Tuesday, November 30, 2010

'Katina pinkama', Napawala, Sri Lanka.

 The 'Katina Pinkama' is a festival where the Buddhist priests come out of their retreat designated for rainy days. It is celebrated in Sri Lanka in wherever Buddhist priests are resident. A white cloth is cut according to certain prescribed rules. The cloth is then stitched and is subsequently dyed in a trough using natural dyes. The first picture shows the marking and cutting of the white cloth. The second picture shows the trough used for the dyeing of the cloth after stitching. I took these pictures at an 'Aranya' - forest monastery, in Napawala, Sri Lanka.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Children playing in two boxes.

The value which children place on toys depends on the enjoyment they get out of them. Two empty cardboard boxes seem to thrill these two boys.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Lotus in our garden.

I took this picture of a lotus in our garden after a heavy shower.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Hornet tasting a peeled banana fruit.

A peeled banana fruit in our garden attracts a lot of birds like the red-vented bulbul, the brown-headed barbet and the Sri Lanka bush warbler. I spotted this hornet who has been troubling my bee-hive tasting the banana fruit. You can also spot a fly and red and black ants on the picture I took.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Thursday, November 11, 2010

A Crow-pheasent, Dehigaslanda, Sri Lanka

The Crow-pheasent is a constant presence all over Sri Lanka. They come to our garden and pick up and eat all the slugs and snails. They also keep a watch on birds nests and pick up the chicks of the small birds just before they leave the nest and make a hearty meal of them. Tradition has it that you hear their cry before the onset of rain. I took this picture in a paddy field in Gampaha.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

'The rose's scent ...'

'Fairest things have fleetiest ends, their scent survives them close,
But the rose's scent is bitterness, to him that loved a rose'.

Picture taken in my home garden, Avissawella.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

'Aedanda' to reach a paddy field, Gampaha, Sri Lanka.

 Paddy fields have to be kept constantly drenched in water during growth. There are a lot of water carrying channels crisscrossing these fields. There are improvised contraptions called 'Aedanda's by which people walk across the water channels in the paddy fields. I took these two pictures in Gampaha, Sri Lanka.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

'Blind as a bat'

I found this bat between two 230V AC lines in front of my house at Avissawella. Obviously its radar had become defective in old age, or was it a youngster trying a daredevil act?

Friday, November 5, 2010

'Jambu' fruits, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

November is the season for 'Jambu' fruits. It is also called the 'rose-apple'. The old chronicles of Sri Lanka written in 'Pali', refer to India as 'Jambu-dweepa' presumably because of the abundance of these trees in India of those times. I took this picture in our garden in Avissawella. Squirrels, parakeets and various insects have a field day, eating these fruits. Children love the juicy, fluffy center of these fruits and end up with a sore-throat by overindulgence.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Buffalos used in the ploughing of a paddy field, Eheliyagoda, Sri Lanka.

Buffaloes were the traditional way of ploughing paddy fields in South Asia. They churn up the muddy ground and make it ideal for sowing the paddy. Tractors have replaced this in quite a few areas now but we still see this in the villages in present day Sri Lanka.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Mushrooms in our garden.

I saw these mushrooms come out of the soil one morning. No one eats these as some of them are poisonous.