Abstract:
One aspect of Sri Lankan identity is derived from traditional knowledge. It includes the
knowledge which was gathered by people while they established in a certain geographical
or environmental location. Experience gained through livelihood and interaction with the
environment could produce knowledge distributed in many fields. The usage of this could
ensure that it is inherited from one generation to another and continues till the present. These
traditional knowledge systems could be described as possessing a certain ethnological value
which needs to be studied.
It is understood that humans gain knowledge through their life experiences. Upcoming
drought or rainy season is predicted by the changes occurring in the environment or by
observing the behaviour of animals. However, some indicators which don’t have a direct
link with future events become societal perhaps due to such perspectives. These could be
interpreted through ethnology as beliefs flourished from curiosity and fear. These will not
be deeply analysed in this study as it does not aim at refuting the features of culture but
highlighting them. The prime factor observed through the present study is the sensitivity
and scrutiny of humans toward the earth and biosphere. The study takes an ethnological
approach to explain the way Sri Lankan folk act on this matter and the way they predict the
future by sensing the environment.
