ABSTRACT
The connection between Kerala in India and Sri Lanka can be traced across history, folklore and oral traditions, rites, rituals and festivals, architecture and lifestyle and also the palate and food. The connection can be traced to ancient times when a Sri Lankan king visited the Chera country in Kerala during the Pattani festival at Vanchi in the Kerala region; was perhaps the contemporary of Senguttuvan Chera, according to the Sangam poems, and can be dated to either the first or last quarter of the 2nd century CE (depending on whether he was the earlier or the later Gajabahu). The Pattani cult (of the deity) is said to have been brought to Sri Lanka by Gajabahu.
