Sri Lanka

With regard to the overthrow of the Rajapaksa Dynasty, in Sri Lankan politics, is anyone concerned about the supply of tea? Sri Lanka produces quite a bit of the world's tea. Tea is life.

Sri Lanka is the island nation, shaped like a teardrop, just off the southeast tip of India. The world atlas that I had when I was a boy had it's name as Ceylon. It's ancient name was Serendip. The name was changed to Sri Lanka in 1972.

The island is very centrally located for trade, and for the conduit of new ideas. The majority group in Sri Lanka today are the Sinhalese and are Buddhist. But the population is about 15% Hindu Tamils. There are also minorities of Moslems and Christians.

Prince Vijaya is said to have been the first king of the island, in the Sixth Century B.C. He is believed to have arrived from India with a large group of followers.

Around 250 B.C. Mahinda, a son of the Indian emperor Ashoka, arrived with the message of Buddhism. Ashoka was known for his devotion to Buddhism. We do not usually think of India as a Buddhist country today, but it is actually the homeland of Buddhism and the circle on the Indian flag is the wheel of Buddhism. The wheel is named for Ashoka.

The island of Sri Lanka was not always united. There was the Jaffna Kingdom in the north and the Kingdom of Kandy was the last Sinhalese monarchy.

Anuradhapura was the capital of the island for about 1400 years.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow. After clicking the up arrow you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you so wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@8.3171449,80.3999051,3a,75y,312.13h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1swMxScSWzW7467h8B8PzEEA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DwMxScSWzW7467h8B8PzEEA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D312.12598%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Jayawardene Pura is the capital area of Sri Lanka's largest city of Colombo. It has been a good harbor since ancient times, and a useful place for ships crossing the Indian Ocean to stop.

https://www.google.com/maps/@6.8915555,79.9039513,3a,75y,47.94h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sPxQpF0PI-TrIPbZZuAtYcQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DPxQpF0PI-TrIPbZZuAtYcQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D47.94098%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Independence Square is the center of Colombo. The square is named for Sri Lanka's independence in 1948.

https://www.google.com/maps/@6.9047229,79.8676535,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOqM1YlQPmDZzn1j3VwifW6JbfEIP9EV28gFKfO!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOqM1YlQPmDZzn1j3VwifW6JbfEIP9EV28gFKfO%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.4196944-ya277.50043-ro-1.3766048-fo100!7i7680!8i3840

This is the World Trade Center in the business center of Colombo.

https://www.google.com/maps/@6.9330152,79.8439799,3a,75y,221.59h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOit-40981O-SBQk7Z0UEN5ChnlfhhYbbevydqt!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOit-40981O-SBQk7Z0UEN5ChnlfhhYbbevydqt%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0.5639364-ya309.34143-ro-0.32365683-fo100!7i7680!8i3840

The Temple of the Sacred Tooth, in the city of Kandy, holds a tooth that is claimed to be from the Buddha. Kandy is in the central part of the island.  The tooth indicated rule of the Kingdom and the Temple was within the complex of the former Royal Palace.

https://www.google.com/maps/@7.293495,80.6414167,3a,75y,96.37h,91.4t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM-lxBltsAVYdus0PdCOBzNPfLNFFqd4bo-FfUt!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM-lxBltsAVYdus0PdCOBzNPfLNFFqd4bo-FfUt%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya39.165756-ro-0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120

This is central Kandy. It is a medieval city that was once the capital of the island. The capital was moved to Colombo during the colonial era, as it is on the coast and faces toward Europe.

https://www.google.com/maps/@7.2933651,80.6343245,3a,75y,167.04h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s29T8p4ivLCFzfoT0cnbRAg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D29T8p4ivLCFzfoT0cnbRAg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D167.1439%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The island is famous for Ceylon Tea. During colonial days, Ceylon was the British name for the island. Tea is grown especially in the central highlands but there are other varieties of tea grown elsewhere.

One of the best-known brands in the world is Lipton Tea. If all of the Lipton Tea that I have ever had was put together, it would surely fill a sea.

Sri Lanka was once known for coffee production. An agriculturalist named James Taylor though of bringing tea to the island. A fellow Scot named Thomas Lipton marketed the product and now it is a global name.

This is Sri Lanka's tea-growing country.

https://www.google.com/maps/@7.114049,80.6194324,3a,75y,296.01h,95.26t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMNQxmi9KaM2iPqbkOCN4syFzwqplU-ED0sD_tT!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMNQxmi9KaM2iPqbkOCN4syFzwqplU-ED0sD_tT%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10-ya136-ro-0-fo100!7i9000!8i4500

Tamils arrived in Sri Lanka from India around the Third Century B.C. Unlike the Sinhalese Buddhists, the Tamils are Hindu by religion.

Nallur, within the northern Sri Lankan city of Jaffna, was the medieval capital of the Jaffna Kingdom.

https://www.google.com/maps/@9.4493939,80.2756555,3a,75y,358.39h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s6-mhUrw-yGmEaXXL83-awQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D6-mhUrw-yGmEaXXL83-awQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D358.4085%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Jaffna Fort was a colonial-era fort, built in the Seventeenth Century. It was first Portuguese, then Dutch, then British. It is in the far-northern part of the island.

https://www.google.com/maps/@9.6620306,80.0084254,3a,75y,129.45h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipODZ_MiPhcbzlC6Cf3NHz4hYHgAw7kzG7rzcCCn!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipODZ_MiPhcbzlC6Cf3NHz4hYHgAw7kzG7rzcCCn%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya172.85307-ro0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120

Jaffna, in the north of Sri Lanka, was the center of the Tamil population of the island, with their religion of Hinduism. Kandy is a Sinhalese center, with the Buddhist religion.

https://www.google.com/maps/@9.6562683,80.0235177,3a,75y,90h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s3R7d0qh3gezI4RTFGMZrXg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D3R7d0qh3gezI4RTFGMZrXg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D42.696518%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

There used to be harmony between Tamils and Sinhalese, but relations deteriorated after independence in 1948. The Tamils, in the north and east of the country around Jaffna, demanded an independent homeland to be called Tamil Eelam. "Eelam" being the old Tamil name for the island. It could be called an effort to revive the Jaffna Kingdom.

A military group called the "Tamil Tigers of Tamil Eelam" was formed, usually abbreviated as LTTE. As anyone who has followed the news for the past few decades knows, what followed was a very nasty 26-year civil war, lasting from 1983 to the final victory of the Sri Lankan Army over LTTE in 2009.

India had peacekeepers in Sri Lanka from 1987 to 1990. The city of Jaffna suffered especially heavily during the civil war. The city was held by LTTE. Indian peacekeepers temporarily took back control of the city. The Sri Lankan Army finally regained control of the city in the mid-1990s.

Whether or not LTTE is a terrorist group depends, of course, on one's perspective. But it was very effective, in military terms, and has been studied by similar groups across the world.

Rajiv, Gandhi was the prime minister who sent Indian peacekeepers to Sri Lanka's Civil War. He was the son of Indira Gandhi, who had been assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984 due to another conflict. The Gandhis of Indian politics were not related to Mahatma Gandhi, the hero of India's 1947 independence. India Gandhi was the daughter of the country's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. She happened to marry a man named Gandhi, but the name probably didn't hurt her political career and the family's Congress Party used to really dominate the politics of the country.

In 1991, after the Indian peacekeepers had been withdrawn from Sri Lanka, Rajiv Gandhi was campaigning near Chennai. A crowd was there to greet him. A teenage girl got close to him and bowed as a greeting, but she had a bomb concealed in her clothing. It turned out that the girl was a supporter of the Tamil Tigers.

The Rajiv Gandhi Memorial is on the site, in southern India, where Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991, because of the Indian Peacekeeping force that was sent to Sri Lanka during it's Civil War.

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.9601127,79.9453113,3a,75y,146.42h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNvSE_G75mEulWtFSYC5vfJw9YZXyenb4MDJRhH!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNvSE_G75mEulWtFSYC5vfJw9YZXyenb4MDJRhH%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya79.10142-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352