Saturday, November 28, 2015

'Katina Pinkama' Perahera, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.




During the three  months of 'Vaes Kaley' - rainy season, the Theravada Buddhist monks remain in their residences. During this period the laymen supply them with all necessities. At the end of the three months, the laymen organize a Perahera to signify the end of the 'Katina' period. The word 'Katina' means difficult. A Tamil equivalent is 'Kadhinam'. I took the above photos of a 'Katina Perahera' dong the rounds of our village in Avissawella, at 4am.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

On the High level road from Godagama to Kaluaggala, Sri Lanka.



Rubber plantation lining the highway
Boiled Indian corn for sale, wayside.

After the hot concrete jungle of the city of Colombo, this area called Ihalagama off Hanwella is very cool
and gives the impression of being in an air-conditioned environment.

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Paddy fields on the road from Malabe to Godagama, Sri Lanka.



Crow, Egret and Black-headed Ibises feeding.
Yellow Bittern foraging on the paddy field

Beautiful unspoilt countryside with paddy fields are still there in the outskirts of Colombo. The road from Malabe to Godagama has been widened and carpeted. It handles quite a lot of rush hour traffic.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Baseline road, and the road to the Parliament, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Railway station, Demetagoda. This was earlier the narrow gauge Kelani Valley line. Now it is standard gauge. You can see the remnants of the old narrow gauge railway line still remaining.

Near Magazine Prison
Sri Jayawardenapura Mawathe.
On the Sri Jayawardenapura Mawathe near Waters Edge.
Surveyors drawing a map of Colombo during British Colonial times drew the Baseline, along what is now called 'Baseline road'. The name persists even though the city of Colombo has long passed this boundary.