An Architects fancy-work, overlooking the Southern Expressway, Sri Lanka.

Distant hills on a day full of haze, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

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.

House of the mid 20th Century, Aandiambalama, on the Colombo - Rathnapura road, Sri Lanka.

Across the old Kelani Valley railway line, the architectural style of the last days of British Colonial rule in Ceylon can be seen in quite a few old buildings in this area.

Scenes on the Southern Expressway, Sri Lanka.

Parking lot of the cafeteria for the travelers.

A 'Pansala' on a hill.

On the Southern Expressway to Mathara, Sri Lanka.

Bright and clear day, took under two hours with a breakfast stop in between, from Kottawa to Mathara.

Domestic pigs crossing the highway, Pugoda, Sri Lanka.

Being left free to roam, they are awaiting slaughter.

Granite mortar in old Copra mill being used as decor in a hotel, Bope, Sri Lanka.

 A 'Copra mill' was a mortar made of granite mounted vertically with a long stalk buried in the ground. There was a vertical pestle made of wood and mounted on a contraption. This heavy pestle was made to rotate inside the granite mortar by being attached to two bullocks which were made to go round and round the pestle. Dried coconut kernel, called Copra, was put into the mortar and the juice was extracted to be boiled and coconut oil and 'poonac' were the raw products extracted. Poonac was dried and used to feed cattle.

Two-wheel diesel tractor with trailer, Bope, Sri Lanka.

This vehicle is used extensively in agriculture and transport in the villages of present Sri Lanka.

Fern growing on the trunk of an arecanut tree, Bope, Sri Lanka.

Out-door decor, Bope, Sri Lanka.

Water cistern and colored leaves.

Decorative cannon, made of concrete mounted in a garden.

Auspicious items on display after a "Poruwa' wedding ceremony, Bope, Sri Lanka.

A 'Poruwa' ceremony is where, a couple is wedded according to ancient Sinhalese custom. Robert Knox writing in the 16th Century AD refers to the custom of a couple being wedded, by making them stand on a wooden plank - 'Poruwa' - made out of a 'Jak' tree, after which the couple was pronounced man and wife. As the couple is descending from the 'Poruwa' a coconut is broken in half using a heavy kitchen knife and if it breaks clean, is said to be an auspicious beginning for the marriage.
The picture shows the coconut and knife on display, laid on betel leaves after a 'Poruwa' ceremony.

Garden decor, Thevini Hotel, Bope, Sri Lanka.

Thevini Hotel, Bope, Sri Lanka.

Under a 'Benjamina' tree in the fore-court.

Decor in the corridor.

Scenes in a hotel in Bope, near Padukka, Sri Lanka.

Fore-court entrance and parking area.

Childrens' swing.

Greenery, flowers and a cool ambiance for its guests, seems to the universal theme in hotels in Sri Lanka now.

A 'Pettagama' S, 'Pettakam' T, used to store items in the last century, Bope, Sri Lanka.

Varying in size from small where articles of silk and jewelry was locked up, to bushels of paddy in huge versions, this design in wood was used extensively in the last century in Sri Lanka. Decorative carvings on the Mahogany wood with brass inlays, this is used as 'objets d art' in hotels and houses now.

A 'Bakky Karaththe' at a hotel in Bope, near Padukka, Sri Lanka.

The 'Bakky Karaththe' drawn by a single bullock was a very fashionable mode of transport in Sri Lanka before the advent of the motor car. Cushioned seats with a central well to put the feet of passengers seated facing each other. Note the night lamps and the stirrup mount.

Newly wedded couple, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

After the 'Poruwa' ceremony, waiting to be greeted by the guests.

Boy on a rock, Kosgama, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

With bare feet and plenty of room to run around this child was having the time of his life.