{"id":147199,"date":"2025-01-08T16:40:08","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T23:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=147199"},"modified":"2025-01-10T15:18:56","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T22:18:56","slug":"sri-lankas-gem-industry-a-gem-of-an-opportunity-for-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2025\/01\/08\/sri-lankas-gem-industry-a-gem-of-an-opportunity-for-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka\u2019s Gem Industry \u2013 A gem of an opportunity for Tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aloysius Hettiarachchi.<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

According to reports a gem exhibition was held at Cinnamon Grand Hotel on the fourth of January in which the chief guest had been the Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake as shown in the image shown below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sri Lanka had been a gem mining and exporting country for millennia. The Moroccans have been coming here in their sailboats for gems and established trading post on our shores in Beruwala area of the south western coast. According to one of Sri Lanka\u2019s archaeologist Prof. Raj Somadeva our ancient kings had sent gems, spices and other materials to the middle eastern countries including Egypt. Right now, our country is getting a positive image for tourism and these events no doubt will enhance it. What I am trying to point out here are some additional information in this regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As per the same professor mentioned above, there had been an Ionian (Yonaka or Macedonian) settlement in Anuradhapura as far back as 900 BCE. That place had been the East-West trading post for traders coming with their ships to our Mannar harbour on western coast and Trincomalee port on the east. According to Mahavamsa historical chronicle, the route via Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa had been densely populated thousands of years ago. The fact that knowledge about astronomy and advance mathematical systems existed within our population is common knowledge. There is that \u2018Star Gate\u2019 etched on a slab of stone in that place which is receiving lots of attention. We have had a number system similar to the binary that we use in computers today. This knowledge is still among some of our experts and it may even be better than the binary for Artificial Intelligence in computer science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gem traders would have travelled themselves to ensure quality, safety etc. when they go to buy gems. One wealthy famous trader during 600 BCE operating from Crotone in Italy (which was a part of Anatolia) was famous mathematician Pythagoras\u2019 father. He was a contemporary of Lord Buddha who might have visited Sri Lanka (or Taprobana the name used by the Greeks at the time) as per the scripts. Perhaps Pythagoras too travelled with his father to this country and picked up the philosophical ideas of Buddhism as well as our ancient mathematical systems that had the concept of binary and duality in nature. He had been a vegetarian and preached a religion similar to that of Buddhism\/Jainism. Though the people in his land ridiculed him initially, the empathy to others that he preached became well accepted and revered later. This philosophy may have helped the rulers to keep peace within the population. The wealth they brought together with this new knowledge helped the to build empires. Who knows they all may have struct their fortunes here to name our country as \u2018Serendipity\u2019. I hope knowledgeable academics and historians pick up these and do research work using documents in the region and shed more light on this subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One more thing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greece, a popular tourist destination became bankrupt before we did, and are coming out of it now in a big way. I think we too are on the way out of our economic troubles. So, our fortunes look similar. Most Greek people outside of their country are in Melbourne, Australia; same with us. It seems the people of Greece (Greichenland) like a drink called \u2018ouzo\u2019 perhaps a medicine for mental health which is very much like our \u2018Arak\u2019 as can be seen from the video given below. It is sung by Vincent Gross from Switzerland:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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