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Sri Lanka, historically known as Ceylon, and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian peninsula by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. It shares a maritime border with the Maldives in the southwest and India in the northwest.

Sri Lanka has a population of approximately 22 million and is home to several cultures, languages and ethnicities. The Sinhalese people form the majority of the population, followed by the Sri Lankan Tamils, who are the largest minority group and are concentrated in northern Sri Lanka; both groups have played an influential role in the island's history. Other long-established groups include the Moors, Indian Tamils, Burghers, Malays, Chinese, and Vedda.

Sri Lanka's documented history goes back 3,000 years, with evidence of prehistoric human settlements dating back 125,000 years. The earliest known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, known collectively as the Pali Canon, date to the fourth Buddhist council, which took place in 29 BCE. Also called the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, or the Granary of the East, Sri Lanka's geographic location and deep harbours have made it of great strategic importance, from the earliest days of the ancient Silk Road trade route to today's so-called maritime Silk Road. Because its location made it a major trading hub, it was already known to both East Asians and Europeans as long ago as the Anuradhapura period. During a period of great political crisis in the Kingdom of Kotte, the Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka and sought to control its maritime trade, with a part of Sri Lanka subsequently becoming a Portuguese possession. After the Sinhalese-Portuguese war, the Dutch colonial empire and the Kingdom of Kandy took control of those areas. Dutch Ceylon was taken by the British Empire, which extended control over the whole island, colonising it as British Ceylon from 1815 to 1948. A national movement for political independence arose in the early 20th century, and 1948, Ceylon became a dominion. It was succeeded by the republic of Sri Lanka in 1972. Sri Lanka's more recent history was marred by the 26-year Sri Lankan Civil War, which began in 1983 and ended in 2009, when the Sri Lanka Armed Forces defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. (Full article...)

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Patanangala, a rock outcrop in the Yala beach

Yala (යාල) National Park is the most visited and second largest national park in Sri Lanka, bordering the Indian Ocean. The park consists of five blocks, three of which are now open to the public. There are also two adjoining parks, Kumana National Park or 'Yala East' and Lunugamvehera National Park. The blocks have individual names, such as Palatupana (Block 1). It is situated in the southeastern region of the country, in the Southern Province and Uva Province. The park covers 979 square kilometres (378 sq mi) and is located about 300 kilometres (190 mi) from Colombo. Yala was designated as a wildlife sanctuary in 1900, along with Wilpattu, designated in 1938, as the first two designated national parks in Sri Lanka. The park is best known for its variety of wildlife and is important conservation of Sri Lankan elephants, Sri Lankan leopards and aquatic birds.

There are six national parks and three wildlife sanctuaries in the vicinity of Yala. Among the largest is Lunugamvehera National Park. The park is situated in the dry semi-arid climatic region and rain is received mainly during the northeast monsoon. Yala hosts a variety of ecosystems ranging from moist monsoon forests to freshwater and marine wetlands. It is one of the 70 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Sri Lanka. Yala harbors 215 bird species including six endemic species of Sri Lanka. The number of mammals that has been recorded from the park is 44, and it has one of the highest leopard densities in the world. (Full article...)

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de Silva in the 1970s

Lynn Alton de Silva (16 June 1919 – 22 May 1982) was a Sri Lankan theologian and Methodist minister. He was the founder and editor of one of the first theological journals on Buddhist-Christian encounter called Dialogue (1961–1981), chief translator for the revision of the Old Testament of the Sinhalese Bible published as New Sinhala Bible (1973–1982), and director of the Ecumenical Institute for Study and Dialogue (EISD) in Sri Lanka (1962–1982). Lynn de Silva is widely regarded as one of the foremost Christian practitioners of Buddhist-Christian dialogue in Sri Lanka, and also as one of the pioneers in this dialogue.

Lynn de Silva's book titled Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices in Sri Lanka (de Silva 1974) was mentioned in two journals in the early 1980s as being unparalleled as an introduction to Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Possibly his most notable contribution to theology is the book titled The Problem of the Self in Buddhism and Christianity (de Silva 1979), in which he points out an age-old misconception held by Buddhists and Christians that the notion of an immortal soul is a biblical teaching. This book is considered by Schmidt-Leukel to be one of the classics in Buddhist-Christian dialogue, and one which has become well known among those actively involved in this dialogue. The book was also included in John Hick's Library of Philosophy and Religion series. (Full article...)

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Statue of Buddha in Mihintale situated in the site of Missaka Pabbatha.

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