The Mannankulam Experience offers a unique opportunity for comfortable, cultural immersion through a series of personal, thoughtfully curated itineraries which celebrates Sri Lanka’s East Coast, and its capital city, Colombo. Expect to be mesmerised by stunning landscapes in off-beat locations, along with an introduction to our history, local contemporary art, sculptures, architecture, nature and a cuisine that few have experienced before.
Each of our experiences includes a stay in a personal home, along with a unique culinary offering and engaging moments with art, architecture, nature, culture and history.
The culture of Sri Lanka’s east coast is a rich tapestry woven from centuries of diverse influences, blending indigenous traditions with those of various settlers and traders who have graced its shores.
The cuisine here is a celebration of aromatic spices, fresh seafood, and tropical ingredients. Seafood takes centre stage in many East Coast dishes, and at Mannankulam, we offer a taste of authentic Batticaloa cuisine made from old traditional family recipes.
The region boasts picturesque sandy shores fringed by palm trees swaying in the gentle sea breeze with numerous lagoons providing vital habitats for various indigenous plant, aquatic and bird species not forgetting the larger mammals such as the elephant and leopard.
With the Batticaloa port playing an important role throughout history, the East Coast witnessed the rise and fall of various ancient kingdoms, as well as periods of colonial rule under the Portuguese, Dutch, and British.
At Mannankulam, we share our love of the island’s contemporary and ancient art through a private collection of sculptures, paintings, photographs and more from our favourite Sri Lankan artists.
A key aspect of the Mannankulam Experience is a glimpse into Sri Lankan architecture from early 19th-century colonial architecture to the contemporary tropical architecture of Anjalendran through access to four personal homes.
Our unique position, fertile soils, cooling winds from the Indian Ocean and monsoon rains, combined with our commitment to using heirloom varieties and traditional production methods, result in products that truly reflect the culture and values of our lands.
Mannankulam Organics brings you the finest selection of organic produce straight from Sri Lanka’s east coast to your table. As a family-run organic produce company, we prioritise sustainability, health, and environmental stewardship in everything we do. Our commitment to organic farming practices that have been certified under SLS 1324 standards ensures that our fruits, vegetables, grains, and herbs are grown without synthetic pesticides preserving the integrity of the land and the health of our planet. Our coconut oil and rice are also processed to follow organic production standards.
Mannankulam is committed to fostering a harmonious relationship with the environment. Each of our properties is not just a place to stay, but a base in which you can explore, be inspired, dream, or simply switch off. At the heart of our philosophy lies a deep commitment to promoting responsible and sustainable agriculture and sharing it with the wider world through tourism.
Our work on restoring biodiversity on an agricultural property surrounded by an urban area is an example of what can be done with a thoughtful and long-term approach to healing the environment. This has been helped by our move to organic farming as well as bringing back heirloom varieties of plants and traditional methods of farming combined with scientific analysis.
Finally, we have an ongoing programme to preserve, record and digitise traditional assets such as family recipes, cultural objects, ola leaf manuscripts of medicinal remedies, folk music as well as a collection of Sri Lankan contemporary art.
