The Beautiful Island of Sri Lanka Quiz

Answer: Kandy

The Perahera is a Buddhist festival held in July and August each year and lasting twelve days and nights. The focal point is the 'Dalada Maligawa', or 'Temple of the Tooth', where the last remaining part of Buddha, his tooth, is preserved. The sacred tooth is paraded each year during the festival. The tooth was originally brought to Sri Lanka from India in the fourth century, but the modern ceremony dates from the reign of King Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe (1747-1781) who believed that the population of Kandy should be given the opportunity to honour the relic, which had previously been the personal property of the monarchy.

Question posed by playmate1111

Answer: Cinnamon

The scientific name for cinnamon is Cinnamomum zeylanicum, with the latter part of the name coming from Ceylon, the former name of Sri Lanka. It also grows in southwest India and Myanmar. Cinnamon was used by the Egyptians in embalming and in medieval times it was used to treat coughs and throat infections. At one time Sri Lanka held a monopoly on production of the spice, but this declined as cultivation spread to other areas. Coffee is believed to have been introduced by Arab traders or pilgrims, although the plant was not used for drinking, with the leaves being used to flavour food. Rubber trees were first planted in 1876 and tea was brought from China by the British in 1824, becoming a commercial enterprise in 1867.

Question supplied by rossian

Answer: Aberdeen Falls

The falls are named in honour of the city of Aberdeen and are situated in a tea estate with the same name. The falls have been greatly affected by the construction of the Norton Bridge Dam, which has dramatically decreased the volume of water flowing over them. There is an ancient legend which says that there are caves behind the falls which connect it with the Lakshapana Falls. Although there are caves behind and next to the falls no connection between them has yet been discovered.

Question provided by szabs

Answer: Portugal

The Portuguese, under Lourenço de Almeida, arrived to find the island divided into seven different kingdoms too busy fighting each other to be able to fend off invaders. They settled mainly in the coastal regions of the west and south and established a capital city at Colombo on the west coast. Colombo is still often referred to as Sri Lanka's capital, although the official capital is now Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte which adjoins Colombo. The Portuguese occupation was a time of religious persecution with Christianity being imposed on the Buddhist Sinhalese population and the Islamic Moors. The country received help from the Dutch who established their own colony in 1656 and the name was anglicised to Ceylon when the British took control of the island.

Question written by rossian

Answer: Open air theatre

Sarachchandra lived from 1914-1996. The open air theatre was constructed in the 1950s and consists of a semi-circle of stone steps facing the performance area. It was built in the same style as ancient Greek theatres, and sounds can be clearly heard even in the back rows. The University of Peradeniya, located in the Hanthana Mountain Range, was founded in 1942 as the University of Ceylon. Education in Sri Lanka is considered to be a fundamental right and the country boasts a literacy rate of 92%. In 1945 reforms recommended by the Executive Committee of Education were implemented including the provision of free education and the payment of teachers' wages by the government.

Question written by mlcmlc

Answer: Sigiriya

Sigiriya, or the 'Lion Rock Fortress', was declared a world heritage site in 1982. A fortified palace was built in the fifth century by King Kassapa on the peak of a rock which was over 150 metres in height to protect himself from the attacks of Dhatusena. The most famous aspects of the site are twenty-two well preserved frescoes of young women painted on the sheer rock. It is believed that there may have been over five hundred pictures originally. The entrance was guarded by a statue of a lion at the base of the rock, with the gateway being between its paws, which are now all that remain of it.

Question created by szabs

Answer: Northeast

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were formed in 1976 by Velupillai Prabhakaran to carry out attacks on government targets. Their aim was to have an independent Tamil state in the north eastern area of Sri Lanka. The organisation carried out many assassinations including those of Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993 and the 1991 killing of Rajiv Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India. Following failed attempts at peace negotiations, the Sri Lankan army launched a campaign in 2006 which eventually led to the death of Prabhakaran on 18 May 2009. A new leader, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, was appointed by the LTTE but he was quickly captured and hostilities ceased. Thirty-two different countries listed the LTTE as a terrorist organisation, having carried out crimes including, but not limited to, sea piracy, arms smuggling, extortion and drug trafficking.

Question supplied by mlcmlc

Answer: Adam's Bridge

Rama's Bridge, or Rama Setu, stretches between Pamban Island off the coast of Tamil Nadu, India and Mannar Island off the coast of Sri Lanka. The bridge is 30km (18 miles) long and is a chain of limestone shoals. Hindus believe that the bridge was created by Shri Laksman and Shri Rama in order to find Shri Rama's wife, Sita, who had been kidnapped by Ravana, the king of the demons. Evidence has been found suggesting that the bridge was a former land connection between India and Sri Lanka. The name of Adam's Bridge appears to be of more recent origin, with the earliest reference being dated to 1804 and based on a legend that Adam used the bridge to reach the mountain called Adam's Peak on Sri Lanka.

Question created by playmate1111

Answer: Theravada

The elephant population has been severely impacted through the years due to the trade in ivory from their tusks and the acquisition of trophies. One of the largest issues is that the expanding human population requires more land. The Department of Wildlife Conservation actively works with the landholders so that the elephants are not restricted just to the protected areas. Theravada is a name for the traditional Buddhist religion widely practised in Sri Lanka. The other three options are genuine wildlife parks in various parts of the country.

Question posed by mlcmlc

Answer: Tsunami

Known by various names including the Indian Ocean tsunami, South Asian tsunami and the Boxing Day tsunami, as it happened on 26 December, the tsunami was triggered by an undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Most of the countries bordering the Indian Ocean suffered massive damage and loss of life, with over 230,000 people losing their lives. Sri Lanka sustained a large amount of damage particularly on its southern and eastern coasts. Estimates of casualties, confirmed dead and missing, are in the region of 35,000 to 40,000 in total.

Question supplied by rossian