Going to attend a 'Ther' festival, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

The 'Thiruvilaa' ( 'Thiru'+'Ulaa' meaning 'the sacred perambulation' in Tamil) of the resident diety of a Hindu temple, takes place once an year. The image of the diety is placed on a wooden wheeled carved wooden chariot and is drawn on the main roads in the village. The 'Muththu Mari Amman' temple at Kudagama road, Avissawella, had this function a few days back. In the above two photos you see the female devotees arriving for the festival, carrying milk in brass pots as offering to the diety.

Ceylon of nearly 80 years ago.

The 'Rickshaw', 'Bukky karaththe' and 'Bara Karaththe's' in the Pettah, Colombo, the then center of commercial activity. You can see the tram-lines in the first picture.

Scenes from Sri Lanka.

3 wheel taxis called a 'wheel' down Matara way near a petrol shed in Rathnapura. They are the commonest modes of transport in present Sri Lanka. They are found at almost any road junction in any part of Sri Lanka. Costing Rs3 lakhs SL Rupees, roughly US$ 200, they do about 28 Km per litre. They are easy to maintain and can pick up speed fast but the 4 occupants have no protection in any accident.

Road traffic accidents in Colombo caught on Police CCTV cameras installed in the city. Click on link below:-

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktSXTfZe3Vo

An outdoor fire-place, Gampaha.

Flowers, Gampaha, Sri Lanka.

Air pollution, Seethawaka Free Trade Zone, Sri Lanka.

They opened a 'Free Trade Zone' in Avissawella a few decades back. The people of the area were told that this was an 'environment-friendly' project. The years gone by have blackened all the roofs and the chemical contaminated water is polluting the Kelani Ganga at Weralupitiya. I took this picture a few days back. You can see the black smoke emitted by the chimneys in the 'Free Trade Zone' early in the morn ing on what should have been a beautiful dawn.
I am reminded of a song that we sang in our twenties:-

'Once there were green fields kissed by the sun,
Once there were valleys where rivers used to run..
...'
'...Green fields are gone now. parched by the sun,
Gone with the valley, where rivers used to run...'