Abstract:
Heritage is a cultural treasure as well as a communicator that connects
the past to the present It is a system of symbols for conveying massages about the past
to those who live at present. In this sense heritage has its own values and cannot be
classified under times, nations, races casts, etc. Generally an object of heritage
possesses a symbolic value, an economic value, and an informational value, with can be
used for several objectives; especially, by managing national heritage sites, ethnic
reconciliation can be achieved. This potential of heritage management emerges while
assessing the post-war political, social, economic, and cultural pattern of Sri Lanka,
where it is required to achieve ethnic reconciliation between the Sinhalese and the
Tamils. In this respect this paper primarily attempts to show the timely importance of
heritage management. In this regard a sample research was made at the holy precincts of
kataragama, analyzing historical sources and carrying out field surveys. In addition, in
terms of secondary sources, research papers, books, periodicals, newspapers, and web
documents were used, moreover, the location of a Buddhist temple, a Christian Church,
a Hindu Temple, and a Mosque in the same premises and the cooperative behaviour of
the visitors to kataragama who belong to all races and religious denominations of Sri
Lanka, namely, Sinhala - Buddhist, Sinhala - Christian, Tamil - Hindu, Tamil -
Christian, and Islamic, have a great relevance to the attempts made in achieving racial
conciliation. Under mis a model can be developed for heritage management focused on
a one - nation and one - country policy for Sri Lanka.
