Sri Lankans enjoy a unique, humble and artistic lifestyle and they deeply enjoy entertaining and touching hearts with their Hospitality which has been known for centuries. Culture and values of Sri Lanka is based around the Fusion of Traditional Forms of Art, Dance and Music. It is one that fascinates many due to its uniqueness and mystifying diversity. Nourished by Buddhism in the early 2nd century B.C and also influenced by ancient Indian invasions, the early tribes of the Yaksha and Naga cultured the inhabitants of this tiny island before 300 B.C. using architecture, agriculture and irrigation.

The small nation saw the rise and fall of many great and powerful kings who lead the people and developed the country with their bravery and intelligence. With the fall of the kings came the Colonization of the Western World when Sri Lanka experienced Portuguese, Dutch and British rule throughout the early 16th to the mid 20th centuries. This introduced democracy, modern education, legal, commercial and agricultural systems that added more value to Sri Lankan culture making it even more diverse.

Customs and traditions are deeply ingrained in Sri Lankan society and have been passed on from one generation to the next, over a Period of 2,500 years. These traditions are intertwined with day to day life of the island’s four ethnic groups, the Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and Burghers and their religions, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. The traditional greeting is with clasped palms, a head nod followed by the words ‘Ayubowan’ which translates to ‘May you live long’. The equivalent greeting in Tamil is ‘Vanakkam’, whilst the Muslims will say ‘Assalamu Alaikum’.