Why we are proud to be Sri Lankan

©sakshatoonsrilanka

It's been almost a year and a half since I last wrote a blog post. I thought today would be a good day to start over as it's the 66th Independence Day of my beloved mother Sri Lanka. First I started writing this in Sinhala, then I changed my mind and decided it's better if this could be read by the visitors from other countries too. (as they are the majority of my small audience ;) )

Sri Lanka is a country with a recorded history that spans over 3000 years. Over the years our small island has gone through a lot; and yet we've managed to come this far because of the sacrifices of our brave national heroes and the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. So on this Independence Day I thought it's better if we can remind ourselves the real reasons behind the pride of being a Sri Lankan.

1.  LEGACY : Today marks the 66th anniversary of the victory of hundred thousands of national heroes who rose against the British empire to free our motherland.

2. STRENGTH : The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the home to a brave nation that defeated the LTTE terrorists: who were named as the Most Dangerous Terrorist Outfit in the World by FBI at that time.
Many heroes of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces sacrificed their lives to save this "land of the lions" and we are forever grateful towards them.

3. PEACE AND HARMONY : We are not ready to destroy the legacy and the identity of our nation under the pressure of extremists! But we respect equality more than anything. From the ancient times, our island has been the home of people belonging to various religions and races. We lived in harmony: and most importantly, we lived happily with each other. The blend of cultures increased the value of our country. We learned to respect the differences and the diversity of each ethnicity. Sri Lankan lifestyle has a different rhythm that allow the Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Muslims and people belonging to many other religions to co-exist. Many of the

4. HERITAGE : Our country is peppered with ruins of ancient glory, which are still capable of providing lessons for modern engineering. Among them, eight places have been declared as UNESCO World Heritage sites. (Namely, the ancient city of Polonnaruwa, the ancient city of Sigiriya, the Golden Temple of Dambulla, the old town of Galle and its fortifications, the sacred city of Anuradhapura, the sacred city of Kandy, Sinharaja Forest Reserve and the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka.)


5. ACHIEVEMENTS : Being Sri Lankan, I cannot end a list without a Cricket reference! ;)  Our national cricket team is one of the best teams in the whole world. Sri Lanka has blessed the world with many veteran cricket players and I must mention the victories and the fame they've bought home over the past few decades.




sources : www.defence.lk , en.wikipedia.org