Ganesha in most Tamil boutiques in Sri Lanka and India. There are two main versions the story of how Ganesha was endowed with an elephant's head. It is said that he valued privacy so much that he stopped his father, God Shiva, from entering the bath of his mother, and Shiva wrenched Ganesha's head off in anger. In remorse, Shiva ran out and brought back the head of the first being he came across - that of an elephant. Another story says that Lord Shani (Saturn) glanced at the newborn Ganesha and that glance burnt his head off, whereupon God Vishnu brought an elephant's head to make amends.

Evan the Bible has references to the elephant, discussing it thus:"Behold the behemoth whom I made with tree. He eateth grass like as ox: ha sleepeth under the shadow;in the coverts of the reeds andin moist places. Behold he will drink up a river;and he trusteth that the Jordan (River) may run into his mouth.

Sri Lankan arts and crafts

Handicrafts

Objects carved in wood, made of brass and silver. decorated with lacquer, hand woven cloth and lace. beautiful reed mats, attractive batiks, pottery, masks, are among the handicrafts items made by the traditional craftsmen of Sri Lanka. These are available in the government handicrafts emporium called 'Lanka' in Colombo and its branches in major outstation cities and towns and in numerous owned handicrafts shops.

Wood Carving

Wood carving is practiced by traditional craftsmen in the Kandyan region and Galle. Religious and secular objects, household articles, figurines, wall decorations are among the several times carved in wood. The art is even extended to decorating doorways, pillars, doors and windows of places of worship. Moratuwa, a suburb of Colombo is well known for wooden furniture.

Lacquer Work

This is a skilled craft practiced in the Kandyan region by traditional craftsmen. Lac workers in the Kandyan region adopt the finger nail technique which is a unique style in creating on terms like ash trays. teapots, ornamental pots, jewellery boxes which are collectors' items. (Suggested illustrations: Lacquer items).

Brass ware and silverware

Traditional brass products are commonly used as decorative items in Sri Lanka homes. These include oil lamps. trays wall plaques, lamp stands, religious statuettes, ornamental figurines, vases, letter openers and trays, serviette holders, cigarette tins and match box holders among many other articles. Silver is used in making more expensive objects like tea services, jewellery cases, trays, cutlery and other utility items.

Batik

Colorful, dramatic fabrics designer garments in a wax resist dyeing technique of Indonesian origin but distinctly Sri Lankan design. The batik tradition based on the cultural tradition of Sri Lanka. There are vivid colorful batik styles in Sri Lanka. There are Batik cloths scarves, wall hanging make in the rural areas. The men and women make the batik items in rural area.

Pinnawala

Pinnawala

The Pinnawala elephant Orphanage is situated northwest of the town of Kegalla, Halfway between the present capital Colombo and the ancient royal residence Kandy in the hills of central Sri Lanka. It was establish in 1975 by the Sri Lanka wildlife department in a 25 acre coconut property near the Maha Oya river. The orphanage was originally founded in order to afford care and protection to the many orphaned elephants found in the jungle. As of 2003, there were 65 elephants.

In 1978 the orphanage was taken over by the National Zoological Gardens from the Department of wildlife and a captive breeding program was launched in 1982. Since this time over twenty elephants have been born. The aim of the orphanage is to simulate the natural world. However, there are some exceptions: the elephants are taken to the river twice daily for a bath, and all the babies under three years of age are still bottle fed by the mahouts and volunteers. Each animals is also given around 76kg of green matter a day and around 2 kg from a food bag containing rice bran and maize. They get access to water twice a day, from the river.

The orphanage is very popular and visited daily by many Sri Lanka and foreign tourists. The main attraction is clearly to observe the bathing elephants from` the all river bank as it allows visitors to observe the herd interacting socially, bathing and playing.

This 24 acre elephant orphanage is also breeding place for elephants. Twenty elephants have been born since 1984, and the orphanage has the largest herd of captive elephants in the world. While most of the elephants are healthy, one is blind and one, named Sami, has lost her font left leg due to a land mine.

Ambuluwawa Peak

Ambuluwawa

Ambuluwawa peak situated in the center of Gampola Kingdom established by the great Sinhala King Buvanekabahu IV. (1341-1357AD) was hitherto not put any use. Height of the peak from the mean sea level is 365 feet and from the Gampola town is 1965 feet Mayura Sandesa, the messanger poem written in the 14th Century describes this enchanting rock and the surroundings thus:

When the planets and stars disappear from the sky and when the nectar appears in or drops from flowers on tree tops and when the sun spreads its rays as it rises over the mountain of the east, you may set off from Ambuluwakanda happily.










The Entrance

Sri Lanka Botanical Gardens

Sri Lanka Botanical Gardens

A visit to the Royal garden Peradeniya near Kandy, Hakgala Gardens near Nuwara eliya and Botanical Gardens Gampaha will pay rich dividends. To the otanical, this is indeed a land of plenty. The diversifield climate allows for the growth of tropical as well as sub-tropical trees. The luxuriant undergrowth and tall majestic trees of the wet-zone tropical forest contrast with the arid scub land and talipot palms of the dry north.














In the hills, vegetation varies from the almost treeless patnas of Horton Plains to the dry north. In the hills, Vegetationvaries from the Man's Beard Moss. From March to May, Numerous flowering trees such as the fiery Poincianan regia. The white Mesua ferrera and the cherry blossom-like Tebebuia burst into bloom and flowering orchids include endemic varieties such as the protected Vanda and Wesak Orchids.










National emphasis has also been placed on the human-plant relationship:official recognition has been given to the Na tree (Mesua nagassarium) and the Blue Water Lily (Nymphaea stellatac), as the national tree and flower respectively. Along coast bordering estuaries and lagoons, re the mangrove habits which provide santuary for the islan's diverse coastal fishery resources.

Sri Lankan "Vedda"

Sri Lankan 'vedda'

The terms Vedda and Wanniyala-Aetto are two terms most commonly used to refer to the indigenous people of Sri Lanka. Those who are not of the idigenous decent use the Vedda when referring to the group, but the people themselves use the term Wanniyala-Aetto forest dwellers. The Vedda immigrated to Sri Lanka from India at a time that is unknown. They claim to be the first inhabitants of the country. although there is little proof and much argument on who the first inhabitants actually were.The oroinal veddas lived in rock caves and survived off the land and the animals that they hunted. The original weapon of the Vedda was a bow and arrow, that they constructed themselves, but today the shotgun has replaced that. The veddas do not kill young or pregnant animals; they kill only what they need to survive. The food iis then shared with their family and others. In addition to the animals that they hunt the veddas also eat the fruit and honey that they gather from land. Many of the Vedda people alsp practice a type of agriculture called chena cultivation. It is a slash and burn method which the nw government sanction. Mass ceremonies were held to legally wed those who were already wed according to Vedda belief. It was also ruled that the woman had to take the man's name in marriage.With the new laws it has became very difficult to trace the decent of many of the Vedda people. Death like marriage is also made to be very simplistic. The veddas do not hold any large cremonies and their loved once are quickly placed in the groun. The bodies in a traditional burial covered with juices from the leaves jungle trees or a lime tree.

In the past, people farmed small areas of land in the forest, cultivating them a couple of years, and then letting them rest.The man both hunted and gathered wile the women were just gatherers. Often, the women supplied more food for the family because the man was not always succesful in his hunt The original diet of the Veddas developed over many years to be a vey balanced and nutritious one. However, the government made it illegal to kill wild animals and the most Veddas turned into vegetarians. With this turn illness and obesity were seen for the first time among the people. The group had also never used or abused alcohol until the new government regulations were set into place, then alcoholismand mental illness were also seen for the first time.The government restrictions also grought o ther big changes. Their culture and language slowly started to vanish, and today there is not an original Vedda language remaining, and there is at the most, only a few hundred Vedd people left that have not inter-married with other races and still practice the old ways of living. Many traditions and religeous rituals began to disappear. The original Vedda religion was actually a type of cult, based on the worship of ancestral spirits, known as Ne yaku. They asked for the blessings of the Ne yaku and other spirits in order to keep the spirits of their dead happy. They feared that the spirits would bring them tragedy. The Veddas believed that their deceased were always with them and they weren't actually deas untill everybody that knew them was also dead. The Vedda marriage ceremony was one of simplicity. It involved the woman trying a bark rope, that she had woven, around hey husband to be's waist to show that she accepted him as her mate. Vedda woman are in sevral ways considered the equals of man. In many cultures a person's is traced through he man but in the Vedda culture it is traditionally traced through the woman. When a man and a woman married they took her name.

The clothing of the Veddas has also changed. The traditional dress of the men wearing a loin and the oman wearing a piece of material that covered the area between their naval and their knees. The men now wear a sarong anf the woman wear a piece of clothing that covers from the breast-line to the knees. Almost all activities of the Veddas follow the changing of th seasons. The Veddas year is determined by two main monsoons. the first, lasts from June to August and covers the sothern and western coastal areas and the central hill country. The second, lasts from November to the end of January and covers the nothern and eastern parts of the island, which id the area where the Veddas live. The time spaces between the two major monsoons bring hunderstorm. It these rains do not come the Veddas experience rought and food becomes hard to come by. The Vedda culture has beendeeply affected by the goverment Sri Lankaand many one day cease to exits. The few original Vedda that are still out there have changed dramaticlly. They no longer speak their native tongue and many other aspects to their lives have changed due to the laws they were forced to live under. The Vedda culture is one of uniqueness ut may one no longer be here for us to study. It has already lost many of its original features and may soon lose them all.

Ayurveda

Ayurveda

The concept of the ayurveda is old as the civilization of mankind. This had taken many turns inherited many an ideoloy along the passage of time, getting refined in to a fine art. The word 'ayurveda' is made of two syllables. The first part 'ayur' means long life, 'veda' menas scince. A mam who wishes to live a long and healthy life. The basic rule or the law is to live among and to take care of neself with nature. The creatures living on the surface cannot live under water and those that live under water cannot live on surface. Nature is considered as the mother of all begings, and that all living creatures are dependant on nature for their survival i.e everything revolves around nature and nature itself brings up, preseves its creations. Ayurveda strictly follows the rules of nature, as it points out:what, when, why, how, how, much:to,eat,work, rest, wash, bathe, which, help us to lead perfectly healthy life. There are two divisions in Ayurvedic treatment.

01. Toprotect the health of oneself
02. To take care of the sick

To lead a healthy life one has to follow the ayurvedic principles. To take care of the sick,the ayurvedic physician has to get a thorough knowledge so that he could determine whether the invalid is ill mentally or physically or both. Where for each patient, the physician has to diagnose the root of the cause and treat it accordingly. Since when the root of the illness is destoyed, the illnesss would not rise again.

Almost all prescriptions used in curing are produced by raw materials found naturally, where no artificial substances are used. These would come from roots, stems, barks, leaves, flowers, seeds, fruits & nuts of many a plant. From animals:mils, honey, pearls, musk, shell and from earth iron, gold, silver & copper are used. Ayurvedic drugs do no harm to the organs of the body and do not give rise to any side effects. It has ben shown medical stuies that drugs used in ayurvedic act as nutrients.

The treatment done in ayurveda vary from simple oral treatment to more complex acupuncturing, electro treatment and inoculation. Panchakarma is a another effective form of ayurvedic treatment.

Various effets that take place when the human system grows old could be minimized or reversed by applying principles of ayurvedic treatment.

Ayurveda is an ancient form of healing, which had been improved through generations of healers who have through of nothing but the well being of the living. One find many proficient physician of ayurveda in Sri Lanka.