'Katina Pinkama' Perahera, Honiton Place, 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

A misty morning, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

Cold nights, early morning mists with 23 degree Celsius, bright sunny mornings and rain with thunder and lightening in the afternoons, this is our daily fare now in Avissawella.

The High level road to Kaluaggala from Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Collecting recyclable plastic bottles

High level road junction at Godagama

Godagama to Meepe on the High level road

New bridge at Galagedara on the High level road.

The High level road built during  British times to avoid the periodic flooding on the Low level road to Kaluaggala from Colombo is a rapidly developing area now.

Road scenes, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Baseline road

Road to Malabe

Malabe to Athurugiriiya

Road to Athurugriya

These roads are chock a block with traffic in the mornings and evenings and traffic moves very slowly. It  s much better to live and work outside Colombo city, to have peace of mind.

Mutwal to Baseline road, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Scenes at Mutwal

Baseline road 'fly-over' the main railway line.

The constantly changing face of Colombo with widened roads, fly-overs and multi-storey buildings has taken away quite a lot of the unhurried charm of days half a century ago.