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?

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.

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?

What might you discover? There is much to find within the sprawling plantation gardens that disappear off into the jungle around Sri Lanka’s Flame Tree Estate & Hotel.

What might you find as you amble gently around a home garden, wrapped in green and red, at Sri Lanka’s The Flame Tree Estate & Hotel?

Enochlophobia may be one of ageing’s more agreeable symptoms – but what do you do about it when the Kandy Perehera is in full swing?

It rains. And it rains. But why are Buddhism and rain quite so beautifully compelling, especially here in Sri Lanka?

He hooted when least expected and claimed his rightful place in Sri Lanka. But who was he, and what made him proud?

Sri Lanka’s seven greatest wonders from ancient times include a palace to escape death, a dish, a book, and a fortress. But what made them so fundamental – to the nation and the world – as to earn their place in history?

A tree – and a trio of stupas are among ancient Sri Lanka’s greatest wonders. But why are any of these so important – not just to the island, but to the world?

Despite their iconic status, the original seven wonders of the ancient world pale in comparison to the seven wonders of ancient Lanka, the subject of the next three podcasts. But why include Panda Wewa, a reservoir now lost in the jungle?

Rich, salty, earthy, savoury, sharp – gorgonzola is not a cheese common to Sri Lanka, and yet its mere anticipation calls to mind on the island the seven stages of living. And of them all, how can you ever manage to make the last, last?

Protected by a necklace of high mountains and surrounded by dense jungle ideal for guerrilla warfare, the Kandyan kingdom’s natural defences helped it withstand repeated invasions. But what was this long-forgotten mountain war, fought for almost 200 years?

City though it is, Kandy - sequestered within high mountains and deep valleys – has numerous secretive wild pockets of utter bewitchment. But where will you find them – and what will you find when you get there?

Kandy is much more than its city. And in an arc of land that spreads to the north are five places that tell stories of the kingdom that are almost entirely forgotten. What are they, and why do they matter?

The Vatican City of Sri Lanka, Kandy, is a place built on religion, money, politics, faith, power, morality - and some of the most striking temples anywhere in the world. But which ones should you visit?