Category Archives: Sri Lanka

Delayed by Curfew

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We didn’t make it to Colombo today. The curfew throughout the whole island of Sri Lanka was extended to Tuesday and we didn’t get permission from the Police authorities to leave the city.

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So we returned to our hotel to put up with another day in the hills surrounding Kandy.

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We weren’t even allowed to wander around the streets of this beautifully positioned town. However, I managed this photo of people queuing outside a chemist. Note the social distance they are keeping one from another and the fact that they are all wearing facemasks.

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Compare that photo with this one taken outside a Tescos in the UK.

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There can be no doubt now that the time for advice and personal decisions in the UK are over. There must be mandatory implementation of similar rules and regulations for controlling the virus imposed in other countries throughout the planet. This includes self-isolation and social distancing.

The odd thing is that mandatory social distancing should hurt the English less than many other nations, especially the Mediterranean ones where the covid-19 virus has hit hardest. For example, when two Neapolitans meet their social distance may be as close as a couple of inches and hugs and kisses abound. For northern nations, however, even a handshake may be difficult in meeting.

Social distancing has, of course, always been around when social relations are considered, especially in small communities. Just observe the extremes some Bagnioli (inhabitants of Bagni di Lucca) take to avoid each other, especially the brits. Cantankerous academics, failed novelists and white van drivers appear to be the worst offenders.
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Our trip to Sri Lanka has been unfortunately curtailed with only half of our proposed itinerary accomplished. We clearly cannot be a possible burden on the Sri Lankan health service and we need to get back to the UK asap before all flights are cancelled. Never mind. We shall certainly plan a return journey to this pearl of the Indian ocean: there is so much more to see and enjoy here.

Among the highlights of any trip to Sri Lanka we missed out on was a visit to some of its national parks, for the island teems with wild life and has extensive tropical jungles. All we managed to see were some wild elephants, birds including peacocks and the sacred ibis, in addition to the monkeys, chipmunks and monitor lizards.

 

We missed out on leopards and the fishing cat in particular. Next time?

 

Casting my eyes back on my connections with a nation formerly called Ceylon I recollect a pupil at my old school of Dulwich College, Ratwatte, who we naturally called ‘Ratty’: a good cricketer without a doubt. At university my tutor for a year was the brilliant social anthropologist Stanley Tambiah,’Tambi’. He also wrote the definitive biography on Edmund Leach, another distinguished social anthropologist and provost of Kings. A carer for the last years of my mother-in-law, Ambiga, also hailed from this island.

Anyway, here we are waiting to return to another island which, so far, has shown less sense in a rapidly deteriorating situation than Sri Lanka.

 

Lockdown in Kandy

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An increasing number of ‘Pandemic’ diaries are appearing on social media documenting personal experiences, especially regarding lockdown in Italy and other European countries. We too in our hotel in Kandy, the old capital of Sri Lanka, are being increasingly affected by the coronavirus crisis. Yesterday, Sri Lanka’s health minister confirmed a total of 77 positive cases, showing an inexorable rise since March 10th, when the first case of the virus was reported. 245 more cases remain under observation.

Police have already made many arrests on charges of violating the curfew that came into effect last Friday evening at 6 pm. It would originally have expired this Monday morning but has been extended until Tuesday.

It is our third day at this hotel in the hills encircling Kandy and we are not allowed to leave it. Luckily the hotel has extensive grounds and a swimming pool which reduces the impact of our imprisonment.

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Our room has French windows opening out into a particularly scenic panorama of exotic plants, the call of eastern bird species, and the flow of lusciously wooded hills.

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There are very few people around here. Indeed, the staff greatly outnumber the guests. An infra-red thermometer is fired at our forehead at least once a day by masked employees with recordings diligently noted down. There are hand sanitizers placed on tables. We continue to feel safe in this place, seemingly remote from the turmoil happening elsewhere.

Presumably the same feeling of safety entered the mind of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma when he turned Kandy’s Queen’s Hotel into the Supreme Allied headquarters for fighting the Japanese during World War II.

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We visited this historic building for lunch before arriving at our present hotel. With a history of over 160 years Queen’s gives a nostalgic flavour of what it must have been like to be a traveller to this part of the world in a previous, more leisurely age. We dined in the ‘Queen of Hearts’ restaurant.

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I also visited the Royal Ballroom, now firmly under wraps. I wonder what elegant galas would have taken place here.

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There was also the colonial atmosphere of the Pub Royal, still open in these difficult times.

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However, things are not so calm in other parts of the island. Two inmates died following a clash at Anuradhapura (which we visited a few days ago) prison between the inmates and the prison guards who fired guns to contain them. This followed an argument in which prisoners complained about not being sufficiently protected against corona virus. I recollect that a protest recently occurred at Milan’s San Vittore jail over the same issue and wonder what will happen in the overcrowded UK prison and detention centres when virus peak time is reached as surely it must: a week later than Italy’s as the following figures demonstrate.

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When this whole major episode in the history of our planet is over I am sure there will be published a whole spate of diaries kept throughout the pandemic months.

For in all effects we are now living in a wartime situation. The enemy this time is the virus and not the axis forces; the danger is not from bombs damaging homes but from the virus damaging our bodies. For the majority of us let us trust it will be a lucky escape for none will be allowed a last kiss from loved ones or even a touch of their hand.

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One thing remains the same, however: more devastating than economic hardship will be the psychological damage wrought upon us. No matter how strong we keep ourselves our lives will never be quite the same again.

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(Ekphrasis courtesy of Alexandra Pettitt)

Let us hope that, instead, we can learn something from this crisis. The cleaner air in so many cities and the clearer water in Venice’s canals, the quieter streets, the absence of non-essential journeys, the esprit de corps in our communities increasingly shown towards the more vulnerable are all very hopeful signs for humanity and our planet. Compassion and tolerance must win in the end.

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Praying for Protection Against the Plague

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This Sunday, 22 March, in the church of Saint Michael the Archangel at Castiglione di Garfagnana, Mass will be celebrated behind closed doors, without a congregation, according to the recent edicts of the Italian state, and broadcast on television. At the conclusion of the service there will be a plea for the intercession of the Madonna of the Rosary who in 1631 saved Castiglione from the plague. This occurrence is remembered annually at the so-called “Festa del Regalo” (Feast of the Gift) which takes place on the first Sunday of the year.

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Yesterday, on our visit to Kandy’s world heritage site of the Temple of Buddha’s Tooth we heard the chanting of monks praying for the deliverance of the nation of Sri Lanka from Covid-19 and broadcast loudly on speakers throughout the sacred enclosure.

In both cases I am aware of a similar return of prayers to a supernatural force for deliverance from the plague. At school we were taught that people no longer needed to pray to Gods to save themselves from the plague: the progress of medical science and the resources of modern hospitals obviated the need for such observances now considered quasi-superstitious. Even the catastrophic ‘Spanish flu’ pandemic of 1918-9, which killed an estimated 500 million (a third of the world population at that time), was considered unrepeatable. Yet since that time we have had further pandemics:HIV, H1N1 (2009 flu) and now the rapidly spreading coronavirus. The contageous horrors of the plague are, apparently, ever with us.

I recollect a visit to the church of Saint Mary the Virgin in Ashwell, Hertfordshire. The majestic west tower has poignant mediaeval graffiti carved on its walls by victims of the Black Death in the fourteenth century. One of them, in translation from the Latin, reads:
“1350. Miserable, wild, distracted. The dregs of the mob alone survive to witness.”

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I hate to think what lack of medical facilities existed at that time. However, today at our local hospital of Northwick Park, Harrow, (appearing as the introduction to the Fawlty Towers episode where Sybil Fawlty is admitted for ingrown toenail surgery) a critical incident was declared when it ran out of intensive care beds because of a surge in corona virus cases.

Near to our village of Longoio in Italy at the junction that leads to Vetteglia are the ruins of the church of San Rocco (Saint Roch).

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The saint was invoked against the plague and, judging by the number of churches dedicated to him, was particularly venerated. Born in a noble family the saint gave his wealth to the poor and became a mendicant pilgrim. During his travels the town of Acquapendente became badly affected by the Black Death; Saint Roch stopped there and healed its victims by making the sign of the cross over them. He cured the sick from several other plague-ridden towns without catching the disease himself. However, when the saint reached Piacenza in northern Italy he fell a victim and a fetid ulcer developed in his leg. So rank was its smell that people kept well away from him. Luckily a dog befriended Roch and brought him some food on a daily basis and even licked his ulcer clean. Hence St. Roch has also become the patron saint of dogs.

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I am not sure whether, as a practising agnostic, I would go as far as praying to San Rocco in the present somewhat distressing situation. However, everything is possible and I am quite sure that religious fervour is increasing in the wake of a disturbingly uncertain phenomenon. One thing is sure: like the aftermaths of the Black Death and Spanish Flu our lives will never be quite the same again and we may truly revalue the simple things in life like hugging a loved one or friend, having a cappuccino in a bar, shopping in a supermarket or taking a turn without any reason, apart from the sheer pleasure of it, in the country amid wondrous nature which is now awakening with the song of Spring at its solstice.

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The Unseen Enemy

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“Know the suffering, abandon the cause, obtain the cessation, and fo!low the Path.”

We had originally booked our holiday in Sri Lanka last year. Not only was there no intimation of the two medical operations I was to undergo but there was no evidence that we would be facing perhaps the most intense crisis of our lifetime. From boarding the plane at Heathrow airport on March 11th to today, March 29th, in Kandy, the rate of change in the situation regarding covid-19, the corona virus, has been exponential.

I left an Italy which was still largely relaxed about the threat of a killer disease invasion from the far East. Within the space of a week everything has changed: the current videos of army trucks carrying hundreds of coffins from an area of northern Italy has been particularly shocking.

It is clearly difficult to fully enjoy a holiday in a country so far from the most affected areas when these events are occurring. Yet Sri Lanka is increasingly being affected too. It has already postponed its April parliamentary elections. It has already registered fifty nine cases of the corona virus, which has so far killed over ten thousand people out of a quarter of a million cases worldwide.

Sri Lankan authorities have ordered both public and private sector employees to stay at home in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.

Sri Lanka has also imposed curfews on three districts and is extending them to other areas. These three districts are where there is the largest majority of persons who have returned from Italy and South Korea where they have been working. The threat of disease spreading through returning workers is now also troubling China especially as it has been able to reduce internal deaths to zero.

Sri Lanka has already shut its airports to commercial passengers from other countries, delivering a heavy blow to the tourism sector crucial to the country that is still recovering from the April 2019 Easter Sunday attacks carried out by Islamist militants in churches and hotels which left 269 people dead.

Hotel staff and many locals wear face masks and hand sanitizers have been increasingly implemented. There is no doubt that things are building up. Our hotel, like so many others, is virtually empty.

So where are we? In Kandy, the country’s second major city nestled in luxuriantly wooded hills at a height of two thousand feet, the pace is still largely relaxed.

However, all national parks and heritage sites have been closed. For instance, we have been unable to climb up Sigiriya, the famous lion rock of the country and will probably be excluded from visiting Kandy’s beautiful botanical gardens.

A return flight has been booked for us on the 25th but we are half-thinking that it would be better to remain on this island rather than face the greater uncertainties in Europe.

The UK prime minister has finally stopped giving advice and started implementing stronger measures: schools are to be closed, for example, from this week-end. Italy’s victims have now overtaken those of China. We have received considerable information on the situation from friends in Italy and it is both worrying and comforting. Sadly there are already victims in our Serchio valley but people are behaving in a responsible way and there is, for example, no panic buying.

Where do we go from here? It’s anyone’s guess. All I can say is that the UK goverment, if it is to be credible, must put people before political dogma. Dump brexit now and use the money saved on scrapping it on saving lives from the unseen enemy known as covid -19.

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The Wonders of Polonnaruwa

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The history of Sri Lanka is complex but can be simplified into an often violent dialectic between the Buddhist Sinhalese majority of the island’s centre and south and the Hindu Tamil minority of its northern and eastern areas. Added to these two major ethnic groups were the western traders: first Portuguese, then Dutch and lastly the British. Each one of these people have left their distinctive mark in the culture and architecture of the country.

My previous post describes the ancient city of Anuradhapura. We subsequently visited a further ancient city and world heritage site: Polonnaruwa. This city was founded by the South Indian Chola dynasty after their successful invasion of Anuradhapura in the tenth century.

Two things struck me as odd about these cities when compared with those in the western world. First was the utter obliteration of a conquered city and the construction of a new centre in a new site. This was rather different from what usually happened in Europe. For example, Lucca was conquered by the French under Napoleon; he did not destroy it but merely added to its beauty. In the East the total elimination of a city was commonplace in an attempt to deny that previous powers had ever been in existence. This trend has continued in modified form to this day: for example the former capital cities of Pakistan and Myanmar have both been replaced by new centres. The British, too, followed this trend when they founded a new capital of India at Delhi.

Second was the astonishing syncretism between Buddhist and Hindu religion. Statues of Buddha and Vishnu, for example, are to be found in the same temple. In India hinduism won hands down and Buddha was relegated as an avatar of Vishnu while in Sri Lanka the Theravada school of Buddhism continues to flourish.

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The ruins of Polonnaruwa are very well presented and very extensive. We only managed to visit a part of the area they occupied but were impressed by the ruins of palaces, stupas, baths and shrines we saw. The city was clearly a flourishing place with particularly advanced irrigation systems which included the man-made Parakrama lake.

We first visited the informative museum and realised that we’d seen similar examples of the bronze statues during our visit to Chennai’s Government museum three years ago and described in my post at

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Of the ruins five were particularly impressive.

First was the temple where Buddha’s tooth, perhaps Buddhism’s most sacred relic, was originally kept.

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Second was the burnt out shell of the King’s palace with massive walls.

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Third was a giant temple with a Buddha statue approaching the scale of the sadly destroyed Bamiyan ones.

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Fourth was a shrine with an almost gothic arch form.

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Fifth was the elegant King’s bath:

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Sixth was a majestic trio of gigantic statues including one of the dying Buddha.

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Polonnaruwa eventually suffered the fate of other ancient cities in Sri Lanka: the Aryacakravarti dynasty abandoned it in the thirteenth century and built yet another centre at Dambadeniya.

Before the evocative ruins of this once prosperous city I could not help picturing an apocalyptic vision of a world currently threatened by an unseen enemy from which there appears to be no respite.

Where Buddhism Began in Sri Lanka

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We spent our third night in Sri Lanka in what appeared at first sight to be an ancient temple but turned out instead to be a hotel, the inappropriately named Palm Garden Village. Entering the reception hall was awesome but we were soon wafted away to a colonial-style cottage with equally veteran looking furniture.

The following morning I took a look at the place and found a delightful lake at the end of beautifully landscaped grounds.

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There was also, somewhat incongruously, this chapel frescoed with Giottesque copies.

The hotel complex, clearly unfinished, was started in the 1990’s and still needs some investment. I felt it was almost like an oriental equivalent of that disappeared folly, Fonthill Abbey. It was certainly one of the more unusual hostelries I’ve stayed in.

The following morning was dedicated to climbing up another sacred mountain, this time that of Mihintale, the site of a meeting between the monk Mahinda, son of King Ashoka, and King Devanampiyatissa; a meeting marking the beginning of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

I found this area exceptionally evocative. Large rocks were scattered around the luxuriant forest and caves marked the location of hermit monks. There was an atmosphere of peace and quiet: the place diffused a mystical religious feel.

At the base of steps leading to the crowning stupa were the remains of an ancient hospital and a monastery with rules for the novices still inscribed on stones on each side of the entrance.

 

We then started on our climb of 1840 steps to the stupa.

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From its platform magnificent views extended down to Anuradhapuram and its stupa which we had visited the previous day.

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What glories and what mysteries are unwrapped in Sri Lanka’s history so unknown to the majority of westerner!

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further Buddhist statues.

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Stupefying Stupas

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Sri Lanka has a number of ancient cities which were once major cultural, religious and commercial centres. We visited one of these, Anuradhapura, two days ago. One of the country’s eight world heritage site it was formerly the centre of Theravada Buddhism and continues to remain an important Buddhist pilgrimage centre.

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There are eight principal religious places which are visited by pilgrims here. Of these we managed to see the following:
Jaya Sri Maha Bodi. This is a sacred bodhi tree grown from a branch of the original at Sarnath in India which I visited several years ago and under which the Buddha obtained enlightenment. Planted in 288 BC, it is the oldest tree with a known planting date and is a most holy relic. The tree is now kept up by guilded supports.

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Ruwanweli Maha Seya. This is a stupa of hemispheric shape containing relics of the Buddha. It’s really large with a height of 338 feet and a circumference of 951 feet.

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I particularly liked the rows of elephants gracing the sides.

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While we were there workmen were busy whitewashing the stupa and climbing up a tall, steep ladder without any safety harness!

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A Puja procession also took place during our visit.

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Lovamahapaya. Otherwise known as the brazen palace only the supporting pillars remain of this building which dates back to 1500 BC.

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Sandra pointed that the array of pillars reminded her of this sculpture at Italy’s Villa Celle, Magdalena’s Abakanowicz’s ‘Katarsis’ (1985):

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Abhayagiri Dagaba. This is another huge stupa built of red bricks and dating back to the second century BC.

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Like the Angkor Wat, which we visited in 2015, it would need a good month to fully explore Anuradhapura but at least we got there and visited its main features which fully demonstrate the incredible energy encapsulated in a belief which is more a philosophy than a religion.

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Escape to Sri Lanka

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Colombo, the largest city and commercial hub of Sri Lanka is mainly used by visitors as an entry point to this beautiful island which we are lucky to visit in these difficult times for the world and, particularly, for Italy.

We spent two nights at the Ramada hotel whose best feature is its location in the centre of the vibrant city. Close by us the spacious Galle Face Green was laid out in 1859 by the British who had made Ceylon part of their empire in 1815 (they kept it until 1948). It is like a gigantic sand pit with a promenade along the sea front and, once used as a racecourse, is now a popular urban park with vendors selling cooked crabs, prawns and kites. On the little pier we were hailed by an interviewer from Shaa FM, the locally based international online radio station, who asked us (Sandra, mainly) about the current coronavirus epidemic sweeping Europe, especially Italy, and now spreading ever further into the world’s four corners.

 

Although without major heritage sites Colombo has the most eclectic architectural mix. Lovers of colonial buildings will have a field day here from the Gaffoor gem market edifice to the red and white Jami Ul-Alfar mosque built in Indo-Saracenic style in 1908.

 

After many years of neglect these relics from a time when Sri Lanka was under foreign domination are being restored and refurbished as hotels or shopping malls. They make a welcome change from the increasing number of high rises which now dominate the Colombo skyline.

Of the many temples in a majority Buddhist country we managed a visit to Asokaramaya with its beautiful murals and stunning statuary dating back to the 1870’s and founded by Elliyas Kalutara, a wealthy merchant, in memory of the monk Aluthgana Sangharatne.

 

We also visited the former Victoria Park, now renamed Viharamahadevi after an equally powerful Sinhalese queen. The British queen’s statue, now side-lined in the back of the park, has been replaced by one of Buddha.

 

There are some very interesting contemporary buildings too in Colombo including the Nelum Pomona theatre, Sri Lanka’s main performing arts venue, built in the form of a lotus leaf in 2011 and the similarly lotus inspired tower only opened last year.
There are many other sites of interest in Colombo and lovers of architecture, especially Victorian, will find much to interest them.

However, Sri Lanka is famous for a lot more than imperial architecture and after a full day in Sri Lanka’s commercial and administrative centre, with a population of over ten million, it was time for us to move on.