India & Sri Lanka to boost tourism through ‘Ramayana Trail in Lanka’ initiative

Thursday, November 25, 2021

India and Sri Lanka’s cultural relations will get improved with ‘spiritual tourism’. It’s undertaken as a part of an effort by the Indian government with an intention to promote the heritage of Ramayana and tourism in Sri Lanka, said an article in the Colombo Gazette.

In a proposal to strengthen efforts under the MoU in 2016 was signed between India and Sri Lanka on developing shared cultural and religious values, the Sri Lankan Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) has begun the “Ramayana Trail in Lanka”. In October 2021, new ways were implemented to boost bilateral travel between the two neighboring countries. It also came under review at the third meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG), dedicated to tourism.

While emphasizing the post-pandemic renewed initiations towards the development of the “Ramayana Trail”, Jeewana Fernando, in-charge, declared that Sri Lanka is all set to raise tourism developments and has earmarked promoting as many of the 52 sites that are located in the country.

“The SLTDA annually allocates around Rs. 20 million for promoting the Ramayana Trail in Sri Lanka and they have coordinated with many Hindu religious missions in India to bring devotees to Sri Lanka on the Ramayana heritage,” Fernando told the Colombo Gazette.

So far, the Sri Lankan Tourism Department has identified and promoted only 31 sites. All of them are located in the “fabulous natural beauty of the country” and is all set to promote the rest in coming years, he mentioned.

Ramayana connects a bridge between India and Sri Lanka and makes up for a large chunk of tourist flow for the latter.

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