Thursday, February 7, 2013

Point-Pedro and Katcovalam, village scenes, Sri Lanka.

House on the Puloly road.

P{onit-Pedro town.

Palmyra seeds buried in the sand to make 'Panangkilangu' T - 'Kottakilangu' S.

Playing in the sand in a house in Katcovalam, Point-Pedro.
The village life and practice of centuries past goes on.

1 comment:

Philip Veerasingam said...


I keep forwarding these to my friends.
Some will get nostalgic-like me- I was there in my teens and twenties,
others get to know how it is there.

Just to let you know, since 2010, thousands of the Sinhalese have been travelling up north on weekends for pilgrimage to Nagadeepa and sightseeing, making many new friends over there.
Often they rent out a house for the period. Palmyrah toddy is a cool favourite.
In reverse thousands of Tamils come to the south, some on friendship building trips.

For the richer folk, now there are about 12 good hotels there close to Jaffna town. The best Jaffna meal I had was at Hotel Tilco served at 4 star level, costing Rs 375/
Their rooms are about Rs 7000/ per night.
I have always been hosted by friends on my frequent visits.

Actually I got to know only recently that most Jaffna brethren eat jak only in its ripe form! ‘Waraka’ as we call it.
They do not make polos malung, polos pahiya-Kandy style, jak curry with coconut milk, boiled jak eaten with sambol or curries.

Any comments on that?
This is my main future thesis on history,
that ergo, the Sinhalese and Tamils have entirely separate roots over 10,000 years!
The Sinhalese and Tamils apparently have not ‘broken bread’ together over a jak pot!


jksw

Hello Susiri,
The Jak fruit is a rare and precious item in Jaffna. It does not grow in profusion like in the South. That is why it is NEVER plucked young. The fruit is carefully preserved to let it ripen before one enjoys it. It is difficult to grow a Jak tree in Jaffna. You have to water it regularly. They have a saying about the Arecanut tree which grows in so much profusion in the South. It goes as 'Kai kaaychchu kamuku kaaikkum' meaning ' One's hands will have to bear fruit (of corns in the palms by drawing water from the deep well to irrigate the arecanut tree regularly) before the Arecanut tree bears fruit. The same applies to the Jak tree. Chavakachchery was famous for its Jak fruits and the ripe fruit there is tastier than any I have tasted in the South.
Philip