While staying at Kirinda Walauwa, guests can choose to relax and take things slow. However, being in a 200 year old Sri Lankan ancestral home nestled in a village, there is an atmosphere of local culture here. To better experience village life and to make for an interesting visit, we have put together a few activities to get guests curious and to share our culture.
Cookery Demonstration – At Kirinda Walauwa, as the meals that we serve are made using traditional cooking methods, guests are often curious to find out how this works. Over the years, the cookery demonstration has become highly popular amongst our guests and helps us share Sri Lankan culture and cuisine with them as well as allowing them to learn (interactively) how to make some traditional dishes.
The Classic Cars – Lalith is a enthusiast of classic automobiles and has spent long hours carefully rebuilding the cars in his collection. He is quite proud of them and is happy to entertain guests with a tour of his beauties as well as some history behind them.
Visit to the Temple – Back in the day, the foundation of a village was built on the temple and the walauwa. It was of great significance to go to the temple and make offerings of food and other items. The temple itself was built by the ancestral owners of Kirinda Walauwa on land that was also donated by them in efforts to better the village community.
Trip to the Bakery – As common as it sounds, this isn’t the usual (modern) bakery one tends to find in cities. Our guests will be introduced to baking practices that have remained true to the Sri Lanka of olden days.
Bird Watching – Guests walking around the garden often find native Sri Lankan birds as well as seasonal migratory birds that visit the island from time to time. Our guests are usually armed with a camera, binoculars or just their curiosity and greatly enjoy these outings.
The Local Market – Known as the ‘pola’, the village market is the closest and best place to get the supplies for making the traditional dishes we serve at Kirinda Walauwa. Its a friendly place where locals come to sell their produce and wares. In order to get a better experience, we take our guests by Tuk-Tuk (auto rickshaw) to the market which about 5km from the house.