Sri Lanka is one of the few countries with a very vast and rich cultural diversity. The culture is itself very unique and thereby contributes to the Sri Lankan identity. Sri Lankan culture includes a lot of customs and rituals, which date to more than 2000 years which were handed down from generation to generation. The most prominent feature of the Sri Lankan culture is its colourful festivals, which is one of the main tourist attractions. Religion plays an important role in molding the Sri Lankan culture and traditions.

Sri Lankan culture if often reflected by the use of art, architecture, sculptures, and even food. Some people would say that Sri Lanka has a more conventional culture which is obviously influenced by the prominent religions prevailing the country such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, etc. The Sri Lankan way of life is very simple and filled with humility and happiness; this is one of the reasons why the Sri Lankans have a very great sense in appreciating the simple things in life such as nature.

One of the main features of the culture is its Indian and European influence. Since most of the time Sri Lankan kings married Indian princesses they incorporated Indian culture into ours but still preserving the unique Sri Lankan identity. The European influence was a result of invasion from the Dutch and Portuguese and finally the British. Hospitality is also one of the prominent characteristics of the culture, making Sri Lankans one of the friendly nations in the world.

Sri Lankan culture is a rich blend of the interaction of diverse cultural patterns both indigenous and derived from, trade, religions, as well as, western colonization. The cultural patterns of Sri Lanka today show the lasting impact of a diverse range of cultures.

The overall culture is largely the result of the impact of the introduction of Buddhism, more than 2,300 years ago. This does not erase the heavy influence of Hinduism, together with the lesser impact of Islam, Zoroastrianism, and Christianity, in addition to the pre-Buddhist worship of deities and animism, some of which still remain in the traditions and rituals of the country.

At a time when other societies in the world were boasting of their martial prowess, Sri Lankan society had embraced a religious philosophy based on the rational, where tolerance played a most significant part. Buddhism as it developed in Sri Lanka was not an exclusive state religion, but was rich in its philosophical content to let other breezes too flow into the country. The close proximity to South India saw the impact of Hinduism in the country grows, but not diminishing the overall acceptance of Buddhism.

Cinema

The movie Kadawunu Poronduwa (The broken promise), produced by S. M. Nayagam of Chitra Kala Movietone, heralded the coming of Sri Lankan cinema in 1947. Ranmuthu Duwa (Island of treasures, 1962) marked the transition cinema from black-and-white to color. In recent years, Sri Lankan cinema has featured subjects such as family melodrama, social transformation, and the years of conflict between the military and the LTTE. Their cinematic style is similar to Bollywood movies. In 1979, movie attendance rose to an all-time high, but a gradual downfall has been recorded since then. Undoubtedly, the most influential and revolutionary filmmaker in the history of Sri Lankan cinema is Lester James Peiris, who has directed a number of movies which received global acclaim, including Rekava (Line of destiny, 1956), Gamperaliya (The changing village, 1964), Nidhanaya (The treasure, 1970), and Golu Hadawatha (Cold Heart, 1968.)There are many cinemas in the city areas.

 

Literature 

Sri Lankan literature is the literary tradition of Sri Lanka. The largest part of Sri Lankan literature was written in the Sinhala language, but there is a considerable amount of works in other languages used in Sri Lanka over the millennia (including Pāli, Tamil, and English).However the language used for the ancient timing was much different to the language used in Sri Lanka now. 

Up to the present, short stories are a very important part of Sri Lankan literature; the output of Sinhalese short story writers is greater than that of the Tamil and English writers combined and has elicited a greater measure of critical analysis.

Sports

Sports play a very important part in Sri Lankan culture. Since the society is rich with educated people, the people find playing a sport to be an important aspect of life.

Cricket

The most popular sport in Sri Lanka is cricket, and as such, there are many cricket fields scattered across the Island for children and adults to play the sport.

After the 1996 Cricket World Cup triumph of the Sri Lanka national cricket team, the sport became the most watched in the country. Also, Sri Lanka has won the T/20 World cup finals in 2014.

Volleyball

Volleyball is the national game of Sri Lanka but it is not as popular as cricket.

Olympic Games

Sri Lanka first participated at the Olympic Games in 1948, and has sent a delegation to every Summer Olympic Games since then, except for the 1976 Games. Sri Lanka has never participated in the Winter Olympic Games.

Sri Lankan athletes have won a total of two Olympic silver medals, both in athletics.