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Agency overview | |
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Jurisdiction | Sri Lanka |
Website | www.museum.gov.lk |
The Department of National Museums is a non-ministerial government department in Sri Lanka responsible for maintaining the National Museums. There are other museum in the country run by the Department of Archaeology and the Central Cultural Fund, Sri Lanka.
Colombo is the commercial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo metropolitan area has a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 in the Municipality. It is the financial centre of the island and a tourist destination. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to the Greater Colombo area which includes Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the legislative capital of Sri Lanka, and Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. Colombo is often referred to as the capital since Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is itself within the urban/suburban area of Colombo. It is also the administrative capital of the Western Province and the district capital of Colombo District. Colombo is a busy and vibrant city with a mixture of modern life, colonial buildings and monuments.
Anuradhapura is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka and the capital of Anuradhapura District. Anuradhapura is one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka, famous for its well-preserved ruins of an ancient Sinhala civilisation. It was the third capital of the kingdom of Rajarata, following the kingdoms of Tambapanni and Upatissa Nuwara.
Galle is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, 119 kilometres (74 mi) from Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital of Galle District.
Tourism in Sri Lanka is growing rapidly. For centuries, Sri Lanka has been a popular place of attraction for foreign travelers. The Chinese traveler Fa-Hien visited Sri Lanka as early as the 410's AD/CE, and in the twelfth century, Italian explorer Marco Polo claimed Sri Lanka to be the "best island of its size in the world".
The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. The country comes under the province of Colombo and is made up of 12 dioceses including one archdiocese. There are approximately 1.2 million Catholics in Sri Lanka representing around 6.1% of the total population.
The Toluvila statue is a seated image of the Buddha discovered in 1900 in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, that dates back to the 4th or 5th century. Carved out of granite, it is one of the best-preserved sculptures from Sri Lanka and is similar to the Samadhi statue of Anuradhapura. Some features of the statue indicate that it may have been influenced by the Mathura School. The statue is now kept at the National Museum of Colombo.
The Sri Lanka national rugby union team, known as the Tuskers, represents Sri Lanka in men's international rugby union. The team has yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup. They have the longest tradition of organised club rugby in Asia, dating back to 1879, which was just 8 years after the founding of the world's first rugby union in England. They regularly compete in the Asian Five Nations tournament and are currently in Division I. In the 2010 tournament, they made it to the finals beating Chinese Taipei 37 to 7.
The Colombo National Museum, also known as the Sri Lanka National Museum, is a museum in Colombo and the largest in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1877 and maintained by the Department of National Museums, it holds collections of significant importance to Sri Lanka, such as the regalia of the Kandyan monarchs, as well as many other exhibits relating the country's cultural and natural heritage.
Christianity is a minority religion in Sri Lanka. It was introduced to the island in first century, probably in AD 72. Traditionally, after Thomas the Apostle's visit in Kerala in AD 52, Christianity is said to have been introduced to Sri Lanka because of its close geographical and commercial ties.
Maharagama is an outer suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka on the High-Level (A4) Road about 10 km (6.2 mi) from the centre of the commercial capital. It developed rapidly in the 1980s as a dormitory suburb. Governed by the Maharagama Urban Council, the town possesses facilities like supermarkets, department stores, clothing, food and beverages shops to fulfill the needs of citizens.
Deshamanya Nissanka Parakrama Wijeyeratne, known as Nissanka Wijeyeratne, was a Sri Lankan politician, civil servant, diplomat and English language poet. He was also the Diyawadana Nilame of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy from 1975 to 1985. At the time of death he was serving as the chairman of The Law and Society Trust in Sri Lanka.
The prehistory of Sri Lanka covers the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and early Iron Age of the country until the Pre Anuradhapura period in 543 BC.
There are 24 Municipal councils in Sri Lanka, which are the legislative bodies that preside over the largest cities and first tier municipalities in the country. Introduced in 1987 through the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, municipal councils became a devolved subject under the Provincial Councils in the Local Government system of Sri Lanka. Until 2017 municipal councils collectively governed 2,765,533 people within a 698 square kilometer area. There were 445 Councillors in total, ranging from 53 to 9 per council.
Sri Lanka has a free and universal health care system. It scores higher than the regional average in healthcare having a high Life expectancy and a lower maternal and infant death rate than its neighbors. It is known for having one of the world's earliest known healthcare systems and has its own indigenous medicine system.
The Anuradhapura cross is a form of the Christian cross symbol. It is the most ancient symbol of Christianity in Sri Lanka.
Anuradhapura Folk Museum is a folk museum of Sri Lanka. It is situated near the Anuradhapura Archaeological Museum. The museum was established on August 22, 1971.
Seema Malaka is a Buddhist temple in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The temple is mainly used for meditation and rest, rather than for worship. Situated in the Beira Lake, the temple was originally constructed in the late 19th century. Seema Malaka is a part of the Gangaramaya Temple and is situated few hundred meters to its east.
James George Smither FRIBA (1833–1910) was an Irish architect and a Ceylonese public servant.