Local traditions and culture in Sri Lanka

Both in Colombo and in the Tamil areas of the country, you can find elaborate Hindu temples scattered about. Hinduism is a very complex religious system that is very simple at its core, but gets extremely complicated fast. Similar to Catholicism, Hinduism’s success can be attributed to how it can be morphed into encompassing the local belief system. This has led to the existence of many gods - though technically, they are all one and the same. There seem to be as many subgroups within Hinduism as there are gods. Some do not acknowledge Hinduism as a religion, but more as a way of life in the similar fashion of Buddhism. The temples themselves are very dramatically represented and painted. Even the smallest local temples take on a surreal appearance to the non-initiated.

'LAMPREIS' (also spelled 'Lampries') The name is originally Dutch, and is a labor-intensive meal usually of a mixed-meat curry, plus spices, over a short grain rice and steamed in the banana leaf, tightly wrapped; most often used for a large group, or as a meal that can be taken away on a special occasion, so that no one has to do the cooking on site........good, too, as a local picnic meal.

All my friends seem to thoroughly enjoy it! seen here at a family gathering after church, picked up en route. You will see signs where they are available at food concessions, or can be ordered at restaurants ahead of time.

Buddhism is the most commonly practised religion in Sri Lanka, followed by Hinduism. Christians and Muslims make up the rest of the religious diversity.

It is quite common to find a church, Buddhist Temple, Hindu Temple and a Mosque all in close proximity.
I have met and had great conversations with Buddhists, Roman Catholics, Muslims and Hindus on my trip. `

Remember to dress appropriately when visiting places of worship!

The smiles of the Sri Lankan people is most probably the thing I ‘ll remember most of my visit to this country.

The people are very friendly and do like to talk.

The fact that South Africa is a cricketing nation, made conversations much easier – as the Sri Lankans love cricket.

I also found the people I met to be very well educated and informed.

English is widely spoken.

There are many sweet shops in Sri Lanka.
I was the most impressed with wattalappam. It has a consistency similar to crème caramel, but coconut, jaggery and cardamom gives it its distinct taste.
The other very nice sweet I had is called kitul hakuru – which is almost like a fudge – but much nicer!

You have to have Rice and curry when in Sri Lanka. It is an elaborate meal with quite a variety of dishes (sambals, chutney etc).

The curry tend to be very spicy and hot – but has a great taste to it. Although many different varieties of rice are on sale in the markets, it seems that the short grain variety is most popular.

You can buy Sri Lankan Curry mix in supermarkets like Keells and Cargills.

Lion Lager and Three Coins are some of the local beers you will find in Sri Lanka. The Lion lager also comes in a “Strong” which has more than 8% alcohol.
The local beers are not expensive at all.

You can also get Carlsberg and other international beers.

I got the idea that arrack (?refined toddy) is more popular with the locals than beer.

You can hazard a guess at who lives in a village by the livestock you see around the place, if it’s just chickens it’s probably a Buddhist community, if there’s goats it may mean Muslim people but if its pigs it’s likely to be Christians.