Meetiyagoda Moonstones can occur in several colors, but there’s only one place in the whole world that produces the exquisite blue moonstone—Meetiyagoda in southwest Sri Lanka. In fact, Sri Lanka was so associated with this mysterious gem that moonstones used to go by the name Ceylon opal. Local legend has it that the land around Meetiyagoda has been blessed by the moon, and it’s obvious why. Underneath this small village is the world’s largest vein of a moonstone-bearing igneous rock called pegmatite. You’d think that an area so rich in this stunning gemstone would be heavily mined and scarred by machiners but digging by hand down through the topsoil, the miners use coconut wood scaffolding and fern leaves to prop up and line the sides of the shafts as they go. Once they hit the pegmatite layer, the miners begin to tunnel, again using coconut beams to keep the tunnels from collapsing. Collected in buckets, the moonstone-bearing gravel is then winched up the mine shaft – again by hand.

This museum is designed to introduce the richness of the mask tradition of Ambalangoda and to strengthen this cultural heritage. The museum, the workshop, and the small library. The Karava people (fisher community) living in the western and south-western coastal areas of Sri Lanka have developed a great variety of social customs. The southwest coast area, es-specially Ambalangoda is particularly well known for its mask plays and rituals that are performed on different assotions. Among these performances, there are two famous ones, the Kolam Maduwa and the rituals to expel evil demons which cause diseases. For many decades, the famous masks have been highly appreciated by private and museum collectors and other experts. But for economic reasons mainly especially the Kolam Dances fell into disuse during the last 3o to 5o years and were performed only very seldom, on the other side, mask carving has now developed into a cottage industry. Of all the well-known carvers in the area,

Madu Ganga Lake, together with the smaller Randombe Lake, which is connected by two narrow channels, forms the Madu Ganga wetland. Its estuary and the many mangrove islets on it constitute a complex coastal wetland ecosystem. It has a high ecological, biological, and aesthetic significance, being home to approximately 303 species of plants belonging to 95 families and to 248 species of vertebrate animals. The inhabitants of its islets produce peeled cinnamon and cinnamon oil.

Bentota is a resort town on Sri Lanka’s southwest coast. Its long Bentota Beach stretches north, where it becomes a sandy strip known as Paradise Island, parallel to Bentota Lagoon. Coral-rich dive sites include Canoe Rock. On Bentota River, the centuries-old Galapota Temple has a large Buddha statue. Southeast is Lunuganga, the estate, and gardens of architect Geoffrey Bawa. Northeast is his brother Bevis's Brief Garden

return on the southern expressway to Colombo port.