'Katina Pinkama Perahera' continued, Honiton Place, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

Decorated bicycle in the parade.

Female dancers

'Katina Pinkama Perahera' (ctd), Honitan Place, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

'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.

Sights in Mutwal, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Modera street

Vistwyke road

Viswyke road.

Bloemendhal road, Kotahena, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Flyover carryng the container traffic from the Colombo Port.

Old Morris Minor, still running, Kaduwela, Sri Lanka.

The Morris Minor along with the Volkswagen Beetle were the taxis and family cars from the 1950s onwards. A brand new Morris cost Rs.6000/- The first 1000 miles was called 'running in' and had to be done at low speeds. Frequent servicing of 'grease nipples' had to be done. The 'king pin' of the front wheels tended to wear off, if the greasing was not done. Quite a few drivers have seen one front wheel detaching and rolling by the side of the car before the car stopped. The car was very reliable. The Lucas electrical system was super. The earlier side-valve engines were replaced with overhead valve engines for better performance. Reconditioned Toyota Corolla engines serve as a substitute now.

Traffic at Puwakpitiya, Avissawella - Colombo road, Sri Lanka.

Harvesting King coconuts, home garden, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

The refreshing King coconut water in the fruit.

The tasty kernel to be consumed with relish.

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Railway car for the engineer, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

Colombo scenes, Flyover over the mainline railway crossing at Baseline road, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The railway crossing was a constant problem to traffic on this road. Our late President Mr. Premadasa was the first one, who while caught in the traffic block went to investigate. His solution at that time was to build two railway stations on either side of the crossing so that the trains would not straddle the main highway while halted. With increasing traffic this was one of the first fly-overs named a 'Guwan paalama' in Sinhalese, built in Sri Lanka.

Highway near Miriswaththe, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.