Sri lankan culture and traditions on show in kazan
2 June 2014
Travelling a distance of over 800 km the Mega Tourism Caravan 6 arrived in the city of Kazan, which is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia on the 2 June 2014. Kazan city sits on the banks of the Volga River austerely, its cityscape a visual confection of architecture that somehow manages to be both playful and severe. With a population of 1,143,535, it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Amongst many places of interest within the city of Kazan, the Kazan Kremlin stands out. It is the chief historic citadel of Tatarstan. The Kazan Kremlin includes many old buildings, the oldest of which is the Annunciation Cathedral (1554-62), the only 16th-century Russian church to have six piers and five apses. Like many of Kazan’s buildings of the period, it has been constructed using local pale sandstone rather than of brick. It was declared a World Heritage Site in the year 2000.
The day’s activities in the Kazan city began with a Shopping Mall Activation in the morning at the famous MEGA Kazan Mall. During the shopping mall activation Sri Lankan traditional dancing performances, distribution of leaflets/souvenirs, tourism promotional videos and liquid Ceylon tea service was successfully carried out. The large number of people who flocked to enjoy the performances of Sri Lankan dancers and other cultural items was a true testimony to the success of the programmes of MEGA Tourism Caravan 6 in the city of Kazan. The morning Shopping Mall Activation was followed by another one in the evening which included the same cultural and other activities, drawing a large crowd.
One of the key contributory factors for the success of this event was the untiring efforts of HE Udayanga Weeratunga, the Ambassador to Russian Federation. His meticulous planning coupled with the extensive knowledge of Russia and the fluency in Russian language was the key to successful execution of the MEGA Tourism Caravan 6 programme. His introduction to Sri Lanka presentation which was elaborate and comprehensive enlightened the audience on all the important aspects of Sri Lanka’s culture and traditions which certainly would be a catalyst for promoting Sri Lanka as a preferred holiday destination. He was ably supported in this endeavour by the Sri Lanka Tourist Board. The tourist board identifying the potential the CIS countries have towards positively impacting on the Sri Lankan Tourism sector, provided extensive support to MEGA Caravan 6 programmes.
The other Major participants in the event “Laksala”, “Siddalepa” and ‘Sri Lankan Airlines” too made significant contributions towards the success of the programme.
