Despite all temptations, Sri Lanka has never been very good at merely waiting for the end of the world. But why is that, and what does it have to do with barbarians and a Hollywood monk?

No other thing, except perhaps Buddhism itself, water technology or Sri Lanka’s island status, has had so marked an impact on the country as cinnamon. But what did Michael Ondaatje have to say about it that will set you free?

The destruction of the 1500-year-old Anuradhapura kingdom fell due – but was it destroyed by problems of its own making – or by a force so overwhelming that no power could ever hope to withstand it?

The Lambakanna king, Sena II, pulled victory from disaster. Sri Lanka became one of the dominant powers in the Indian Ocean. So how did it get from there to the doors of desolation in barely 125 years?

How was it that, even as life seemed at its easiest, the plush and kind middle years of later Lambakanna rule almost came to an abrupt halt - courtesy of an Indian invasion?

King Manavanna was to restore the fortunes of the returning Lankbranaka dynasty, and his succeeding sons were to rule as if the kingdom merited nothing but the best. But was the Anuradhapura kingdom really that safe?

As the Lambakanna kings retook their throne for a second innings, how was it that rice, that most ordinary of all crops, was to power the last glorious golden age of the one-island state?

Lord Buddha is famous for his many-faceted hand gestures - or mudras. But which were the main ones, and what do they actually mean?

Under its Moriyan kings, Sri Lanka soared to unequalled heights of artistic excellence. New ideas and philosophies had flourished. So why was it that – overall – their rule had been, in the last analysis, disastrous?

Few other countries are currently producing as much world-class literature as Sri Lanka. So which novels should you read?

What really makes Sri Lanka tick? Perhaps these 5 very local cameos might provide a clue.

When King Kashyapa took up residence in Sigiriya, he triggered a party that, like the ancient world itself, raced to its corporeal end with all the aplomb of the last serving of the lost martini on board the Titanic. But what made it so extraordinary?

Kandy guards its remarkable story so well that it is all too easy to miss. Yet squirrelled away behind its traffic jams and shop hoardings, history is not dead; not even sleeping or dazed. It is instead ever on the lookout.

Unlike the classical world, Sri Lanka's ancient wonders are not merely buildings, including as they do a painting, a monastery, a book, technology, a shrine, and a tree. But why do they also include a lake?

How long is life, and what might you usefully do with the later bits?

Is it possible to reverse-engineer the last 5 decades and make Sundays special again? Perhaps.

Forget elephants and even leopards. What are the five great mammals of Sri Lanka that most people overlook to their eternal cost, and what story do they have to tell?

There's more to Sri Lankan cats than their famous leopard. What happened to its lions, and which beast breaks such wind as to call to mind Jean Patou’s famous perfume, 'Joy'?

Hotels nurture hermiting - as Diane von Furstenberg, Ravi Shankar, or Coco Chanel might tell you. But which ones should you select when planning your Sri Lankan itinerary?

Sri Lanka may be Sapphire Centre as far as the world is concerned – but where exactly might you now find its greatest stones, and what stories have they to tell?

Whatever else is happening in the world, here there is a cake for tea, and birdsong from dawn to dusk. But what else might you find?

It’s often said that to rule, you must be ruthless to excess. But exactly what were the excesses created by these final Sri Lankan kings as to earn them a place on a list of wicked monarchs?

Spoiled for choice, selecting the naughtiest monarchs of Sri Lanka is an arduous job. But why does the list begin with its founding father, and a latter queen who made a kitten out of Henry VIII of England?

To have a hoof in Sri Lanka is a privilege given to just a handful of species. But what are they, and where might you find them?