AYUBOVAN (may you blessed with a longlasting happy lifetime)

 'AYUBOVAN' you all. It is the time to know about the amazing pearl of the Indian ocean, Sri Lanka, a land with a heart. Get into know why Sri Lanka is called as a gorgeous travel place to visit.

  "where everything smells of the sun, of spices and for places, passed through brown hands, drenched in tropic rains, dried by equatorial sun and shaded by primeval forests" -- Herman Hesse.

      Discovery upon marvelous discovery awaits you. A fluttery pilgrimage of butterflies from all over the island towards a peak bearing a footprint said to be Adam himself. An orchid which looks like the Kandyan dancer himself. Singing fish at Batticaloa.

Kandyan Dancer Orchid

 

        Kaleidoscope from a bleached beach to waterfall in 4 hours -- paddy fields metamorphose into brooding jungles in less than four hours. You have all this variety in the boundaries of this one small island called Sri Lanka.

        Watch brown fingers searching restlessly through the air for a surface to drum on. Pick out the Portuguese and Spanish strains in a "baila". Hairs will rise on end at the compelling notes of the muezzin at the crach of dawn and the Qua bird by day.

        Here everything is sold off the top of a head from pineapples to pots. Gasp with the rest of the crowd , as a snake charmer coaxes a cobra to do a hypnotic dance. Listen to the cries of "Malu Malu"  from the fish vendor with her languid walk. We hear the ringing calls of "Isso wade. Isso wade" from the shrimp cake vendor and "Bole, Bole Bole" from the boiled sweet vendor will stay long in your memory.

        Find yourself and each other again on some beach on some poya night when the moon casts long shadows. And did we catch you whistling "Oh, island in the sun".

        Catch British nuances in the spacious lawns of the country clubs and the bluish mists of Nuwara Eliya. Sit on a verandah  watching the line of comely Tamil women plucking tea and enjoy the flavor of the world's best tea which is gathered by their nimble fingers. Catch the lingering traces of the successive waves of Portuguese and Dutch influences in peoples surnames -- Rodrigo, Pereira, Leembrugen, Van Cuylenberg etc, and in Dutch forts in Galle, Matara, Trincomalee and Jaffna.

Tamil woman plucking tea

          Gasp as an enormous Buddha looms into sight from some metropolitan roadway and a sleepy bullock cart is over-taken by a double decker. Notice the sunlight glittering off a mosque minaret only to fall on the shoes outside the adjoining Katharine Hindu temple. And never forget the axiom -- 'is only a fool who tries to hurry the East'.

            Absorb something of Buddhism -- a humanistic philosophy permitting a constant choice in conduct and actions which nevertheless must be accounted for, if not in this life, the next reincarnation, or the next.... Understand Karuna (Comparison) and relief from Dhukka (suffering) caused by over-attachment to objects and people.

            Highlights of Anuradhapura where the jungle tide ever encroaches are Isurumuniya Rock temple, the Brazen palace and the Ruwanvelisaya Dagoba said to have been inspired by a perfect bubble of water. Climb the silent stone steps of Mihintale -- the craddle of Buddhism. Watch the prayer flags flutter from the bough of the sacred Bo-tree, the oldest venerated tree in the world.


            Feel the breezes of Polonnaruwa fan you as watch monkeys playing in a sunken lotus bath where a queen once bathed. Visit the ruins of the Royal Palace. Witness the Sinhalese genius for hydraulic engineering in the ancient irrigation of tanks, scale Sigiriya, the rock fortress in the sky -- unique conception of King Kashapa, a parricide with the vision of an artist.

Sigiriya

             Can your eyes pick out one green from another; From the acid of paddy fields to the blue green of tea bushes, all vegetation battles to grow just that bit taller, faster and more lush.

              The flora of Sri Lanka is the gaudiest and rarest. From the flowering trees which strew the ground with red, pink and white blossoms to the orchids which include the only grey one in the world, your eye has plenty to feast itself on if you appreciate beauty.

               Spot wildlife in the 24 national parks, strict natural reserves and game sanctuaries in Sri Lanka most of which are bird sanctuaries. Wilpattu, the leopard sanctuary and Yala the haunt of elephants are two most famous. Hide by a jungle pool for an elusive glimpse of shy deer or a sleepy crocodile. Admire the clouds of flamingoes  staining the skies pink and the peacock flaunting its plumage against some rock.

               Notice also the animals and birds which live in harmonious symbiosis with people in the village and cities. chase after fragile butterflies like scraps of flying lace. Court her again beside a storm lamp filled with diamente fireflies. Perhaps like many do, you too would wish to adopt a monkey as a pet.

               Master some of the virile stances of Kandyan dance while in Sri Lanka seen at its peak during the August 'Esala peraheara' in Kandy.  Interview a 'Kattadiya'{a witch doctor who can exorcise the 18 demons of deceases and insanity} about his ancient occult wisdom. Learn of omens. Above all, don't carry any fried night in case you attract the devil! 

                Wear a grotesque mask representing one of the demons of decease  and insanity. Fashioned from soft wood with subtle pains and fierce expressions. Each mask will fascinate you with its strange beauty. Ambalangoda the home of devil dancers is the main center for these masks. 

                 Discover the thousands of miles of beautiful coastline of Sri Lanka. The west coast from Bentota to Tangalle is best for swimming, skin diving, surfing, scuba diving until March when the monsoons arrive. The surfs at Hikkaduwa have to be seen to be believed. So also the beautiful coral  formation. 

                  Kalkudah, Pasikudah, Arugam Bay are some of the beaches of the east coast where one cat wade for nearlier a mile to sea from March to October. The bay of Trincomalee is the most perfect natural harbor  of the Indian seas and is capable of accommodating the largest navy now in existence. The south coast is specially beautiful with its glistening white beaches and sapphire seas.

                   Marvel at natural curiosities of the sea like the "Hummane"  near Tangalle, a blow hole where the great swells of the south West. Monsoon shoot geyser like to be a height of 60 to 70 feet.

                    Ratnapura was the fabled city of gems of Sinbad's time and most probably one of the mines of King Solomon. Today, as in the past, gems are among Sri Lanka's chief exports. Pick a cornflower blue sapphire. The  lighter the hue, the less value the sapphire has while the crystal inclusion in the center of the stone confirms its genuineness. There is also the cat's eye with its perfectly centered golden streak, amethysts, garnets, moonstones aquamarines, emeralds and of course, the rare star rubies and sapphire.

                     

               Jewellery ranges from silver, gold and plated set with precious and semi-precious stones in filigree or plain designs. The vogue today is for the heavy ethnic or barbaric jeweleries like the Kandyan chains, bracelets, amulets, pendants, ankles and talismans in oxidized metal and copper pinch beck, which sets off that little black dress perfectly.   

   

                     Gather the herbs which cures hyper-tension - incidentally there is less incidence  of that in Sri Lanka since the pace is slower. Even cancer is curable with a herb growing wild in cemeteries. While you are about it, purchase a snake stone. Just in case !

                     See the perfect circle of the net cast by the Negombo fishermen and the Catholic crosses at every junction of a fishing village or in the deep South. At Weligama, see stilt fishermen perched stork-like on poles.

                     Photographs the flower faces and huge eyes of the loveliest children in the world. Notice the almost Abyssinian litheness and dignity of the people and their intense  curiosity as to how the other half lives. Their spontaneous warmth and hospitality are seldom found in colder climates. 

 

                     Uncover the Sri Lanka of ghost stories jungle stories, estate and elephant tales through their eyes. Share the homespun gaiety of Sri Lankan feasts, dances and parties you will attend. Spend nights trying out a 'rabana' or singing popular songs to the accompaniment of a guitar.