Of People and Places

 A sketch of an ornate entrance at the temple of the sacred tooth relic, Kandy . 

At the temple of the tooth relic, Kandy, Sri Lanka  A sketch of one of the beautiful ladies outside the Sri Dalida Maligawa (The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic)  in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Dressed all in white, many of these women bought flowers from the vendors outside. The Buddhists in Sri Lanka wear white to holy sites and the whole complex looks beautiful as families dressed in white visit to pay their respects and pray.  Expecting women and women with babies throng inside, apart from regular visitors -  I read somewhere that it could be the baby's first visit to the temple, and part of a Buddhist initiation ceremony.  The women catch the eye in their white clothes - some of them have elegant flounces and frills. It's a lovely temple, definitely worth the visit.  All my Sri Lanka posts -  Kandyan Dance in Kandy, Sri Lanka In Beruwala, Sri Lanka  The Tunnel of Trees on Madu river, Sri Lanka  Galle Clock Tower in Sri Lanka  Madu River, Sr...

The illustration is of a drummer, in a Kandyan dance performance that we saw at the Oak Ray Regency in Kandy. Like the dancers, he is flamboyantly dressed, with a white turban, waistband and an ornate breastplate. The drummers' theatrics are just as interesting as the dancers, when  they give a sudden turn of the head to emphasize the beat.  This was the second day of our trip to Sri Lanka when we went from Colombo to Kandy, a lovely city surrounded by hills and plantation - the last capital of the Sinhalas. It is also famous for the temple of the Tooth Relic. Read all my Sri Lanka posts -  Galle Clock Tower in Sri Lanka The boatman on Madu river, Sri Lanka Feeding frenzy at the Pinnawala elephant orphanage Dutch canal in Wattala, Colombo In Beruwala, Sri Lanka The tunnel of trees in Madu River, Sri Lanka

A sketch I'd made of the view from Cinnamon Bey, Beruwala One of the best things about our trip to Sri Lanka was the magnificent properties we stayed at. The trip was organised by my father's alumni association ( Batch of '79, Agriculture college, Dharwad) with a conducted tour operator in Bangalore ( Ujwal International holidays ) who has good tie ups with travel companies in different countries. In Sri Lanka, it was with Royal holidays  . There were 34 of us. It was a surprise to me that we would be staying at swanky hotels, the likes of which I have seen only in TLC and insider TV. My favourite hotel was Cinnamon Citadel in Kandy. It's right next to the swampy Mahaweli river and the way it's built is fantastic. It is built on a hill, so our rooms were closer to the base, with the river in our backyard while the lounge and the pool are built upstairs with a superb view of the surrounding dense forests. Do check out their website - the aerial view is unbe...