More Sri Lanka

After Sheryl completed the Sri Lankan leg of her adventures and returned home to Australia, I remained with the family in Kirigala for another fortnight. Highlights included my first visit to Kataragama during its annual perahera or temple procession and a short stay in Negombo.

Before setting out on our pilgrimage to Lord Skanda's temple at Kataragama, Percy's brother Gamini brought his family to the Kirigala home. Gamini and his wife Shiromi - a well known television actress- front the family gathering on the lawn.

Aira relaxes on the steps with Shiromi and Shiromi's mother

Prabhash and Desika are in New Zealand for Prabhash's study. Desika's family pay a visit to the Kirigala home. Her older sister's little daughter takes centre stage for the photo.

We begin our journey south to Kataragama and on the way we inspect the great tank constructed by Mrs Bandaranaike and named for her little daughter Chandrika who was 

later to herself become President of Sri Lanka. 

Some travellers have sought to be remembered on the pillars of the pump house

At a junction we stop to honour an adventurous local woman Gajaman Nona who was nationally renowned for her poetry and who Percy proudly claims is an ancestor of the Abeygunawardhenas. This might explain Percy and Riya's skills as poets.

Reaching Tissamaharama we pause at an ancient stupa that once held the holy tooth relic now kept at the Tooth Temple in Kandy and paraded annually in the Kandy Perahera.

Lake Tissamaharama was close to where we stayed for our visit to nearby Kataragama

A shadow of a palmtree on the rice fields beside our guesthouse.

Low country drummers prepare for the Perahera at the Kataragama temple

In the temple courtyard the chosen elephant is prepared to be the vehicle of Lord Skanda 

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Two of the richly caprisoned elephants in the Kataragama Perahera

The south face of Kiri Wehera  - a perfect stupa near the Kataragama temple

In the words of Chandana Liyanaarachchi's popular song "Kiri Weherata Ihalin 
Dhanga Karana Sandaawathi"  (The Moon is dancing above Kiri Wehera )

As the crowds made their way home from the temple one stoic little fellow stood his ground

On our way home we stopped to buy curd and treacle from Siriyawathi and her daughter

one of the southern beaches demanded we stop for a stroll

 Percy and daughter Riya took a moment to relax

At the southern tip of Sri Lanka the waves smash wildly against the rocks of Dondra Head

Percy and John haven't been together this close to Sydney since 1989

It felt like the population of Dondra were out to cheer us on, but it was their Perahera day.

that night we stayed with Percy's relatives near Galle. Percy and I slept in the truck.

                     the stay in the village got me closer to nature and Riya closer to the 21st century 

I hadn't seen real clay cooking pots for twenty years

 Near Galle a visit to Mahathero Seelavimala - Percy's 94 year old teacher - was, as we suspected, our last chance to see this impressive monk. He passed away three weeks later.

then further up the west coast we visited a favourite rock pool at Ambalangoda

where a little human greets his mother ocean with filial devotion

Negombo

Negombo and its beaches is close to the International Airport, so it is often an arrival point and a departure point for tourists. With the Tamil Tiger war at an end, European and other tourist are beginning to return. Old and new hotels and resorts are rallying their resources.

You can reach Negombo by train from Colombo Fort Station but don't choose this engine

Sunset on Negombo beach as its fishing fleet puts out to sea for the night

the morning sees the boats return with their catch

The first European invaders - the Portugese - made Negombo a port and introduced catholicism to the island in the 15th century. Many catholic families remain in this area.

Cards can be a way of whiling away the time for three-wheeler drivers

  

Heavy clouds hid the mountainous upcountry as the plane carries me home

Home to Sri Lanka

Sheryl's First Visit

After our visit to Angkor Wat, Sheryl agreed to visit the sacred isle and meet my family - the Abeygunawardhena family, who made us both very welcome indeed.

First meal at the Abeygunawardhena family home, that son Prabhash built in Kirigala

Sheryl and I join the family and boarder Prabhath for a Ratnapura excursion in Percy's truck

The goal of our visit to Ratnapura was the 400 year old temple of god Sumana Saman

where Riya and Ammah Aira planned to offer pooja for Riya's recent academic success

we entered the temple proper in time for the ceremonial offerings

the priests received the offerings of fruit and flowers and presented them in the sanctuary

elaborate elephant lamp holders grace the temple pillars

We leave through a lace curtained doorway to join a buddhist nun in the forecourt

a forecourt guarded by an impressive topiary elephant

The tiered temple sanctuary looms above an older Buddhist brick stupa

Whoever Sumana Saman may have originally been, he is now a convert to Buddhism and the moss covered stupa may not attract much devotion, but it marks approval for the massive popular devotion to a god who is Lord of the butterflies and of the holy mountain of Sri Pada.

We leave the sacred precincts and return to Percy's truck in the carpark

where Sheryl, Aira and Percy chat over a cup of tea from the thermos

and Aira doesn't omit to share some of the blessed pooja with a local bull

We admire a spotless three wheeler in the carpark and head for home.

Back in Kirigala

The family dog Sherrie finds Sheryl an interesting addition to the household.

before submitting to a weekly bath at the well with Percy

Aira plaits gado guda to decorate the wall while they ripen.

Percy pats his tray of molten coconut toffee

then Sheryl supervises as Aira breaks up the toffee blocks on the factory floor.
In an hour or so Percy and Aira will truck the toffee packs to the local shops.

On the road South

We pause in Kalutara and cross the Kalu river on foot to the holy Bo Tree and temple

Then driving south past the historic clock tower

we leave Kalutara behind as we join the busy highway to Galle.

Lunch at a roadside cafe. Sheryl can almost handle the family level of  chilli strong dishes.

next stop the gardens of the home of Bevis Bawa - brother of architect Geoffrey Bawa 

where mother and daughter admire the flowers

Sheryl and Riya relax in the outdoor bathroom

A soapstone bust of the previous owner Bevis Bawa

John meets the current owner Dooland Da Silva

who stands concerned beside Donald Friend's mural of Ceylon now suffering deterioration

  

We bid farewell to the Bawa garden with its decadent scent of a Tennesee Williams' bloom.

Further south we pause at a memorial to Tsunami victims

The beach at Udawatuna

Sheryl and I relaxed at this Ayurvedic resort built around the 1734 residence of a Dutch Governor. Behind the complex a wooded hillside provides healing herbs for treatments.

An old Dutch cart in the hotel porch

It was hard to leave the hotel Noite Gedacht and its bowls of daily blossoms 

Galle Fort

We spent two days in the historic precinct of Galle Fort. The magnificently preserved churches and houses survived the Tsunami that destroyed much the modern city of Galle, thanks to a complete city wall built around the old city by first the Portugese and then strengthened by the Dutch and the English. 

Sheryl leaving the old Church - built by the Dutch and converted to Anglican by the English

 

The sea walls are patrolled today by friendly city dogs

at night the same sea wall shelters the roast peanut cart

Today the arab community, who the English locked out of the Fort by curfew, own almost all the houses. Fazal Jiffry - cafe owner and story teller is descended from Moroccan traders.

Some grand old homes have become luxurious hotels

The old Dutch East India Company warehouse has been transformed into  a Maritime Museum and one of the gems of its collection is a memorial stone in three languages 
which was commissioned and gifted to the Galle by the great Chinese eunuch admiral Chang Ho in the early in the 14th  century before the arrival of any European explorers. 

Another precious relic is this contemporary carving of Lord Buddha that was 
carried to the Sri Lankan east coast by the Tsunami all the way from Thailand.

Colombo and then off home for Sheryl

A day in Colombo and then Sheryl sets off home to Australia. The one important stop in the capital was the National Museum where she felt that the beautiful statue of Avalokiteshvera alone made the visit to the museum worthwhile.

The first artwork that greets the visitor in the foyer of the National Museum is this magnificent  sculpture from Polonnaruwa

The Museum boasts the largest single solid bronze casting in the island

but this graceful gilt bronze sculpture of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara held us
 spell bound and bestowed a special blessing on Sheryl's last day in Sri Lanka.