Kingdom of Ruhuna

The Kingdom of Ruhuna was a medieval era Sinhala kingdom located in southern part of Sri Lanka. The capital was known as Magama, near modern Tissamaharama in the Southern Province. The boundaries of the Kingdom of Ruhuna are Mahaveli River from North, and Kalu Ganga River from North West.

While the majority of the people of Ruhuna are Buddhists, the rest are composed of the followers of Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. The culture is mainly built upon the teachings of the Buddha. Many ancient Buddhist temples are found throughout Ruhuna. The Kiriwehera in Kataragama, the Gotapabbatha vihara in Godawaya, Thissamaharamaya and other temples and dagabas are of great historical value. Kataragama and Devinuwara are considered sacred places because of the temples dedicated to God Kataragama and God Vishnu respectively, who believed from ancient times to be guarding the people and land of Sri Lanka. The serene statues of the Buddha built in the recent past remain evidence of the profundity of the artists of Ruhuna. Concerning biodiversity and ecological variation, Ruhuna stands a dominant landmark in the world. The Sinharaja rain forest and the Bundala and Yala national parks have been recognised all over the world as important heritage sites. Mean while the corral reefs of the southern ocean strip are of extremely high biodiversity.

Ruhuna and its past Ruhuna, one of the three kingdoms of Sri Lanka some centuries back in history, still remains in glory and pride, even after many social and political upheavals caused by foreign invasions and natural disasters. The reason is clear; Ruhuna has been blessed with invaluable resources in terms of people, terrain, flora and fauna, climate and geography; and the people of Ruhuna have played an incomparable role in every aspect of the life of Sri Lanka including the culture, knowledge transmission, trade, industry, defence, etc. The beautiful golden southern beach extending from the historical city of Galle to the river of Palatupana supports hundreds of thousands people in earning a decent living by fishing, tourism, agriculture, and small industries and draws the attention of the rest of the world who are in search of places of scenic beauty to spend their holiday.
The ancient ports in Kirinda and Godawaya do still serve as fishing harbours. Due to the obstacles faced in transport along the land route famous as the Silk Road, many ancient merchants used the sea route. Ancient records show that this was known as the silk road of the sea, muhudu seda mavatha. The ports along the Ruhuna coast proved to be ideal harbours for merchant ships and thereby became popular among voyagers. This made Sri Lanka famous in the world and promoted her products in international markets. Traditional Fishing Methods of South
				As a result, Sri Lanka has maintained commercial and diplomatic relations with a considerable number of ancient kingdoms in the world. Pliny records that a delegation of Sri Lankans was received by the Emperor of Rome subsequent to the assistance and hospitality extended by the people of Sri Lanka to a group of sailors from Rome stranded on a Sri Lankan beach. This establishes that Sri Lanka's international relations come from a long way in history. All these relationships were built upon the silk road of the sea in which Ruhuna has played a main role. Light house, Dondra
As the records of the history reveal, since the seventh century Dondra has been the homeland of the royal family of Ruhuna and their princess was married to the royal family of Anuradhapura. Their son king Manawamma started the lambakarna royal family which lasted through out the latter part of the kingdom of Anuradhapura and extended to the kingdom of Polonnaruwa. This highlights the involvement of Ruhuna in ancient Sri Lanka and her administration and statecraft.
The Culture of Ruhuna Ruhuna or the down south of Sri Lanka is famous for its unique culture from ancient times. The culture based on the fishing community still dominating along the Ruhuna coast. Several fishing harbours are scattered along the Ruhuna coast. Hambantota, Godawaya, Dondra are to name a few. Traditional fishing methods and equipment are still being used by the community and large scale modernized fishing also can be seen. Traditional Fishing Vessel
Hambantota Fishing Harbour				Godawaya Fishing Harbour
Traditional wooden masks and puppets made in Ambalangoda are world renowned for their artistic value. This traditional industry has been able to attract tourists coming from different parts of the world. A traditional mask
				Ancient customs, for example, rituals carried out in invoking blessings of the ancient local gods upon the people and their property, or in appeasing the devils who are a threat to the people's existence, play an important role in the lives of the people of Ruhuna. These rituals are considered great cultural events because of their aesthetic value and are staged today as dance forms An event in a ritual, a man dressed to a devil
Ruhuna has been the cradle for numerous works of art and literature which have entertained the people for generations, by enhancing their literacy and perception of life. Literary giants in the calibre of Martin Wickramasinghe and Kumarathunga Munidasa are immortal in the minds of the Sri Lankans for their great writings such as Madolduwa and Magul Kama etc. The well-known woman poet Gajaman Nona and the famous royal jester Andare, both had a great command in satire, are always remembered with Ruhuna and its cultural treasures.
Kumarathunga Munidasa - Famous Author				Gajaman Nona - Famous Poetess from Ruhuna
Influence of Invaders in the colonial period was also a considerable factor in modelling the lifestyles of the people of South. Galle fort and Matara fort are still standing out with their pride providing evidence of the past and their culture. Today these places have become tourist attractions of the down south.				Galle fort
				The Church in the fort
Religious Background
Gotapabbatha vihara in Godawaya				Devinuwara Temple of God "Visnu"
				Weherahena Buddha statue
Wawurukannala colossal Buddha statue
Ruhuna in Ecology Perspective
						One of the best sites for bird watching
Sinharaja Rainforest - Famous all over the world for richness in biodiversity					Bundala national park
Yala National Park - One of the best wild parks in Sri Lanka
Tourism		So there is no wonder about Ruhuna becoming a tourist attraction. Many tourists especially from Europe come here to enjoy communion with nature with the atmospheric changes by the sea, with the sight of wild animals and birds, and with the company of the unsophisticated people of Sri Lanka.