Squirrel searching for material to build a nest.

It is April now and is the nesting season for squirrels. The males have their testicles coming out of the abdomen into the scrotum. They pair off and search jointly for building material for nests. They strip off the dried fiber of plantain trunks. Here you see one of stripping the fiber from a plantain trunk it in the first picture. The second picture shows a squirrel picking up sticks for the nest. I took this picture in late March 2009.

Buddha statue, Maligawila, Buththala, Sri Lanka.

In 1967 I visited this place in a byway off Buththala in Sri Lanka. This massive Buddha statue made of sandstone was lying on the ground, with the head decapitated. This was the work of people who looked for treasure inside the statue. In the 1980s when I visited this place again the statue had been reinstalled, using mechanical cranes, during the Presidency of Mr.Premadasa. I took these pictures at that time. A few yards opposite this statue there is a very elaborately carved, beautiful image of a Boddhisattwa. This showed the influence of Mahayanism in this area.

Tree in bloom, Entrance to Peradeniya Teaching Hospital, Sri Lanka.

I saw this tree in full bloom at the entrance to the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital, opposite the Gatambe Dewala. It provided a beautiful sight.

The valley below Hatton, Sri Lanka.

The road from Hatton to Nuwara Eliya is not well maintained. There are pot-holes on the road,  caused by the transport of construction material to the Upper Kothmale dam. The view over the valley is breathtaking on this road. The greenery and the two waterfalls, the Devon and St Clairs on this road add to the enchantment. This picture was taken by me near the beginning of the road at the Hatton end.

'Kuttam pokuna'- Twin tanks dating 2000 years before the present era, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.

Bathing is an essential ritual daily in Sri Lanka, from ancient times. These twin ponds built around the beginning of the Christian era, in the 'Anuradhapura period' of Ceylon history, are still functional. They are beautifully symmetrical and a pleasure to behold. The work of the ancient stone masons has lasted two millenia.