Dambana, Indigenous holy place in Badulla District, Sri Lanka
Dambana is a village in the Badulla District of Sri Lanka's Uva Province, set aside as a protected area for the indigenous Vedda community. It sits deep in jungle terrain and is home to one of the last groups in the world maintaining a fully forest-based way of life.
The Vedda are considered the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka, long before other communities settled on the island. In the 20th century, Dambana was formally set aside as a protected area to give the community a place to shelter from growing outside pressures.
The Vedda people of Dambana are considered the oldest known population group in Sri Lanka. Visitors can observe traditional hunting practices, rituals, and handmade objects that are still actively used today.
The village is far from major towns, and the nearest starting point for reaching it is the town of Mahiyangana. Visiting with a local guide is recommended, as the paths through the surrounding jungle can be hard to follow on your own.
The Vedda language spoken in Dambana has no close relationship to any other living language. Only a small number of families in the village are still able to speak it fluently, making it one of the rarest surviving languages in the world.
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