Amalgamation of Authentic Sri Lankan Culture and Cultural Heritage Tourism (A Case study of Kataragama Cultural Heritage Destination)

Kataragama which can be identified as one the remarkable cultural destination from ancient periods in Sri Lanka. It is also known as “KÄ charagÄ ma†, “KadiragÄ mam†, and “KajjaragÄ ma†. The ancient city of Kataragama enriched with numerous cultural, heritage and religious attractions. In each year the devotees in all the Hindu and Sinhalese also the Muslims gather to the festival which happens during the lunar month, July-August. The god Kataragama is known as “Murukan†is one of the main figures worshipping by both Sinhalese Buddhism and Tamil Hinduism. This is cogitation which refers to the contributive role of Sri Lankan Culture and Cultural heritage tourism. The cultural identity of this specific destination is very unique and it caused to enrich the emerging cultural heritage tourism. The paper discusses acculturation, cultural adoption and cultural commoditization in relation to the cultural heritage tourism perspective. Further, it reveals sufficient detail about the authenticity of tourism experience-oriented to Kataragama area and finally provide the recommendations in general and specifically with the considerations of key issues.