The joy, enthusiasm and pride of the Sri Lankan people captured the attention of attendees Sunday in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union. The Sri Lankan Association at Iowa State showcased and shared some of its traditions and exquisite food with the Ames community.

Hosts Vidushi Rambukwella, senior in marketing, and Devaka Cooray, senior in finance, entertained the audience throughout the evening and enhanced the importance of the awareness about their unique culture by showing video presentations and acknowledging the amount of talent all the performers possessed — who practiced constantly for six weeks, put the choreographies together and designed their own costumes.

The video presentations promoted the Sri Lankan nature, biodiversity, cuisine, monuments, temples and biggest touristic spots, such as the sandy beaches in Southern Sri Lanka and the gigantic fortresses on the coast. The hosts also referred to the nation as “a small miracle,” or “the pearl of the Indian Ocean.”

The ceremony officially started when Associate Vice President of Human Resources Services Carla R. Espinoza, addressed the crowd along with Director of International Students and Scholars James Dorsett. They both lit the traditional Sri Lankan oil lamp as a sign of welcome and opening.

Espinoza was also the guest speaker. She shared some words of inspirations with the guests and made sure they were enthusiastically awaiting the performances that would take place. In her speech she explained that self-esteem was the most importance ingredient in the formula of success.

“That message was clearly and honestly communicated on the Sri Lankan Cultural Night announcement,” Espinoza said. “The statement went like this, ‘It is our dream to showcase our rich culture and share our tasty foods at a colorful event.’ That expresses pride and enormous self esteem.”

The Aradhana, or invitation dance, was performed by Lakshmi Attigala, graduate student in ecology, evolution and organismal biology. Another folk dance allowed the audience to see the Sri Lankan countryside. Dancers twirling to the rhythm of a song, “Sound of Her Laughter,” portrayed how people from this area of the island enjoy living in villages — which is likely to become a more popular trend nowadays. The hosts let the guests know that even though life is much easier in the countryside, people there also have to work hard to earn a living.

Special guest performer Asitha Silva came from Oklahoma State University to show off his traditional and modern Sri Lankan dancing skills.

Sri Lankan Student Association President Thilina Weerasekara, along with the help of Anna McCourt, senior in linguistics, reached out to the people in the crowd and taught them how to greet in Sinhala and Tamil, which are the official languages spoken in the nation. They told the audience more about the culture and history of Sri Lanka, which is the second-longest recorded history in the world and dates from 2,550 years ago.

Weerasekara said “Ayubowan” and “Vanakkam” are both the usual ways to say hello and wish for someone to have a long life. He said Sri Lanka is 268 miles long and 139 miles wide, but despite its small size the island is one of the world’s most biodiverse places and a tourist paradise.

“Sri Lanka is also considered by many astronomers to be one of the best places from which to view the universe,” Weerasekara said.

He said that in Sri Lanka the sun shines year long, and the warm weather conditions make it possible to harvest fruits such as mango, watermelon, banana, pineapple and various spices, which contribute to the fact they produce the finest tea in the world. “Sri Lanka is not only the country that you see on BBC or CNN, there’s a lot more to it, and we want to show that in this event,” Weerasekara said.

One of the dances was dedicated to the indigenous people. It was meant to show the traditional lifestyle of the Veddas tribe. The hosts described the performance to the audience as an enjoyable moment of the “lest complicated life,” and the enthusiasm arose as dancers went in circles surrounding a bonfire on stage.

Mervyn Marasinghe, associate professor of statistics, expressed that he was very happy with the show and felt more proud about his culture than ever.

“Yellow rice is one of my favorite Sri Lankan foods.” Matasinghe said. One of the guests Prema Wickrama, who is originally from Sri Lanka and has been in the United States for 21 years, invited people from the Ames community to Sri Lanka. “It’s a beautiful place to go, and people are very kind. They will take care of you if you visit them,” Wickrama said.

A fashion show was part of the event. Models wore casual clothing and elegant evening outfits, which presented traditional and modern formal fashion trends of the Sri Lankan society “I appreciate that we have a really good crowd here, and I really appreciate their enthusiasm toward our culture,” said Pavithra Premaratrie, a fashion show models who wore the traditional wedding garment.

At the end of the show, the association extended a big thank you to the audience. People who helped make the event a success. Sri Lankan Association Vice President Achila Jayasuriya explained that it took almost a year to organize the vivid event. “We wanted to show where we’re from and what we’re capable of doing,” Jayasuriya said. Lisa Tully, junior in English, said how much she enjoyed the show.

“I’m much more culturally aware of Sri Lanka. I’d love to go there some day, and I hope Iowans take away the enthusiasm and energy that these people had tonight,” Tully said.