Church of St. John the Baptist, Koslanda

In the  high lands of of Sri Lanka's tea plantations, the descendants of the Tamils from South India who were brought by the British in the 19th century to sustain the tea industry, very often live in communities isolated from the traditional Sinhala villages of those areas. At times, this isolation has created tension in those communities, giving rise to misunderstandings and disharmony.

The community of the congregation of the church of St. John the Baptist at Koslanda is unique in this respect. In this church community which is a century old, Sinhala and Tamil people have been living in harmony not only accepting and respecting each other but also marrying from within each other's communities. The Church has provided a fertile ground for them to grow within their respective cultures, going beyond the barriers brought about by their isolation.

Today this congregation can be considered  a "model community" where Sinhala people and the so called Indian Tamils live in symbiosis by eliminating xenophobia and creating xenophilia living as human beings created in the image of God the Ultimate reality.