Saturday, December 15, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Panning for gold at Pugoda, Gampaha, on the banks of the Kelani Ganga, Sri Lanka.
Panning for gold from the sands of the banks of the Kelany Ganga, has become a past time for some.
Video:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6Q2Kh6OlkI&list=UU1dqepitfAJwrQWLD-gZ3NA&index=3
Video:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6Q2Kh6OlkI&list=UU1dqepitfAJwrQWLD-gZ3NA&index=3
Ferry crossing at Amithirigala across the Kelany Ganga, Sri Lanka.
Ferry-crossing from Amithirigala in the Gampaha District to Aswaththe in Avissawella. This ferry operates regularly but stops when the river is flooded by rains.
Video -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXe7SWDywYs
Video -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXe7SWDywYs
Monday, December 10, 2012
'Plaa' to drink toddy and wooden 'clogs' with nails. Photos sent by Dr.Susiri Weerasekara.
In the 1940s to 1960s 'clogs' - wooden shoes - most probably introduced by the Dutch were in common use throughout Ceylon. I recall using these to go to the toilets in the school hostels in the 1940s. The ones I used had a leather strap in front in place of the wooden peg seen in the picture. Self immolation - to burn away past sins - was part of Saiva beleif in the Indian sub-continent. Thus piercing of the skin of the back of the chest with hooks and carrying a 'Kaavady'' - 'kaavu thady' - was and is a part of the religious tradition in Jaffna . In another act of self-immolation, nails were inserted as seen in the picture on the wooden clogs, and the penitent would walk on these clogs from one temple to another a few Kilometers away. This was part of 'fulfilling a vow' made to Lord Murugan or Goddess Paththini. The vow was taken to ward off a predicted future disaster in ones life, or having minimized the effects of a past 'bad-time' or 'apala'. |
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