Heritage tourism

[Kamrul Hasan Bhuiyan]

Heritage tourism involves visiting historical sites. Sri Lanka is very rich in pre-historic, proto-historic, and historic monuments, which bespeak its ancient civilization and culture. Mainly Buddhism has influenced in moulding the cultural heritage of the country. The historic period of Sri Lanka proper starts at circa 236 B.C. with the introduction of Buddhism to the country by the missionaries sent by the Indian empire Asoka.

The UNESCO has declared six archaeological and two ecological World Heritage Sites in the country.[24] Beside the world heritage sites the government of Sri Lanka has declared a number of archaeological protected sites and monuments within the country.