Pilgrimage

It's a tradition of Kumudu's family to perform an annual pilgrimage to Kandy* and give dane at the Sri Dalida Maligawa (Sacred Temple of the Golden Tooth). The Sri Dalida Maligawa contains the Tooth Relic - reputably the molar of the Buddha. Worshipping at the Tooth Temple is particularly meritorious and confers a great deal of pin (positive karma). In accord with Buddhist doctrine, acting virtuously generates pin and therefore provides the conditions for a good rebirth. One way this can be achieved is through the action of giving or dane. Pilgrims to the Temple of the Tooth usually symbolically give dane to the tooth relic (which can only be described as a very large relic house designed in the shape of a chaitya around which is hung millions of dollars worth of gold, gems, diamonds etc - all donated by wealthy pilgrims). This symbolic gesture involves the pilgrims giving food and alms (a widely distributed package that includes a monks begging bowl, robe and fan). The same is also done for real monks which I will describe below.

My experience of the tooth, in a way, is unique, since few suddhas get to see the tooth relic closely. No photography of the relic is allowed, and most tourists are shuffled past a window in which they see the relic only for a moment. Because I was part of a group of pilgrims, I was allowed into the inner sanctum. The tooth, in this sense, is very secretively housed and is looked after by a group of specialist monks. Needless to say, the tooth relic is magnificent and is comparable with the crown jewels in terms of its opulence (of course, photos are not allowed). What is perhaps more interesting is the art work in the inner sanctum - it is perhaps the finest example of Theravadin Buddhist art that I have ever seen and is a shame that no one else gets to see it.

The inner sanctum is also of great historical significance. I noticed that a large part of the wall had broken away destroying some of the precious art it housed. When I asked about this I was told that this was due to an LTTE bomb that went off, causing some cosmetic damage to the Temple structure. Interestingly, however, the damaged parts only ended up revealing an even older set of art underneath that had been painted over. This, of course, was interpreted by the more nationalistic Buddhists as some kind of Sri Lankan revelation: The Buddha was protecting the Temple from the bomb blast and this was revealed through the appearance of this otherwise unknown art.

Worshipping the tooth is only part of the pilgrimage. Perhaps the main - and most difficult part - is the feeding the monks. Kumudu's family stayed up all night cooking food that was to be provided for the monks. Again, this act of giving is implicit within the Buddhist tradition and is derived originally from the practice of giving alms to wandering mendicant monks. Since then, Buddhism has become more systematized - monks have a wealth of food available to them and it would be unthinkable in a country like Sri Lanka for a monk to go hungry. For this reason I sometimes think that the intention behind the act of giving (dane) has become corrupt, i.e. merit is gained for helping others who cannot help themselves; it the idea of giving for its own sake. This intention is still somewhat preserved, however, through the action of giving meals to beggers on the streets (and they are very wretched beggers I might add). After the last puja I mentioned below, I gave a food package to a begger on behalf of my late grandmother (the idea being that I was donating the pin so that she would gain a good rebirth).

Temple of the Tooth - The monk looking at the camera took quite a liking to me and asked all sorts of questions concerning my interests in Buddhism (actually most monks take quite a liking on account that I am a foreigner and interested in Buddhism - obviously it doesn't take much to please monks. In fact many Sri Lankans seem to regard me as being "very religious" simply because I know Buddhist philosophy!). Sunsequently, he gave me a telephone number of a monk in Colombo that can teach me Pali - in fact I'd already arranged a course with a university in Keleniya.

The dane ceremony basically amounted to the principle monk (the fellow third from the left) giving bane (i.e. preaching). In this instance he talked - amongst other things - about the importance of marriage and blessed both of us! The monks at the Dalida Maligawa are a funny breed of monk in that they are generally quite learned and pious - in this sense they are usually quite a bit more serious looking than other monks (and this saying a lot since the main purpose of being a monk is to precisely to be serious). After the monk fishes preaching, the pilgrims go about giving out the food that had been prepared the night before. This involved us going around and spooning food into the monks bowls. In this instance, the monks seemed quite pious since few of them would take any kind of meat.

Some of the food we provided:

An example of the monks bowls and cutlery - notice that they are all quite plain (again part of the ascetic ideal), except for the writing (which simply states who the donor of the cutlery was therefore guarenteing that they get the appropriate merit - and social recognition. Many material gifts for monks have the name of the donor written on them. It is part of the technological mechanics of merit aquisition). Also note that the chairs upon which the monks sit is quite low (i.e. the legs are short): this is all part of the complicated monastic code which is designed to help the monks reduce desires.

Here is the Buddha statue in the monks eating quarters. This statue also receives alms prior to the dane. One interesting innovation which might represent a modern Hinduistic influence is the use of bright strobe lights behind Buddha statues. They usually represent the lights emitted from the Buddha when he attained enlightenment (although the colours are hardly comprehensive). I say it might be a Hindu influence only because such opulance is quite un-Buddhist like. But Sri Lankans are very competitive and would hate the idea that a Hindu deity lhas more bling than their own Buddha statues!

Going to all the trouble of visiting the hill country, seeing the golden tooth, preparing a veritable banquet of food and attending to the monks at the Dalida Maligawa all involves a huge amount of merit aquisition. Many families - including Kumudu's - do this once a year so that the merit they reap will guarentee a good future (although any belief that they will benefit before they die would be misplaced, and I happen to think that people believe this rather un-Buddhistic notion). One other thing about the tooth relic: although it is enclosed in the ritual casket described above, the tooth itself has gone on display at various times. Reputably, it is extremely large and looks rather like a yak tooth - but one shouldn't let that get in the way of a good mythological ideal!

*Although it is called Kandy, the proper Singhalese name is Nuwara. "Nuwara" simply means 'Town', so in a way it implies simply 'the town'. This probably is a throwback to when Kandy was the capital of the high country, prior to when the English captured it. That is, it really was the only big town that locals could go to hence it being simply called 'the town'. The name 'Kandy' is an English invention based upon the Singhala for hill 'kandha'. Nuwara was too complicated to say, and saying kandha with its unstressed '-dha' sound was also too difficult, so Kandy was invented, i.e. to denote that the city is in the heart of the hill country.

Boxing Day - Then and Now

Call it a coincidence, but the first time I visited Sri Lanka two years ago was the exact time the Boxing Day tsunami happened. Since then, there has been a great deal of redevelopment going on, although there are various places which are still under reconstruction and areas that look excatly the same. Northern and eastern areas controlled by the LTTE are - so I've heard - still in pretty bad shape.

A few days ago we visited Bentota - a small tourist resort about one hoursouth of Colombo. The area was decimated by the tsunami, but when we visited no one who knew any better would have guessed that a few years earlier the place was a mess of dead vegetation, flotsam and jetsom and the remains of victims of the tsunami. Those in the know observed that many of the resorts were completely missing, and that the river adjacent to the ocean had become a lagoon.

Bentota beach - mugshot of a murderer:

Bentota beach:

This beach is the area that Kumudu's family visits annually - it is a marvelous place. The sands are so fine its like flour, there are no shells and the water is beautiful and warm - it really is the archetype of paradise. In 2004, we planned to visit their holiday home which is located not even one hundred yards from the beach. A few days before this however, the home was completely destroyed. When we visited two days ago, there was a huge pool of water where the home should have been.

My own memories of 2004 Boxing Day are simple: we woke up to news that there had been a terrorist attack. Then that there had been some small accident. Still later we heard that there had been a flood. None of these reports compared to what had really happened. Knowing something serious had happened we called our respective families not to worry if they heard anything bad. Even Colombo wasn't unaffected - the canals just 150 yards from our home were flooded, and the Dehiwala train station had been washed out. Moratuwa, a stretch of coastal slum-like buildings where fisherman were based, was completely destroyed. We were all shocked by the devastation.

Moratuwa 2004 - What was left of peoples homes:

Moratuwa, 2004 - "Close" , Understatement of the year:

We kept well away from the coasts, not wishing to get in the way of the sudden influx of aid that had arrived, not to mention our desire to avoid infection: the coastal areas were rife with disease. When we visited Yala a few weeks after Boxing day, the air was sick with disease and we couldn't even leave the vehicle we were driving in. Regretably, I saw people bathing in clearly infected water: In other words, it was completely yellow and putrid.

Yala 2004, the water as it was then:

Yala 2004, people were bathing in this water. The day before the water on the far side was clogged with bodies:

Since then, laws were put in place preventing people building along the coast. If this is true, it certainly has not been implemented since the areas pictured above are now just the same they were before the tsunami: a mish-mash of slums and impromptu housing. But one thing that has always amazed me is the resilience of the Sri Lankan people. Directly after the tsunami people were straight back at work, and Colombo was as busy as ever. Meanwhile, the people devastated by the tsunami were doing their best to recover and were as optimistic as always. Other subsequent developments involve political complications over aid distribution. The Sri Lankan government were reticient to direct aid funds to the LTTE controlled areas on account that it was feared (with good reason I suspect) that the money would be misused, i.e. to fund the war. When I visited the warehouse at Pelligoda a few weeks ago, there was - reputably - still undelivered aid that had not even been cleared by customs since 2004. It was still sitting there in the boxes it had been packaged in. The aid in that warehouse - food, medicine and equipment - was rusting and expired.

Foreigners in Sri Lanka

The island of Sri Lanka has been of interest to foreigners for a long time. The ancestors of the South Indian Tamils – the Dravidians – were present in Sri Lanka from pre-historic times. So there has been a great deal of communication between India and Sri Lanka for a long time. The history of Sri Lanka is run through with violence between the Sinhalese people (which are reputably of Northern Indian stock and may have originally come from Persia) and the Sri Lankan Tamils. An influx of Tamil settlers brought on several Sinhala-Tamil wars during the early period of Sri Lankan history. Which people are more indigenous, of course, is a questionable matter – certainly the Sinhalese settled there first, but the Sri Lankan Tamils have lived there in some form for many thousands of years developing their own unique culture that distinguishes them from their Indian cousins.

(Image of Sri Lanka care of "Lonely Planet": Most Tamils live in the north and east of Sri Lanka, while there is a concentration of Moors in South-east Sri Lanka (around Ampara and Batticalloa). The Singhalese predominate however, and dominate much of the island population).

Even Roman traders plied Sri Lankan waters as they went about taking advantage of Sri Lanka’s twin monsoons. The Egyptians were trading spice as early as 1400 bce! Arabs, Malays and Indonesians were also popular visitors. The upshot of this early trade was that sea charts were easily available for many years making subsequent invasion by foreign powers a rather simple affair.

(Sri Lanka's Flag: The lion is a Singhalese national symbol, the leaves at the four corners are Bo leaves and represent Buddhism, the maroon colour is a Singhalese colour, while the green and biege represents the Tamils and Moors - Muslims - respectively).

Later, the Portuguese colonized the coast of Sri Lanka starting in 1505, essentially dominating the island economically. Subsequent to this, the Dutch invaded and wrestled control of the island from the Portuguese during the 1700’s. Finally, the English declared Sri Lanka a crown colony in 1802 and developed much of the infrastructure currently in use today. It was also the English that managed to control the inland, defeating the Kandyan Kingdom and defeating the Sinhala army that had for so long maintained control. The lengthy colonization of the Sri Lankan coast has resulted in a more cosmopolitan feel and outlook in coastal areas, and a more rural and simple way of life inland. Nonetheless, most Sinhalese look to the high country for cultural inspiration since it remains somewhat unchanged since English dominion.

Colombo city - trading centre of Sri Lanka:

In spite of this colonialism, the Sri Lankan people still retain a unique culture and society, in many ways no different from the practices of their ancestors. In spite of the violent history the settlers brought, the Sri Lankan people seem to harbour no ill sentiment towards foreigners. The Sinhalese generally regard white people (sudhas) very warmly as if they represent a high point in Sri Lankan history. Nonetheless, they are often amused by the peculiar antics of tourists sometimes secretly calling them pissu-suddha “crazy white people”. This is always said in a very light-hearted way of course, but the term is – when one thinks about it – quite astute. This is often because suddhas become thakkali-suddha “tomato suddha” on account that they go directly from the airport to beaches – usually Bentota on the west coast – and become ragingly sunburnt (an impossibility for the locals). There are other reasons why suddhas might be classified as odd: they tool around in floral pattern shorts with ridiculous hats and take pictures of stray dogs (guilty! – I’ll show my collection of stray dogs later).

Then there are kalu-suddha “black-whities”. This term is a derogatory term usually reserved for Sri Lankans who have moved overseas and forgotten their roots (i.e. their language). However, it can occasionally be applied to foreigners who have appropriated certain Sri Lankan practices (e.g. eating food with the right hand, knowing Singhala, etc, etc). I’ve seen quite a few tourists floating around here and there – almost always at hotels and tourist spots. I’ve heard that there is a real dearth of tourists at the moment due firstly to the effects of the Boxing Day tsunami but secondly because of the civil war that has recently been re-ignited. For this reason I have never experienced how busy Sri Lanka can really be. But it is telling, I think, that being in the company of suddhas is something of an oddity in my case and when I am amongst them in force (for example when I visited the shop “Barefoot” – a staple tourist hangout) I feel rather out of place. Having said all this about the local attitude to foreigners, many locals however often regard their own people as pissu “crazy”, so in this vein the following phrase is probably appropriate: okomma miniho pisso “all people are crazy”.

Road Rules in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka of offers a unique perspective on driving. Ostensibly there is some kind of road code which resembles the New Zealand version. In practice, however, no one seems to pay it any heed. The roads are a mess of traffic - utterly chaotic and inefficient. Somehow, however, people still manage to find their destination. There are several problems with the infrastructure of the roads: 1. There is little road maintenance, so potholes and road-wear is entirely common, 2. Few roads are wider than two lanes - even on main trunk lines like the Kandy-Colombo road. This means that a huge amount of traffic is wedged onto one tiny road creating pandemonium, 3. I have seen nothing in the way of yellow lines, meaning that traffic can park pretty much anywhere they like and overtaking is simply a matter of personal judgment. These problems are mainly due to a lack of resources and a lack of space (there simply isn't enough room on the tiny island for wide lanes).

Traffic accident:

As for driving customs, there are some essential rules that one needs to be aware of: 1. If you want to change lanes or turn onto a road simply inch out until you have obstructed the traffic flow enough with your vehicle such that other vehicles have to let you in, 2. When you are driving through tiny side streets and built up-urban areas at high speed, ensure that furiously honk your horn so that potential traffic you cannot see will know that they better get out of the way, 3. When overtaking on a corner, or when overtaking by moving into the path of oncoming traffic (both a common phenomenon) ensure that you hopelessly blast your horn in the vain hope that the traffic will stop before crashing into you, 4. If you come across a crowd of people choking the road, violently weave between the pedestrians forcing them to dive out of the way of your vehicle, and finally: 5. Be aware that any road signs and/or road markings are entirely suggestions. In fact, it is better if you ignore them altogether. For example: lane markings are just approximate indictors of where your vehicle could be, it is quite acceptable to drive in the middle of the road hogging both lanes or cram your vehicle beside another vehicle on a one way road.

Overtaking (before - note bend):

Overtaking (during - note bend):

The above road rules are for cars and vans only. Buses and trucks in Sri Lanka always have the right of way, and it's best not to think of getting in the way of the public buses which show no interest in slowing down for anything. As for three-wheelers (autorickshaws or "Bajaj's") and motor bikes, signalling is entirely unnecessary and these vehicles will weave inbetween vehicles choking the road and creating a whole host of potential safety problems. As for pedestrians, the general rule is this: If you want to cross the road simply walk out in front of traffic holding up your palm (i.e. "please stop") and hope that the oncoming traffic will brake in time. Locals seem to be utterly fearless in this regard and seem confident they will not be hit.

People often tell me that there are few road accidents in Sri Lanka because the locals have an "understanding". I happen to know, however, that Sri Lanka has one of the highest road accident records per capita in the world. This doesn't surprise me all that much. Last time I was in the country I witnessed two road accidents (in one case a bus had rolled down an embankment deforming the chasis in a rather comical way - I later saw the bus driving away, the entire bus frame warped at a 45 degree angle and the driver poking his head out the window). This time, Kumudu's cousin was hit from behind by a three-wheeler while he was riding his bike. He was lucky because he only suffered a few scratches, but the driver escaped. There was no point reporting the three-wheeler since: a) the police don't investigate such things and b) there are thousands of three-wheelers in Colombo so identification is impossible.

Three-wheeler cruising:

The upshot of all this is that driving in Sri Lanka is always a contrast: Either you are driving at dangerous speed through empty streets and rural roads, or you are stuck in traffic in sweltering, mosquito infested heat. Having said all that, there is something quite endearing about the whole experience. As dangerous as it objectively is, one never feels that unsafe. The drivers have such a confidence about them it is difficult to believe an accident could in fact happen. And although the drivers are quite hopeless and the roading inefficient, there is very little in the way of road rage. Everyone is quite patient in spite of the reckless driving. So in that sense, we have a lot to envy in New Zealand - if Sri Lankans never get annoyed by bad driving, then we in New Zealand really have no excuse!

Fruits and Vegetables

There are two things that Sri Lanka's tropical climate breeds: 1) poisonous and dangerous critters (snakes, scorpians, mosquitoes, bull ants, spiders and so on) and 2) a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. The benefits of one cancel out the other in many cases. It is interesting to note that the price of fruits and vegetables have sky rocketed since the civil war resumed. A pineapple costs around Rs 50 (less than a dollar), when it used to cost around Rs 20-25. A hand of bananas (and we're talking a big hand here) costs around Rs 250-300 (about $3), when it used to cost Rs 100-150. This may seem like not much to us, but this essentially means that prices have doubled. In Jaffna, where there is massive food shortages, food can cost 10 times what it did 2 years ago.

Mango (Singhala: amba) is a very popular fruit in Sri Lanka and is widely bought by the locals. Unlike the south-pacific mango we are used to in New Zealand, tropical mango retains a green skin. The darker the skin, the more ripe it is (rather like an avacado). Sri Lankan mangoes are especially juicy, sweet and lack the stringiness of south-pacific mangoes. There are also various different kinds, but the details of which I am not privy to. It is common throughout all of Sri Lanka for fruit to be sold both at portable vendors (as above), but also at road side stalls. In rural areas, as one passes by these stalls, the vendors will practically throw themselves in front of your car in order to get you to stop to buy their wares!! The above vendor was in Colombo.


Another important agricultural product is the coconut. The coconut is used in a myriad of ways by local Sri Lankans. The most desired coconut is the King coconut (Singhalese: thambili). The king coconut is usually cut open with a knife in such a way that small hole is created in the top. Through this, the water inside can be drunk with a straw. The water is uniquely refreshing in spite of the fact that it is invariably quite warm. This, apparently, is because the water is quickly absorbed by the body due to the natural concentration of salts and electrolytes. Once the contents have been drunk, the coconut is cut open so that the flesh can be scraped out using a spoon hacked from the coconut shell. The coconut is used in many other ways: in curries principally, but it can also be made into an alcoholic beverage (called toddy). Finally, the shell is used in various local crafts - for example ladels etc.


Sugar cane is the natural precursor of standard table-sugar. However, it seems relatively common for sugar to be eaten raw from the sugar cane. In the above picture, the fellow is cutting up pieces of sugar cane so that it can be sucked on thereby extracting a sweet, juicy watery substance. On the whole, I found the process labourious and unpleasent due to the fibrous nature of the cane. It basically hurts your teeth something wicked and it really does confirm why herbivorious animals have such huge molars.


The above picture illustrates a standard market stall of vegetables. This picture was taken in Kandy a few years ago. As you can see there is quite a variety of different vegetables not easily available in New Zealand. This is most obvious amongst the greens which include loofah, okra and bitter gourd. These more esoteric greens are, in many cases tasteless, but are prepared in such a way that they are quite delicious. Generally, these vegetables are all transformed into curries of one kind or another (see previously). Sri Lanka is ideal for vegans because: a) unlike the Indians, Sri Lankan food does not naturally use ghee, b) Sri Lankans have a wide variety of vegetarian dishes kept entirely separate from their meat dishes and c) vegetarianism is not uncommon in Sri Lanka on account that it is regarded as a virtuous lifestyle in accord with Buddhist principles (even if this is not always carried out consistently).

The above stall is selling fruits. You can see from the image that there are several differnt kinds of banana. The green skinned ones aren't unripe - they are naturally green and maintain that skin colour. These bananas (kedal-gesiya) are the closest we have in terms of taste to the south-american bananas we have in New Zealand. Other bananas include red-skinned ones (expensive, but very sweet) and, both red skin and yellow skinned, dwarf-bananas (again, sweet). Pineapples (annasi) are very tasty - they are especially sweet and juicy. The orange coconut above is the thambili I mentioned earlier. Also featuring in the photo are apples and wood-apples. I have only ever had wood-apple as a juice - it was quite unpleasent. Normal apples in Sri Lanka are imported since the tropical climate does not support their growth. They are certainly nothing to make a fuss over, but the locals rather seem to like them (probably in the same way we like mango, but have to make do with an inferior product). Also in the picture is pau-pau (gasslabu). The pau-pau in Sri Lanka are quite enormous, have a watery-slimy texture and possess a neutral-sweet taste. In short, they are like the pau-pau we get back home, but much superior. On the whole I dislike pau-pau anyway.

Pirith and Dana

Pirith is a Buddhist practice involving the recitation of sacred texts by monks and the giving of food by laypeople. This results in the precipitation of merit which in term bestows protection. Because Kumudu and I are getting married soon a pirith was arranged for us. It was held at the house next door where Kumudu's close family reside (Sri Lankan families often live very close together for their entire lives).

This is an example of some of the fruits that were given to the monks (hamudhuruva in Singhalese) as part of the pirith. Note how each plate is covered by a banana leaf. All the cutlery was supplied by the temple (pansala) that the monks came from. This is because the monks need to use plain, unadorned belongings in accord with the quasi-ascetic Buddhist practices associated with lessening desire.

Preparing for the pirith. In accord with Buddhist custom, the monks are required to sit on chairs with white coverings. Again, this is an ascetic matter - ordinary chairs are too ostenatious. The central table is where the food is arranged. The bronze lamp to the right is not part of the pirith but is a ritual item in other secular Singalese activities.

This is an example of some of the curries that were given to the monks. It is also a good example of Sri Lankan food in general. Some of the dishes here include: breadfruit, anchovies, soy, dhal (lentils), fish, gotu kola (a kind of green), thalana batu (a kind of vegetable shaped like a grape). Many of the monks were strict vegetarians, however fish and meat is often provided.

Here we are giving the monks their meal. Each person attending the pirith spoons out a dish in a particular ritualistic manner. Sri Lankans are extremely respectful of monks and there are even special ways of speaking to them (the personal pronoun oya - you -is not used with monks instead oba - a polite form of 'you' - can be used, but generally they are reffered to in the third person hamudhuruvane ('monk', e.g. monk, would you like chicken? hamudhuruvane, kukul mas?). The monk closest to the door is the head of the temple and is also fully-ordained - this is obvious from the fact that his head is fully shaved. The monks closer to the camera do not have shaved heads and are therefore not fully ordained. This is probably because they are younger than 20. Also note that the laypeople providing the food are usually dressed in white - this is regarded as a clean colour suitable for Buddhist rituals.

After this ceremony, the monks chant a sacred text thereby conferring a certain degree of protection on the laypeople present. This occurs in tandem with the offering of food (dana) which in-itself is meritorious. For this protection to be attained a thread is passed around which everyone holds while the chanting takes place. A ward is created using the thread and is tied around the right wrist (the right hand being clean - pirisindhu - the left hand is associated with bodilly activities and is therefore apirisindhu -unclean). This is called a pirith noola (pirith string) - see image.

The pirith noola confers protection from bad luck (avasanava) which usually come in the form of devils (yaksha). However, the string only has power for three days, after which it can be cut off. In practice devout Buddhists often keep the string as long as possible - probably to demonstrate their piousness. I can say as a matter of experience that the string can get quite manky after a few days.

It should be added that these practices are essentially 'magical' and are not doctrinally certified, i.e. there is little in the Buddhist texts which actually justifies these kinds of activities and in fact it is only through the commentarial tradition that these acivities are promoted. Furthermore, pirith is a uniquely Sri Lankan activity although other magical Buddhist technologies are present in other Buddhist societies. (For example, Burmese Buddhists have similar ceremonies).

Pictures of our home

This is the road our home is on. Note the plentitude of potholes. There are few resources to correct damaged roads in Sri Lanka. The locals seem to manage well in spite of this and one of the keys to driving effectively in Sri Lanka is to avoid the pot holes.

This is the block of houses that our flat is in. Our flat is adjoined to the visible flat (you can only see the roof tiles). Most homes are open plan in Sri Lanka due to the intense humidity and heat.

This is a stupa (Dagoba in Singalese or Chaitiya more generally) at a temple near our house. Notice the scaffolding around the structure - it's still under construction. A stupa is a structure used for Buddhist worship. They all contain an important Buddhist relic - the more important one's alledgedly contain relics of the original Buddha (like his bones, or personal effects). This one probably has the remains of an important monk interred in it. Buddhists circumanbulate the structure in a clockwise motion and "pray" at the four cardinal points. This action generates merit for the worshipper.

Our Home

Kumudu and I live in the capital of Sri Lanka - Colombo. It is the centre of trade and business in Sri Lanka, but - in many ways - Kandy (Nuwara in Singalese) is the cultural centre (principally because of its Buddhist significance).

We live in a suburb of Sri Lanka called Dehiwala. Dehiwala is highly built up area, but is relatively close to the coast and the touristy area of Mt Lavinia (there is a concentration of hotels in this area).

The area we live in is relatively quiet for Colombo and is just down the road from a Buddhist temple (pansala) and close to a hospital (!).

By New Zealand standards, Colombo is pretty dirty (when you leave Colombo things improve a lot however). Nonetheless, Colombo is not nearly as filthy as some Indian cities and is positively spotless by comparison.

A few interesting facts: Because people have to pay to have their rubbish collected, people often resort to burning rubbish in the street. The upshot of this is that there is quite a bit of trash just lying around haphazardly (although recently the council has arranged street cleaners to make the steeets tidier). Also, because there are no laws concerning animal control there is quite a range of wretched looking dogs hobbling around the streets.

Sri Lankan people, however, are extremely kind and warm and will go out of their way to help anyone - visitors or local. They have a great respect for New Zealanders. At one security checkpoint I didn't even need to show my passport - the soldier simply needed to hear I was from New Zealand!