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| Sunday, 26 June 2005 |
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Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Travel & Tourism Panduwasnuwara steeped in history by Hiran H. Senewiratne
Thousands of years ago the human habitation in Sri Lanka was reported only in a few places such as Deraniyagala in the Ratnapura District, Padiyagampola in the Kegalle district and Panduwasnuwara in the Kurunegala district. Panduwasnuwara, a place of historic importance is considered to be the oldest Sinhala kingdom in the country dating back to over 2,500 years. This ancient city has several ruins scattered throughout an area of more than one kilometre in radius. Panduwasnuwara, is in the Wayamba province. Some believe that the origin of the Panduwasnuwara ancient civilisation is as old as the Sinhala race in the country. This city along the Kurunegala-Chilaw road is on the 22nd mile post close to the Kottampitiya junction near Hettipola. This ancient city, 65 kilometres from Colombo takes three hours by car. Panduwasnuwara teems with edifices, palaces, ramparts, dagabas, viharas and temples depicting the island nations's pride and prosperity of over 2,500 years.
Among the ruins in the area is the Unmada Chitra's Ektamge. Unmada Chitra, mother of King Pandukabhaya kept her in an isolated palace with all royal comforts to stop her being given in marriage by her brothers since astrologers predicted that when she gets married one of her sons would kill all his uncles to capture State power. Today only the ruins are found. It is said that King Pandukabhaya, the first Sinhalese King hailed from Panduwasnuwara. The Temple of the Tooth, one of the oldest edifices in the area sheltered Lord Buddha's tooth relics for many years. The ruins of the Parakramabahu palace is supposed to be one of the best structures after Sigiriya. Ramparts and drainages around the palace exist even today. According to the Mahavamsa king Panduwasdev is deemed to have lived and named the area Panduwasnuwara. He is considered to be the second king in Sri Lanka's history. Some of the ruins in the area belong to the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa era. Cathay Pacific voted 'Airline of the Year 2005' Cathay Pacific Airways has been named Airline of the Year, Best Airline Asia and Best First Class in the world's "largest" global passenger poll. London-based Skytrax says its 2005 World Airline Awards poll was the world's "largest" passenger survey ever with more than 12.3 million eligible nominations. Votes were cast by 94 different nationalities from June 2004 to May 2005. The latest awards come on top of the airline's Hong Kong lounges last month being voted the world's best in a survey also conducted by Skytrax Research. "The Airline of the Year is the established, global barometer of passenger opinions about airlines around the world," Skytrax says. "The Airline of the Year is not focused on one specific sector of the passenger market. It encompasses a wide mixture of passenger types - business customers who may be more familiar with First and Business class and most importantly, the large majority of global air travellers who travel Economy class, be it on leisure or business travel." Cathay Pacific's The Wing and The Pier were earlier named 2005 Best Airline Lounges for First and Business Class travellers in the Skytrax survey. Skytrax said its lounge survey was based on the combined quality of product and service and "seeks out those airlines that offer something original and, above all, the best format". Cathay Pacific was previously voted the Airline of the Year in 2003. It has carried off the Skytrax "Best Airline - Asia" award three times, "Best Airline - Transpacific" twice and won the Best Lounge award in 2002. In April this year, Hong Kong International Airport was named the World's Best Airport in a separate Skytrax poll for the fifth straight year. Cathay Pacific Airways Chief Executive Philip Chen said: "Cathay Pacific being voted Airline of the Year is a great honour because it is such a world-class award. I would like to thank every member of staff around the world whose professionalism and dedication to excellence made this great achievement possible. Being a repeat winner reflects our commitment to deliver consistently high standards of service across the board. It also underscores our ongoing effort to make Hong Kong more attractive to passengers as a global aviation hub and gateway to the Chinese Mainland, and our determination to make Cathay Pacific as the world's most admired airline." |
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