'Katina Pinkama' Perahera, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

Young boy riding a decorated bicycle.

Fire-dancers and stilt-walkers. 

Kandyan drummers.

Female dancers.

Young female dancers.

A caprisone baby elephant in the procession.

Katina' is a day in the life of a Buddhist monk at the end of the rainy season ('vas'). The Lord Buddha instructed that pieces of clothe used on corpses should be retrieved from the cemetery. These pieces were sewn together in the shape of the 'liyaddhe' of a paddy field. This material was then washed, dyed by immersing in specified boiled roots and leaves. The robe was then dried and at the end of the day was worn by the Buddhist priest. The priest then gave a sermon to the assembled helpers. In present Sri Lanka the material of the robe is bought. It is then taken in procession and handed over to the priests. This latter is called a 'Katina Perahera'.
The word 'Katina' means difficult or arduous. This is equivalent to the Tamil word 'kadhinam'.

Sights at Thanthrimale, Sri Lanka.

The water reservoir dried up.

Sights at Thanthrimale, Sri Lanka.

A mini-bridge made of a stone slab.

A cave to meditate?

'Kapruka Pooja', Thanthrimale, Sri Lanka.

Carrying the flag in procession.

Going round the Chaithya.

Getting the cloth in place.

Mission accomplished.

 A 'Kapruka pooja' was performed at the historic Thanthrimale Vihare by an organization of elders from Avissawella. The above are some pictures from the proceedings.

Environs of Saasaeruwa, Sri Lanka.

A 'Swift's' nest made of clay by the birds.

Entrance to the old cave temple.

Mother and child selling Lotus-rice harvested from the surrounding 'tanks'.

A room made out of clay walls below a rock.

Images inside the cave temple, 'Raswehera', Sri Lanka.

Inside the cave temple, Sassaeruwa, Sri Lanka.

King Valagamba in the year 104 AD is supposed to have originated these cave temples at Saaeruwa..