Wedagama, off Pugoda, Gampaha District, 'Horiwila Handy Weda', Sri Lanka.

Statue of the original 'Horivila Vedarala'

On a Saturday, Sunday patients start arriving by 3 wheelers, cars and vans by about 2am. Numbers for appointment are issued from 4.30am. Consultations start at 6am. The numbers reach more than 200 by 12 noon when no more appointments are given. After a short consultation - Rs.500/ given in a betel 'hurulla', for the first visit and Rs,200/- given for a second visit, herbal oils and poultices are applied. Three weeks supply of herbal oils and herbs to prepare the poultice, have to be bought from ayurvedic pharmacies close by. They will even grind the herbs for the patient, for a fee.
The draw for traditional medicines is still high in Sri Lanka.

The road to Wedagama from Pugoda, Sri Lanka.

A visit to Wedagama off Pugoda, Sri Lanka.

President Premadasa during his tenure of office as President of Sri Lanka, created a village off Pugoda and named it Wedagama. He built 25 houses with a well for each house and settled 25 'Vedaralas' (Ayurvedic Physicians) practicing in various specialties, in each of these houses. He specified that these houses could not be sold. The above pictures show four of these houses.

The inside workings of a 'Wesak Thorana', Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

A 'Wesak Thorana' is a huge bill-board depicting one birth story of Lord Buddha - A 'Jaathaka' tale. It takes almost an year in preparing. The various stages in the tale are depicted as serially numbered painted pictures. The most important part however is the lighting up of the 'Thorana'. A large drum with interrupted copper strips and contacts is driven by an electric motor. This controls the lighting up of the various bulbs.

Please click on the web-link below to watch the lighting on the Thorana:-

https://youtu.be/j9HQb6hrxB8

Plastic ballons for sale near a Wesak 'Thorana', Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

It is a long way from the single-colored rubber balloons of the 1950s and earliier.