Name

A Taste of Paradise on Earth

Known as the pearl of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka appears like a drop of water, falling from the tip of India’s south coast. In ancient times Sri Lanka was known by many names. The original name of the country, given by it’s indigenous People (The Hela, now known as “Sinhala” or “Sinhalese”) was “Heladiva” which means “Island of Hela”. Ancient Greek geographers called it as “Taprobane” and Arabs referred it as “Serendib”. “Ceilao” was the name given by the Portuguese when they landed on the island in 1505. It was changed into Dutch as “Ceylan” and into English as “Ceylon”. The present name of the country is “Sri Lanka", which is derived from the Sanskrit word, meaning “Resplendent Island”. The official name of the country is “The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka”.