Shopping in Sri Lanka can take many forms haggling with a handicraft-seller while sunbathing on the beach choosing fruit from the traditional village store, 'the kade' while side-stepping sacks of rice or checking out the bargain-priced latest international fashions (Sri Lanka is a major garment exporter) while enjoying the ambiance of a luxurious shopping centre in Colombo.
And there’s much inbetween. Visit a handicraft shop and familiarize yourself with traditional designs such as makara (a mythical animal, lion, swan, elephant and lotus which are most evident in brasswork (boxes, trays, lanterns, vases) and silverware (ornately carved and filigree jewellery, tea-sets) that make excellent souvenirs. In addition, ritual masks, lacquer ware, batik and handloom textiles, lace, and wood carvings are popular. Last but certainly not least, Sri Lanka has the widest variety of precious stones among the world’s gem producing countries - blue sapphires, star sapphires, rubies, cat’s eye, garnets, moonstones, aquamarines and topazes being just a dazzling handful. What’s more, Sri Lanka naturally has a tradition in jewellery-making, so you can bring your gems to life.
And there’s much inbetween. Visit a handicraft shop and familiarize yourself with traditional designs such as makara (a mythical animal, lion, swan, elephant and lotus which are most evident in brasswork (boxes, trays, lanterns, vases) and silverware (ornately carved and filigree jewellery, tea-sets) that make excellent souvenirs. In addition, ritual masks, lacquer ware, batik and handloom textiles, lace, and wood carvings are popular. Last but certainly not least, Sri Lanka has the widest variety of precious stones among the world’s gem producing countries - blue sapphires, star sapphires, rubies, cat’s eye, garnets, moonstones, aquamarines and topazes being just a dazzling handful. What’s more, Sri Lanka naturally has a tradition in jewellery-making, so you can bring your gems to life.
Batik
Over the past century, the Indonesian art of batik-making has become firmly established in Sri Lanka. The Batik industry in Sri Lanka is a small scale industry which can employ individual design talent and creativity. Its economic benefit is profit from dealing with foreign customers. It is now the most visible of the island's crafts with galleries and factories, large and small, having sprung up in many tourist areas. Rows of small stalls selling batiks can be found all around the Srilanka. Mainly Sigiriya, Galle and Kandy. Batiks incorporate many motifs and colours, some traditional, others highly contemporary and individual. Many display a vigorousness of design related to their origin. The material created by the batik-makers is used to produce distinctive dresses, shirts, sarongs and beachwear well-suited for tropical climes. Many tourists at seaside resorts such as Hikkaduwa wear batik clothes throughout their holiday. Apart from clothes, tablecloths, wall pictures, beach clothes, pure cotton and silk, men's and ladies' wear and bed covers are popular as a reminder of a visit to Sri Lanka.
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Gems
SriLanka’s gem industry has a very long and colorful history. Sri Lanka was affectionately known as Ratna-Dweepa which means Gem Island. The name is a reflection of its natural wealth. Marco Polo wrote that the island had the best sapphires, topazes, amethysts, Ruby and other gems in the world. Sri Lanka has the highest density of gem deposits compared to its landmass.Ratnapura contains the most gem deposits and derived its name from the gem industry. Ratnapura means “city of gems”. The blue sapphires from Sri Lanka are known as Ceylon Sapphire. Ceylon Sapphires are reportedly unique in colour, clarity and lustre compared to the blue sapphires from other countries. If some one buy the gems, Thilanka Tours supported to take the certificate of government gem authority .
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Tea
It was as far back as the year 1824 in which the British brought a tea plant from China to Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was known at the time). It was planted in the Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya and is considered to have been the first non-commercial tea plant in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan tea (known for generations as Ceylon Tea) carries behind it a heritage and success story like no other. A product that began as a diversification experiment in 1867 spanning just 19 acres of land has today surpassed all geographical borders to satisfy 19% of global demand. Reputed for its signature taste and aroma, Sri Lanka has become the world's third largest tea exporter to the world, the country's largest employer and has the distinction of supplying tea to the Olympic and Commonwealth Games. It is a great equalizer, demanding attention from the counter of the smallest eatery to the most exclusive tea-bars in the world.Tourists and export markets alike have access to famous unorthodox variants and health beverages from Sri Lanka such as green tea, instant tea, bio tea and flavoured tea
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Masks
Ambalangoda is a coastal town located in Galle District, Southern Province of Sri Lanka. the town is famous for its ancient devil masks and devil dancers. The town is renowned for the manufacture of wooden masks and puppets. The traditional masks are carved from light Balsa like Kaduru wood (Nux vomica). Kaduru trees grow in the marshy lands bordering paddy fields. The wood is smoke dried for a week in preparation. The hand carved and hand painted masks in traditional dance dramas are both vibrant and colorful. Masks are created for three different types of dancing rituals: 'Kolam', which tell mocking stories of traditional Sri Lankan colonial life; 'Sanni', or devil dancing masks, used in a type of exorcism ceremony to heal people of persisting illnesses believed to be inflicted by demons; and 'Raksha' masks, which are used in festivals and processions. The Naga Raksha (Cobra demon) mask of the 'Raksha Kolama' (demon dance), consists of a ferocious face with bulging, popping & staring eyes, a bloodthirsty carnivorous tongue lolling out of wide mouth armoured and armed to the hilt with set of fanglike teeth, all topped by a set of cobra hoods.
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Ceramic & Porcelain
Unique, distinctive and elegant; going well above and beyond other Asian competitors, Sri Lankan ceramic products can now be found in top department stores including Macy's, Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn in the USA, El Corte Ingles in Spain, Debenhams and House of Frazer in UK. High quality products and design confidentiality are guaranteed through the inherent benefits of a highly skilled workforce, excellent factory level management, state-of-the-art technology, research and development facilities, high ethical standards and an abundant supply of raw materials for the industry. Sri Lankan porcelain upholds comparatively superior characteristics including a high level of whiteness, high translucency, high scratch resistance and high thermal shock. Sri Lanka exports a wide product range of porcelain tableware, glazed wall and floor tiles, and ornamental & utility ware including figurines, decorations, kitchen utensils, bathroom accessories and studio pottery. The availability of a vast range of body shapes and intricate decoration techniques give Sri Lanka a competitive edge in delivering high quality elegant, contemporary and traditional ceramic and porcelain designs to the world. Sri Lanka attracted Noritake - a well known Japanese brand - to invest in the industry in 1972. Now, the country proudly exports its own brands of excellence: Dankotuwa, Elan, Royal Fernwood, in addition to products marked with Noritake's renowned stamp. Sri Lanka also manufactures products for reputed international licensors including Walt Disney, Universal Studios, Lucas Arts, Warner Bros and Walmart to name a few.
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Fashion Wear
Fashion is a popular style or practice, especially in clothing, footwear, accessories, makeup, body piercing, or furniture. Fashion is a distinctive and often habitual trend in the style in which a person dresses. It is the prevailing styles in behaviour and the newest creations of textile designers. Because the more technical term costume is regularly linked to the term "fashion", the use of the former has been relegated to special senses like fancy dress or masquerade wear, while "fashion" generally means clothing, including the study of it. Handloom textiles are produced in Sri Lanka within the confines of a small-scale industry that generate employment to rural women. Among the Handloom textiles produced are household linen such as bedclothes and towels, upholstery materials, furnishing materials such as curtaining, cushions covers, saris and sarongs. Books, notebooks, albums, and even writing pads are now clothed with this handcrafted material of textile. The handloom woven cotton and silk textiles of vibrant colors have been popular among the locals as well as the tourists. The combination of traditional designs blended with modern trends in modern material woven in new processing techniques has made export quality Sri Lanka Handlooms access the competitive international market. Shopping has become a motive to travel and is now a major tourist activity. Visitors are increasingly choosing shopping as a way to experience local culture through an engagement with local products and local craftspeople, and some destinations provide special tourist shopping activities for tourists to shop for goods. As a niche market segment within shopping tourism, the economic importance of fashion tourism cannot be under-estimated.
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Art & Craft
Art and craft in Sri Lanka is very famous, especially the crafts are produce by local raw materials which are abundantly available in nature and treated as a cottage industry.
This industry has a sound market locally and tendency among foreign tourists. Tourists arrive in Sri Lanka has a very great likeness towards them and never hesitate to by these art and crafts to be taken to their countries. Sri Lanka has a varied heritage for traditional art and crafts, and carries forward from one generation to another in keeping with their identity and techniques. Most of these items are assembled at rural craft centers, and are also displayed at many a number of exhibition centers throughout the country. These handicrafts are loved in home and abroad. The importance of about arts and crafts in Sri Lanka is that the age old tradition are still maintained and carried forward. The raw materials that are necessary for making the handicrafts are available abundantly by nature, all it requires is to have the tools and wherewithal necessary to create priceless masterpieces! |