Hasthi Voyage Sri Lanka

28/08/2019

Hasthi voyage welcomes free visa on arrival facility to 48 countries

Colombo, August 05, 2019:
Hasthi voyage welcomes the launch of the free visa on arrival facility that the Government of Sri Lanka is providing to citizens of 48 countries in Australasia, Europe and North America from 1st August for a period of six months as part of a concerted effort to boost tourism into the Indian Ocean island nation.

The list of countries are:

Australia,Hungary,Philippines,Austria,Iceland,Poland,Belgium,India,Portugal,Bulgaria,Indonesia,Romania,Cambodia,Ireland,Russia,Canada,Israel,Singapore,China,Italy,Slovakia,Croatia,japan,Slovenia,Cyprus,Latvia,South Korea,Czechia,Lithuania,Spain,Denmark,Luxembourg,
,Sweden,Estonia,Malaysia,Switzerland,Finland,Malta,Thailand,France,Netherlands,Ukraine,Germany,New Zealand,United Kingdom,Greece,Norway,United States of America

28/08/2019

MARSKS OF SRI LANKA

The history of masks that are unique to Sri Lanka dates back to the 1800’s which were used to portray various characters in popular folk tales and for devil dancing.

Sri Lanka has inherited and been influenced by these traditions of mask making and devil dancing mainly from the cities of Kerala and Malabar in India while Sri Lankan artisans have managed to incorporate more decorative techniques and colour in the masks that are manufactured today. The craft of mask making has been perfected over the years and craftsmen have been able to provide new and improved designs when compared to the ones that were found in ancient Sri Lanka.
Other than devil dancing, there have been evidences that masks were used in a form of dancing during the early times in Ceylon.

Currently, the art of mask making is concentrated among a few families who reside in Ambalangoda, Wathugedara and Benthara as well as some parts along the Western coast. This craftsmanship has been passed from generations within the same families and has been a family trade since its introduction. The timber that is used to make these decorative and colourful masterpieces should always be light and durable and therefore trees such as “Rukkattana” and “Diyakanduru” are used

28/08/2019