Modern technology is believed to be the panacea for all issues; nevertheless, it has both merits
and demerits. Many aspects of technology of today have not been time-tested nor known for
their adverse effects on the natural environment. On contrary, local knowledge had been timetested
and eco-friendly, though it is slow to exert in terms of mass industrial outcome. With
the growing concern for environmental protection, there needs to be hybridization of
traditional knowledge with modern technologies to sustain natural resources. Having a long
historical track, the eastern coastal area of Sri Lanka has unique array of cultural heritage in
all its aspects, such as literature, religion, art, farming and irrigation, and food. Eastern
Province showcase is enriched with many of such unique cultural heritage apart from the rest
of the Island. However, these pockets of indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage were
subject to threats and loss, due to man-made reasons and adverse environmental conditions.
Therefore, it has been a need to discover the materials that possess cultural heritage of
Batticaloa, and to document in appropriate media to take them to the posterity. The
importance of gathering and documenting the body of local knowledge is not only to preserve
uniqueness of society but to revive those economically and culturally valuable assets to
support modern science and technology. The objectives of the survey include discovery of
resources possessing heritage values, increasing the awareness of preserving indigenous
knowledge and cultural entities in the district, and developing a digital repository to preserve
indigenous knowledge and cultural values of local communities. Moreover, elements of
cultural tourism, which is an indivisible component of eco-tourism, will be enhanced and
made visible through exhibiting heritage items on digital repository. This paper elaborates on
works carried out to survey the evidence for local cultural heritage, in the light of developing
an electronic repository at Eastern University, Sri Lanka, to document and preserve district’s
distinctive identity in terms of cultural heritage.