The drought in the dry zone - 3/8/2012

The valley below Hunnasgiriya

A once beautiful waterfall now dry

Paddy fields, Hunnasgiriya, Sri Lanka.

The severe dought has affected the cultivation of paddy. Looking down into the valley below the Hunnasgiriya - Madugoda highway, 3/8/2012

Hunnasgiriya, Sri Lanka.

Coming downhill from Hunnasgiriya

Embankment on the road downhill

It is a beautiful stretch of roadway from Teldeniya to Hunnasgiriya and downhill.

Decorations for a temple festival, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

Road decorations for a festival at the 'Mariamman Temple', Kudagama road, Avissawella.

'King coconut' and 'Kurumba', Sri Lanka.

'King Coconut', 'Ran Thambili - S, 'Sevvilani' - T, loaded onto a 'Tata Dimo Batta' to take to the market.

Young coconut, 'Thambili' - S, 'Kurumbai' - T

The King-coconut has a lovely golden color. A similar skin color is taken as the epitome of beauty in a damsel among the Sinhalese of Sri Lanka. ' Ran-Ethana', 'Ran tikiri sinaa' are among the many epithets using this similarity. Even after the advent of Pepsi and Cola the drink from a King-coconut is still favoured in Sri Lanka. The picture below shows an unripe coconut. This is known as 'Kurumba'. The drink from this is also tasty but not as popular as the drink from the king-coconut.

Golden Bug attacking a flower

The symmetry of a flower

The concept of 'fractals' - basic building blocks of a uniform size - explains symmetry in everyday organic things that we see. An appreciation of this in nature needs an aesthetic sense.