What catches the eye of any visitor to Kataragama today is the complete transformation this southern dry zone jungle shrine has undergone during the past five years
In 1990, then President of Sri Lanka R. Premadasa announced that he would extend the broad gauge coastal railroad from Matara up to Kataragama and that nothing would stop the Goverment from
Religion and politics, it is indisputable, do not readily mix. That the poor masses consider politicians demigods does not qualify them to interfere with religious matters.
Those who know Kataragama well the swamis, bawas, and others who fear to speak any untruth unanimously declare that Kataragama is no ordinary place. It is, they say, a very special enchanted forest where
The Ceylon Daily News of l2th February 1991, in a brief communiqué from a 'special correspondent' entitled "Plea to help check beggar menace",
Of late there has been considerable agitation in countries like Sri Lanka on the question of whether diverse ethnic communities should adopt a common language.
Since inception in 1988 the Kataragama Devotees Trust has also been actively promoting the concept of developing Zones of Peace in Sri Lanka, beginning at Kataragama.
At Ulpotha near Embogama in Kurunegala district Cultural Survival of Sri Lanka has created Sri Lanka's sole authentic Eco-Cultural Sanctuary, a working puranagama