Landscape Research

ISSN: 0142-6397 (Print) 1469-9710 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/clar20

Valuing the Cultural Landscapes Past and Present:

Tea Plantations in Sri Lanka
Chandana Shrinath Wijetunga & Jong Sang Sung
To cite this article: Chandana Shrinath Wijetunga & Jong Sang Sung (2015) Valuing the Cultural
Landscapes Past and Present: Tea Plantations in Sri Lanka, Landscape Research, 40:6, 668-683,
DOI: 10.1080/01426397.2015.1057803
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2015.1057803

Published online: 16 Jul 2015.

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Landscape Research, 2015

Vol. 40, No. 6, 668683, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2015.1057803

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Valuing the Cultural Landscapes Past and

Present: Tea Plantations in Sri Lanka
CHANDANA SHRINATH WIJETUNGA*,** & JONG SANG SUNG*,**
*Interdisciplinary Program in Landscape Architecture, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea;
**Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea

ABSTRACT The study focuses on tea plantation cultural landscapes in Sri Lanka and its historical
formation, present issues and future considerations. [Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon before 1972.
At present, the country uses Sri Lanka for all related documents.] According to the research, the
tea estate is identied as the main building unit of tea heritage. This paper reveals the historical
formation of tea heritage and its contribution to the existing landscape. This study focuses on the
Nuwara Eliya region, as it is the main area for tea cultivation. The present condition of tea
plantations in Sri Lanka is derived through a survey conducted in Labookellie estate, Blue Field
estate and Pedro estate. Past and the present circumstances are examined through analysis of
literature, topographical maps and site observations, while interviews with outsiders (foreign
visitors) were used to strengthen the thoughts on tea plantation landscapes. This paper reveals
basic concepts such as agriculture as a heritage, active agriculture and value added through
future conservation and development procedure. The paper rst discusses the formation of tea
estates and governing factors. Second, the paper explains estate settlement as the main building
block of tea heritage with researched case studies and explains existing landscape values. Third,
the paper explains future thoughts on the tea plantation landscapes in Sri Lanka. Opinions of
foreign visitors to the plantation are considered as a valuable contribution to the conclusions. The
paper stresses the importance of understanding tea estate cultural landscapes and their heritage
value for future planning and the conservation priorities in Sri Lanka.

KEY WORDS: Cultural landscape, tea plantations, estate settlements, cultural landscape values,
tea heritage, Sri Lanka
Introduction
A cultural landscape is known as the combined work of humans and nature. Landscape,
from its beginnings, has been considered as a man-made artefact with associated
cultural process values (Jackson, 1984). This paper tries to understand the concept of
landscape as a way of seeing its morphology resulting from the interplay between
landscape values, associated people and land use practices, which has recently been
critically explored (Wylie, 2007), and what (Olwig, 2007) calls an active scene of
practice. Landscape shares two ideologies with the culture. Some argue that landscape
is a cultural product, while others argue landscape is a cultural process. Olwig (1996)
argues that landscape is both substantive and partly constituted by representations of it.
Correspondence Address: Jong Sang Sung, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National
University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Email: jssung@snu.ac.kr
2015 Landscape Research Group Ltd

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Cultural landscapes past and present: tea plantations in Sri Lanka 669
Identity of a landscape is important to consider its usages, values and future changes.
Seeing landscape as a static text to seeing it as a part of a process engaged with
formation of identities (Mitchell, 1994). Tilly (1994) agrees with the idea of landscape
as process. Landscape is seen as an entity which is never complete. According to
Tillys idea, human agency has always fashioned landscape.
The landscapes that depict universal or outstanding values are limited to the
denitions of the World Heritage Convention (UNESCO), although every landscape is
valued by closely associated people. A cultural landscape is perceived differently
according to place attachment, purpose of interaction and signicant values associated
with the landscape (Stephenson, 2008). As is found in the Convention, Article 1,
cultural landscapes are cultural properties that represent the combined works of nature
and of man. They are illustrative of the evolution of human society and settlement
over time under the inuence of the physical constraints and/or opportunities presented
by their natural environment and of successive social, economic and cultural forces,
both external and internal.
The main ingredients of a cultural landscape can be dened as forms, relationships
and practices and are visible in any landscape with human involvement. Forms are
dened as the physical aspects of natural and man-made elements. The relationships of
the forms and setting are important as they create interrelationships with the practices.
The integration of the forms, relationships and practices create a cultural landscape that
is continuously broadened over time. Therefore, the past and present condition of any
cultural landscape may provide many similarities as well as differences. An
understanding of the history of a landscapes present condition becomes the starting
point for the cultural landscape research.
Considering agricultural land as a cultural landscape explains the human involvement
in the land. Human society and nature are the two main forces that shape landscape
structure and drive landscape processes. Two-thirds of the terrestrial surface of the
planet is covered by agricultural land, livestock grazing areas and managed forests, and
also human activities, all of which clearly play an important role in creating landscapes.
According to Farina (2000), substantial parts of cultural landscapes are heterogeneous
agricultural areas, in which crop planting and management decisions are based mainly
on interactions with soil characteristics, microclimates and economic convenience.
This research is motivated by two major factors regarding tea plantation landscapes
in Sri Lanka: rapid urbanisation and development. These two factors cause the
reduction and replacement of tea plantations by other land uses. Moreover, tea heritage
is not given relevant importance as heritage or as a valuable cultural landscape in local
and international policy documents. According to the UNESCO World Heritage
Convention, there are 18 world heritage properties related to agricultural landscape on
the world heritage list, including six of beverage plantations, two of which are related
to coffee and four to grape wine. Tea is one of the three major beverages of the world.
However, tea agricultural heritage in tea-growing countries has not been assessed for
outstanding universal value. A tea culture-based agricultural landscape is a combination
of material and spiritual cultures. The ancient tea plantations of Jingmai Mountain,
China, is the only world heritage site wholly related to tea which is under consideration
and mentioned in the tentative list. The tentative world heritage proposal of Jingmai
Mountain explains the ancient tea plantations of Jingmai Mountain as above other
major tea heritage sites stating,

670 C.S. Wijetunga and J.S. Sung

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The famous Assam tea plantation in India, tea plantations in Sri Lanka, Shizuoka
tea plantation in Japan are mainly terraced tea landscapes with standardised
modern cultivation. They are professionally managed by limited corporations at a
large scale. While the ancient tea plantations of Jingmai Mountain are cultural
landscapes formed by the adaptation to nature under extreme conditions.
(UNESCO, 2013)
The Jingmai Mountain tentative record provides a positive entry in explaining the
rising importance of tea agricultural heritage as a cultural landscape. However, the
facts in the tentative record should not exclude other tea heritage landscapes for
consideration.
Each user group understands the values of landscape in different ways. The three
disciplinary interests of landscape (as noted above) are forms, practices (including
processes) and relationships that are important to understand the given cultural
landscape. Natural landforms, contemporary features, historical features, human-made
structures, natural features and vegetation are categorised under forms. Human
activities, historical processes, historical events, ecological processes and human
systems are categorised under practices. The relationships are seen as sense of place,
meanings, aesthetics, stories, memories, symbols, ideologies and spiritual meanings.
Literature supports that there are many versions of landscape values that are visible in
any cultural landscape. According to the literature, aesthetics, natural landforms,
archaeological features, vegetation and historic features are commonly identied as
landscape values in formal landscape evaluations. In this research, surface features
visible in the cultural landscapes are the foundation of the main values. Therefore, to
understand the values, surface analyses can identify visible features and embedded
values that should provide understanding of deeper values and reasons behind
generating these values. Surface values are the perceptual response to the directly
perceived forms, relationships and practices, while embedded values arise out of an
awareness of past forms, practices and relationships (Stephenson, 2008). According to
the study, surface values can be depicted in the term, sense of place. Sense of place
can be elaborated with a number of elements and items connected to place. Cultural
landscape conservation researchers such as Hamin (2001) and Villalon (2004) have
cautioned that sense of place is a holistic concept that binds cultural landscape in its
form and function. Daugstad, Rnningen, and Skar (2006) reveals the importance of
active agriculture and value added to uphold agricultural heritage. Therefore, the
perceptions of tourists at tea estates are a vital contribution to extend and develop
tourism that may enhance the quality of tea heritage.

Tea Cultural Landscape: Past to Present

Sri Lanka is a small island (65 610 km2) in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast
of India, 880 km north of the equator. The country experiences a variety of climate and
weather conditions throughout the year with 1427 C temperatures from the hill
country to lowlands and southwest and northeast monsoon rains from MayJuly and
DecemberJanuary, respectively (Encyclopedia Britanica, 2009).

Cultural landscapes past and present: tea plantations in Sri Lanka 671

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Pre-Colonial to Colonial
Tea heritage in Sri Lanka can be dened as a cultural landscape that shows importance
as the countrys industrial heritage. It takes a more conventional approach as a
Sri Lankan landscape resulting from colonisation. Agricultural landscapes in Sri Lanka
are distributed across the country and have signicant importance due to long practising
agricultural traditions. In Sri Lanka, topography, rainfall and settlement patterns are
clearly interrelated with the distribution of agricultural landscapes. Tea agricultural
heritage in Sri Lanka is a colonial legacy. However, paddy agricultural heritage and
associated cultural landscapes existed from the sixth century BC from the start of the
settlements in Sri Lanka and were concentrated to Anuradhapura region from sixth
century BC to 1017 AD and Kingdom of Polonnaruwa till 1310 AD. These regions
were of at terrain, about 30 to 300 m above sea level.
After the Polonnaruwa era settlements, people shifted their settlements to the central
part of the country and also settled in various other regions. Plantations were
introduced by the colonial governments during the eighteenth century. Tea was
introduced after coffee and rubber and gradually overcame the physical and climatic
constraints that other crops were unable to achieve. If we draw a comparison on paddy
(rice) agricultural heritage and tea agricultural heritage, there are a few qualities that
should be taken into account for the proper understanding of the historiography.
Tea-related landscapes in Asia have their own characteristics and historical evidence.
Sri Lanka, as a British colony from 1815 to 1948, manifested drastic changes in
agrarian landscapes. The Sri Lankan hill country changed rapidly and remains today
with its unique land use practices of crop cultivations. The cultural changes occurred
with the tea industry and remain as signicant industrial heritage in the country. The
landscapes of nature changed to domesticated crop cultures. Dutch rulers introduced
cinnamon as a crop in 1769. The unsuccessful cinnamon cultivation was replaced by
coffee in 1830 by the East India Company. Gradually, coffee cultivation was destroyed
by the coffee rust disease. Tea was rst brought to Sri Lanka by Dr H. Trimen in 1839.
The Assam tea from India was introduced and then the indigenous Assam tea
developed in the nation as a crop. The rst commercial tea plantation was established
by James Taylor in Lulkandura estate in the Kandy district. In this study, the features of
the tea landscapes along with the associated cultural values are given prominence to
identify the heritage values and their signicance.
Plantation economy introduced plantation settlement as the third type of settlement
system in Sri Lanka and major land uses of plantation settlements concentrated on tea
and rubber. Sri Lankas tea plantations are mainly located in the higher elevations, which
have a cool and pleasant subtropical climate (Figure 1). The effect of the diverse
climates of Sri Lanka on tea production was a major discovery by the pioneer tea
planters in the later part of the nineteenth century. This discovery resulted in an array of
ne teas, which are unique to each agro-climatic zone and are not found anywhere else
in the world. These distinct climatic zones produce teas known by romantic names, such
as Nuwara Eliya, Dimbula, Uva, Uda Pussellawa, Kandy and Ruhuna. The climatic
differences caused by elevation are signicant. The classication of low-altitude grown
tea (sea level to 610 m), medium-altitude grown tea (6101220 m) and high-altitude
grown tea (1250 m and above) areas also creates a marked difference in the quality of
teas. The contrast is mostly between low- and high-altitude grown varieties.

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672 C.S. Wijetunga and J.S. Sung

Figure 1. Tea estate disribution in Sri Lanka and topographical map showing drainage.

Signicant land use changes occurred in areas as a result of the tea plantation
landscapes. Progressive tea landscapes are a result of changing the natural setting of the
landscape, new systems of cultivation and plucking, and new machinery for the tea
production that transformed the tea plantation into the tea industry. The landscape
features that can be evident in tea plantations result mainly from the tea plant
cultivation process.
Tea nurseries, planting and pruning are important agricultural techniques that help
build the unique appearance of the landscape. In general, tea plants have a distance of
0.6 m between each other and a distance of 1.2 m between rows. There are
approximately 5500 tea plants per acre.
Pruning methods maintain the existing appearance, which is a feature of the tea
plantations. The continuous involvement of people is a major concern in the industry.
Pruning is usually a manual process requiring additional labour. Different methods of
pruning are used and in the areas where the survey was conducted, pruning cuts was
the main method. Apart from pruning cuts, other methods used are, rim-lung pruning,

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Cultural landscapes past and present: tea plantations in Sri Lanka 673
clean pruning with lungs, clean pruning, slope pruning and table pruning. The
picturesque landscapes evident in different tea heritage areas are based on the pruning
and the topographical features.
The major landscape changes that usually occurred with the tea plantations were
deforestation and establishing the drainage system. The drainage systems are prominent
features and the technology used to build and maintain the landscapes are unchanged to
date as traditional knowledge is used for landscape sustainability. To mitigate soil
erosion effectively, four kinds of drainage systems are commonly used: (1) Netti Kanu
(main drains collect water from the contour drains), (2) Haras Kanu (contour drains),
(3) Kutti Kanu (lock and spill), (4) Deni Kanu (drain and silt pits); the soil is protected
by advanced planting of alternative trees and shrubs that include Gotha mala
(Tripsacum laxum), Mana (Nephrolepis biserrata), Pangiri mana, known in English as
Citronella (Cymbopogon witerianus), Ergosthris grasses, Savandara (Vetiveria
zizanioides) and Illuk (Imperata cylindrica), all of which provided soil protection within
the landscapes that we surveyed.
The rst tea house or factory was built in 1873 by James Taylor, bolstered by the
success of his initial experimentation with converting green leaf to black tea. Taylor
invented a tea leaf roller, which was powered by a 20 ft. water wheel, as he realised
that manual rolling was not only inefcient, but also expensive. The demand for
mechanisation created by the growing tea production industry was a golden opportunity
for enterprising inventors and engineers. In a relatively short time, clever machines that
mimicked manual operations at much higher speed and efciency were invented and
became mandatory in a tea factory.
By 1900, the production of tea outstripped that of all other crops and the value of tea
exported was far greater than that of any other crop. New technologies and mass
production introduced to Sri Lanka through the tea industry can be considered as the
countrys most important modern era industrial heritage. The factories, machinery,
vehicular equipment and techniques that can be seen today are historical evidence.
Tea Plantations Workers, Culture and Practices
Hill country or the Central Highlands of the country remained uninhabited till 1815.
Local beliefs and myths about the mountain forests kept locals away from inhabiting
the Hill country (Davy, 1821; Skinner, 1891). The beginning of the plantation
agriculture faced the reluctance of native workers as labourers. The colonial
government took workers from India as both territories were under the British Empire.
The coolies, as they called Indian migrant workers, came in the thousands to Sri
Lanka crossing the Palk Strait. They made their way on foot from the north and
northwest coast into the Central Highlands, where Matale area was considered the gate
of entry. The so-called coolie routes were developed with this process of transporting
labour.
Tea plantations have a unique social structure not seen in other regions in Sri Lanka.
The majority of the tea estate workers are Indian Tamils and their cultural practices
contribute to the creation of the cultural landscapes of Sri Lankan tea plantations.
Indian immigrant tea plantation workers form 6% of the total population of Sri
Lanka, however, even after more than a hundred years, assimilation with the

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674 C.S. Wijetunga and J.S. Sung

mainstream population is problematic. Permanent Indian immigrant plantation workers
made sociocultural changes among the working community. They were hired to work
in Central Province, Uva Province and low-country tea estates. As immigrant workers,
they were excluded from the majoritys Sinhalese culture, but practise their own
culture. Marby (1972) shows that the Indian immigrant workers establishments
developed solid roots following initial family settlements. Later immigration, such as in
the 1950s, tried to assimilate with the existing system. However, from the beginning,
immigrant workers establishments developed as isolated groups of people.
In the early twentieth century, Indian Tamils were referred as Kandyan Tamils, or
Ceylon Tamils, even though after 1948, when Sri Lanka became an independent
nation, they were mostly referred to as people of Indian Tamil Origin. They were also
referred to as coolies (thotta kattan) and illicit immigrants (kallathoni)
(Kanapathipillai, 2009). Estates were separated from the urban areas and other
community settlements. The workload and long working hours restricted the workers
from leaving the estates.
Indian immigrants became established as introverted groups of people. The language,
religious practices and rituals of Indian Tamil immigrants differed from the major
Sinhalese communities. The intangible values of the cultural practices of plantation
workers is an integral portion of the landscape identity of the estates. Diversity of the
caste system amongst the immigrants also separated them into groups for some rituals
and practices. The immigrants from India belonged to 25 different castes that included
Ayyar, Vellae, Kudianar, Akampadi, Kallar, Konar, Endayar, Dewar, Sannali,
Marayachchi, Walayar, Udayar, Awar, Pandaram, Chetti, Ambar, Wannar, Pullar,
Palayar and Melan castes. Wellalan, Kallon and Kowendan castes population were the
most prominent in Nuwara Eliya region and the Hill country.
The religious practice of the plantation workers displays unique characteristics
compared to other groups. They practise Hinduism; each and every caste had their own
god or goddess. They have festivals and celebrations that directly or indirectly represent
their religious beliefs (De Silva, 2005). Thipongal, Thi pusei, Kamim kuttu dancing,
Adipusei, Saraswathi ceremony, Thiwali purattasi Virudan are some of their celebrated
festivals. Moreover, Kawadi dancing is famous and practised in every plantation by the
Indian-migrated Tamil plantation workers. Thappuwa, a musical instrument, widely
used in tea estates, is also used in many occasions to convey messages inside the
plantations.
Research Area and Methodology
The research area is located in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. The district is called
Nuwara-Eliya and bordered by Kandy, Badulla and Rathnapura districts (Figure 2).
Nuwara-Eliya is an oval-shaped mountain valley, the plateau being 2000 m above sea
level, and is an area that produces tea with a unique avour. The air is always scented
with the fragrance of cypress trees, mint and eucalyptus. It is a combination of these
factors that produces a tea that is recognised by connoisseurs of tea in the world. It has
been said that Nuwara Eliya is to Ceylon tea what champagne is to French wine.
In this research, a combined methodology to gather data and related information was
taken. This combined methodology consists of three parts: literature review, site

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Cultural landscapes past and present: tea plantations in Sri Lanka 675

Figure 2. Map showing NuwaraEliya district and research area.

observation and in-depth interviews with 20 selected foreign tourists as outsiders to the
tea plantations. The 20 overseas tourists or outsiders, also referred to as respondents in
the study, were interviewed during the period from April to August in 2013 over a
period of four months. Every interview was conducted individually and samples were
selected with diversity of age, gender and purpose of visit. The selected sample
respondents visited all three case study areas (Labookellie, Blue eld and Pedro
plantations).
Estate Settlement and its Character
Sri Lankas main agricultural heritage remains as paddy (rice) heritage and tea heritage.
Both paddy rice and tea agriculture contain diverse values. The relative importance of
tea agricultural heritage compared with paddy agricultural heritage seems to be that the
landscapes convey the characteristics of tea heritage more clearly (Figure 3).
Paddy agricultural heritage has a long tradition of practice that has a documented
history starting in the sixth century BC. The paddy agricultural landscapes are
distributed across areas where there were satisfactory topographical and climatic
conditions or where the people overcame the constraints. Village distribution and paddy
agricultural expansion shows close interconnections. We can identify three major
settlement (village) types associated with paddy agricultural landscapes, namely

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676 C.S. Wijetunga and J.S. Sung

tank-fed villages, where agriculture depends on a built reservoir; rain-fed villages,
where agriculture depends on the annual rainfall; Chena-settlements, where agriculture
depends on seasonal rains and settlements are located within a forest or a woodland.
The main paddy agricultural landscapes are distributed along the at terrains in the dry
zone in Sri Lanka with tank-fed village settlements.
The tank-fed village and the settlement mainly focus on the reservoir as its major
landform feature. As a cultural landscape, the village tank system is a water
management system with the rainwater reservoir, a large tank, village tanks and
irrigation channels combined together along with a cluster of settlement houses located
immediately below the tank. Likewise, tea agricultural heritage is concentrated into
estate settlement landscapes. In the postcolonial period, the tea-related landscapes were
mainly separated into two sections according to the ownership and the sizes.
The main landform feature in the tea estate settlements is the extensive plantation.
The tea factory, which is large in scale, is the major building component of the estate
settlements with staff quarters and worker (coolie-line1) houses. The landscape
formation of the tea estate is mainly concentrated on hill or mountain sites of Sri Lanka
and the Nuwara-Eliya area and the case study area is a tea-terraced landscape (Tables 1
and 2). The tea factory is adjacent to the main road constructed during the colonial era
and widened or reconstructed during the postcolonial era. The labourers houses are
mostly located next to the tea factory, while some other labourers houses are scattered
throughout the plantation to enable greater estate efciency. The staff quarters or
bungalows are located at a higher elevation than the plantation terrace to enable easy
observation and proper governing as well as more protection in the estate settlement
(Figure 3).
The Nuwara-Eliya estate settlements contain Indian immigrant Tamil workers with
ethnic and religious cultural practices that differ from the majority Sinhalese people of
Sri Lanka. They speak Indian Tamil (dialectical differences with the Sinhalese Tamil
language) and are devoted to Hindu religious practices. After the end of colonisation
era in 1948, the Indian Tamil workers continued to practise their religious customs
celebrating every important day and adjusting them with their traditionally low-income
labour occupation. The cultural practices of the Indian Tamil workers and the tea estate
landscapes in Nuwara-Eliya cannot be separated, as the intangible heritage is the
backbone of the tea plantation heritage and the agricultural activity.

Figure 3. Tea estate as a settlementtypical plantation sectional viewauthors survey.

Cultural landscapes past and present: tea plantations in Sri Lanka 677

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Landscape Values of Tea Plantation and Future Considerations

In order to obtain a correct understanding of tea plantations for future consideration, a
survey targeting foreign visitors to the Tea plantations in Nuwara Eliya region was
carried out. The tourist interviewees showed strong preference for landscapes that have
scenery, and visual and recreational values. Among the three estate sites surveyed,
Pedro plantation and its background mountain range was highly valued by most of the
visitors. The tea landscapes of Nuwara Eliya region have encouraged tea heritage
tourism due to the scenic visual features that blend together with the natural setting of
the region. Pedro tea plantation has the backdrop of Mount Pedro, the highest mountain
peak of the country, while another side of the plantation merges with the Central
Highlands, one of Sri Lankas World Natural Heritage Sites.2
One visitor stated that:
The mountain gives an amazing backdrop to the plantations. The mist that covers
the mountain range ows towards the tea plantation, showing that both belong to
the same environment. The mountain is much higher than what we expected. I
actually travelled to the peak. The tea plantation gives me calm, relaxing feelings
which I like the most.
Other features perceived and appreciated by the visitors were the irrigation channels
built along the vertical segments of the tea plantations located in the mountains. The
pathway system in the Blue Field estates creates a unique quality throughout the
plantation (Figure 4).
Moreover, the estates are settlements that connect with tea trails linked to each and
every part of the plantation. The trails are connected as a web throughout the plantation
while stone borders separate plantations. The trails are long but safe routes for the
transportation vehicles. They are covered with Cabook (Boralu) stones and rough
constructions with stone margins to their sides (usually where hilly). The hill avenue

Figure 4. Pathway system in the Blue Field estatephotograph by author.

678 C.S. Wijetunga and J.S. Sung

Table 1. Total extent of tea in Nuwara Eliya District in small holding sector and estate sector Sri
Lanka.
Extent in acres
Small holding sector

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DS Division
Kothmale
Hanguranketha
Walapane
Nuwara Eliya
Ambagamuva
District total

No. of
holdings
reporting tea

Estate sector

Total

Extent
under
tea

No. of
holdings
reporting tea

Extent
under
tea

No. of
holdings
reporting tea

Extent
under
tea

6281
1176
941
20
3518

5674
807
633
153
2727

13
8
14
66
94

6225
4057
8569
43 860
51 503

6294
1184
955
86
3612

11 899
4864
9202
44 013
54 230

11 936

9994

195

114 214

12 131

124 208

Source: Department of Census and Statistics, Ministry of Finance and PlanningSri Lanka
(2013).
Table 2. Population distribution in Sri Lanka in urban, rural and estate areas.
Total population
District
Colombo
Gampaha
Kalutara
Kandy
Matale
Nuwara-Eliya
Galle
Matara
Hambantota
Ampara
Kurunegala
Puttalam
Anuradhapura
Polonnaruwa
Badulla
Moneragala
Ratnapura
Kegalle
Total (18 districts

Urban

Rural

Estate

No.

No.

No.

No.

2 251 274
2 063 684
1 066 239
1 279 028
441 328
703 610
990 487
761 370
526 414
592 997
1 460 215
709 677
745 693
358 984
779 983
397 375
1 015 807
785 524

100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100

1 229 572
300 933
113 188
155 987
36 103
43 073
109 921
64 361
21 571
112 536
34 691
65 294
53 151

51 536

58 245
17 139

54.6
14.6
10.6
12.2
8.2
6.1
11.1
8.5
4.1
19.0
2.4
9.2
7.1

6.6

5.7
2.2

1 014 388
1 762 028
915 477
1 030 172
383 468
283 659
863 309
676 499
503 410
480 461
1 418 881
642 210
691 573
358 679
567 178
388 226
855 178
712 914

45.1
85.4
85.9
80.5
86.9
40.3
87.2
88.9
95.6
81.0
97.2
90.5
92.7
99.9
72.7
97.7
84.2
90.8

7314
723
37 574
92 869
21 757
376 878
17 257
20 510
1433

6643
2173
969
305
161 269
9149
102 384
55 471

.3
.0
3.5
7.3
4.9
53.6
1.7
2.7
.3

.5
.3
.1
.1
20.7
2.3
10.1
7.1

16 929 689

100

2 467 301

14.6

13 547 710

80.0

914 678

5.4

Source: Department of Census and Statistics, Ministry of Finance and PlanningSri Lanka
(2013).

Boralu road is a steep path leading to the mountain meditation centre near Horton
Plains. The picturesque features of the trails add value to the cultural landscape as
conrmed in interviews with the respondents who described the visual aspects of tea

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Cultural landscapes past and present: tea plantations in Sri Lanka 679
plantations and their picturesque qualities. The associated mountain ranges were
considered mesmerising, providing distinctive backdrops to the tea estates.
The group of respondents valued the tea cultural landscapes from an aesthetic
perspective. The economical point of view was another concern raised by the tourists,
as some claimed that scenic beauty could be used for more efcient marketing. Pedro
plantation and its mountain range setting were selected by the majority of the
respondents as the most signicant for scenic and recreational value. One respondent
claimed: I would like to camp in an area like this instead of a hotel. The spring water
streams are amazing. The stream seems to be carrying the freshest water I ever drank.
Moreover, one respondent commented, So relaxing is the feeling that I prefer tea
plantations over mountain peaks. Tea plantations maintain a quality of calmness. We
felt the environment and it is refreshing.
Other tourists claimed that the scenic beauty of the mountain range with the tea
plantations; climatic condition with the mist; and the beauty of the tea plantation
formations were values that they identied in the landscape.
Other values identied as values by the visitors (respondents) were the natural
landscapes and the traditional practices seen in the tea landscapes. The respondents also
noted that the natural landscape was enhanced, and that minimal damage occurs from
traditional practices of tea agriculture. The natural settings of the tea plantations were
highly appreciated by all of the visitors that were interviewed.
Some of the tea trails are not covered with any surface material and over time have
merged with the existing natural setting of the plantations. Pedro estate consists of
natural tea plantation trails that have become a particular landscape feature. Visitors
observed that the tea plantations that have been in operation for centuries remain as
functioning sustainable systems, and that those systems and practices are integral
components of the tea estate settlement system. The unique drainage systems and soil
erosion mitigation techniques associated with the tea plantations were appreciated and
valued by visitors.
I noticed the rain and the lled drains that seem to be a better construction for
existing soil conditions as I saw that the water ow clear and not muddy. (one
visitor commented)
The waterways and spring water ows were common features due to the high rainfall.
The use of materials such as stones, rock boulders and Cabook in constructing drains
and roads ensures the existing landscape is suitable for both human habitation and soil
protection. The unique drainage system and soil erosion mitigation techniques
associated with the tea plantations were features noted by 40% of the respondents as
having the highest value. According to the responses, one said,
I think the most important ecological concern in this area should be avoiding soil
erosion. I agree that they try to mitigate the amount of erosion by providing
drains.
According to another comment, We used the drains at trails to climb the mount and
the experience was rocking. I think the drains are trails when the rain is not there.

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680 C.S. Wijetunga and J.S. Sung

Figure 5. Labookellie plantation, worker quarters and tea factoryphotograph by author.

As well, many respondents believed that the drainage system is well designed,
extremely useful and needy for the mountain topographical conditions in the area.
Others think the drainage system could be a more sustainable irrigation system for
vegetable cultivations in the mountain valleys.
Historical and heritage values characterised the tea estates according to the perception
of the majority of the tourists. Many tourists identied the old Pedro plantation tea
factory as a valuable heritage feature in the tea estate landscape. With regard to colonial
heritage, outsiders were interested in old machinery displayed outdoors in Labookellie
plantation. Other features that were highly rated include the Labookellie plantations
worker quarters, the factory and the colonial period guesthouses visible around the area
(Figure 5). In-depth interviews with the respondents conrmed the values and the three
main historically signicant features of the tea plantations in Nuwara-Eliya as the
historical routes along the Nuwara-Eliya district, tea plantation-related buildings and
early industrial machinery displayed inside and outside factories. Historical features and
display items are part of heritage tourism promotional campaigns. One tourist
explained,
The power plant display outside the factory gives us evidence of its age. Before, I
thought the factory was not very old. At rst I was interested in seeing the
manufacturing process of tea, but there are many other items that recreate the
history of colonisation.
People and cultural values are another form of values that were determined from the
interviews. The visitors (respondents) repeatedly stated that the length of their visits
was not long enough for them to understand the whole structure of the sociocultural
system. At the same time, the visitors observed certain qualities that they considered as
values embedded in the tea plantations. The tourists were interested to see the line
houses and the people who lived inside and outside the neighbourhood areas. The

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Cultural landscapes past and present: tea plantations in Sri Lanka 681
women plucking tea was a great attraction for many tourists and they were interested to
observe the real living process of producing tea.
Many tourists appreciated the generations of knowledge held by the local woman,
Sangi amma. The tourists were also able to feel the Tamil traditions and practices in the
area, which differed from other regions they had visited in Sri Lanka. The tea leaves
ready for the drying process was of interest to visitors as they demonstrated the
preliminary stages of the establishment of national identity and as others have explained
and literature proves, landscapes can show the national identity.
National identities are coordinated, often largely dened, by legends and landscapes.
Landscapes, whether focusing on single monuments or framing stretches of scenery,
provide visible shape; they picture the nation. As exemplars of moral order and
aesthetic harmony, particular landscapes achieve the status of national icons (Daniels,
1993, p. 5).
Conclusion
Signicant landscape changes occurred regarding plantations in the colonial era and the
crop agrarian landscapes are a prominent feature in the hill country of Sri Lanka.
According to the study, it is understood that the tea estate is the unit of the tea heritage
cultural landscape. The tea estate landscape consists of tea plantations, tea factories and
activity area, staff quarters, labour housing (coolie lines), water drainage systems, tea
trails and the associated Indian Tamil culture. The tea estate is signicant as a
settlement type in the island due to its unique character and elements. Therefore, tea
estate settlements are considered as a third type of settlement pattern in Sri Lanka with
urban and rural settlements. As agricultural heritage, the tea estate presents unique
characteristics that differ from paddy (rice) agricultural heritage. Major elements of tea
estates are their topographical features (high-elevation locations), settlement pattern and
different sociocultural practices, all of which create the cultural landscape. Moreover,
the cultural routes of Immigrant Indian Tamil Plantation workers are yet to be explored.
The cultural representation of the Tamil plantation workers in estate or plantation
landscapes creates identity of the Tea cultural landscape.
Tourists that participated in the interview research enhanced the values of the tea
plantations (Labookellie, Blue eld and Pedro plantations) by providing their personal
perceptions. Scenery, visual and recreational qualities, natural landscape features,
traditional practice values, historical and heritage values and peoples cultural values
were understood by the visitors as values depicted in the tea heritage of Sri Lanka.
Every category that we considered contributed to the appreciation of tea heritage as a
cultural landscape. As existing active agriculture, tea heritage has to nd appropriate
means of protection instead of losing areas for urbanisation projects. Value adding as a
concept can be implemented to increase the economic value of the plantations. The tea
heritage tourism can be promoted. The tourism board and other authorities are working
on value-adding campaigns and the perception of tourists on the heritage landscape
values of tea estates can be used for the betterment of heritage protection.
Among the other suggestions, the visitor respondents stated that most of the values
in the system itself could change due to external and internal factors and they
suggested that conservation of the cultural landscape values were important. Special

682 C.S. Wijetunga and J.S. Sung

policy enactment was another suggestion that European countries already practise.
Heritage documentation and cultural landscape identication should be developed from
the early stages of documentation and agricultural landscapes should be considered as a
heritage due to their unique and comparative values. Nation branding could be centred
around tea heritage, as Sri Lanka is best known for tea production.

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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the BK21 plus Project in 2014 (Seoul National University
Interdisciplinary Program in Landscape Architecture, Global Leadership Program
Towards Innovative Green Infrastructure).
Disclosure statement
No potential conict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes
1. Coolie-line is the word used by the Brtish colonial government for their labour houses which form a line
with stacked small square-shaped houses to house one or several families.
2. In the year 2010, the UNESCO declared Central Highlands as a World Heritage. The property comprises
the Peak Wilderness Protected Area, the Horton Plains National Park and the Knuckles Conservation
Forest.

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