Port 29 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Greetings, and Vaittukai!
It is now May 2nd, 2024, as we pass through the breakwater in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The low morning sun adds a pleasant glow to the port!
As Insignia approaches our docking area we see a stupa-like structure near the port. This is the Sambodhi Pagoda Temple. It looks more like a spaceship with its arcing legs!
This is a highly industrialized port, quite unlike the previous port of Hambantota. This part of the dock is fenced off for the vendors. They have a nice series of huts for their businesses!
Our tour today is to see the sites of “Colombo City & Kelaniya Temple”!
We board our bus and learn our tour guide is Asiri – his name means “blessing”! Paul Smith is our Oceania Rep for this tour! I love having Paul with our tours!
Asiri tells us the capital of Sri Lanka is Sri Jayapandanpura, or SJSP, but Colombo is the commercial capital city – this makes sense with the port activity here! [It’s strange – when I search on the name of the capital, to make sure I’m spelling it correctly, I get the name Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte – I can’t get the acronym “SJSP” from this! But I don’t get SJSP from Sri Jayapandanpura, either!]
Until 1972 Sri Lanka used to be called Ceylon! This is important because we occasionally see the name Ceylon here!
As the bus pulls out we follow this overhead bridgework. Clearly they aren’t done yet! This elevated highway connects the shipping port and the airport, and this section is being added to extend it to downtown Colombo.
We catch our first glimpse of the Lotus Tower in the distance!
We arrive at Kelaniya Temple! We are required to remove our shoes. Many choose to walk in their stockinged feet, but after a few steps I decide to save the socks and go barefoot. The ground here is all crushed rock and sand. I don’t want that in my socks!
There are groups of believers here praying under the historic Bodhi tree. The gentleman in orange is a monk leading the prayers of this small group. In the distance you see some of the several hundred children here today!
Joy and I start at the Stupa. The sign in front of the Stupa translates to “The beautiful eyes of the great sage Yasmin Nisidi Bhagave Mani Mandapa. The most important thing is to be happy. I bow down to Kalyani Veniyamaha Sirasa Namami.”
Stupas are built to hold religious relics. This Stupa relic is reportedly a gem-studded throne from which Buddha preached just days after achieving Enlightenment! As such, that makes this Stupa, and Kelaniya Temple, about 2,600 years old!
On the side of the Stupa is a shrine with a Buddha!
Around the base of the Stupa, the children line up and run around!
The teachers queue up their classes! The kids are quiet, but clearly excited when it’s their turn to join the line!
This statue stands at the edge of the compound. It represents the Son of Buddha, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, who can remove dangers and provide eternal bliss “to protect all beings.”
Paul Smith, our Oceania representative on this tour, observes the activity. I love his socks!
At the center of the temple grounds is this magnificent Bodhi tree, a sacred fig tree! It is venerated by the Buddhists, and they walk around it, chanting and burning incense and coconut oil lamps. (We saw the small group with the monk sitting in its shade when we arrived.)
We approach the Temple itself. The sides are adorned with images of Buddha.
A decorative frieze wraps the entire building, with three rows of carvings. The elephants, “Gajas,” at the bottom represent fortitude. The dwarfs in the middle are “Gansas” and represent prosperity, and reportedly no two Gansas are repeated! At the top are geese, “Ganas.” Geese are supposedly able to separate milk from water when served together – this is symbolic of people who can separate and distinguish good from bad.
At this entrance, representations of Ganesh form the handrails!
Beautiful elephant heads form the base of the columns holding up the portico roof.
Every inch of the foyer walls and ceilings are adorned with imagey! This Temple is as old as the Stupa next to it, but the Temple was restored most recently in the 1900s. As Sri Lanka went through its growing pains, being attacked and occupied by different countries, the Temple was left to fall in ruins. The paintings were created by artist Solias Mendis in the 1960s.
In addition to paintings, there are carved wall decorations such as these classic dragons arching over the doorway.
The main hallway is adorned with high ceilings with a border of geese!
One room holds an immense reclining Buddha figure!
Another room has this Buddha with the clouds and sharp peaks. Asiri tells us to remember this Buddha for later.
I am intrigued by this elaborate ship image! There are “whisker poles” with spars in five or six locations that support a lot of extra sails! I can’t help but wonder if this is a real design or just an interesting dream?
These images tell stories of big events!
The back of the Temple has this special room with relics. The elephant tusks were recovered from poachers and placed here to return honor to the elephant.
We leave the Kelaniya Temple and head to historic Colombo for the rest of the tour. This is the Colombo Katuneyake Expressway Monument!
The bus passes by Pieter Keuneman Square, and we get our closest look at Lotus Tower. In case you are wondering, Pieter Keuneman was a Communist member of Sri Lanka’s Parliament.
Zooming in for a closeup of the Lotus Tower reveals a fascinating structure! It is named for the flower it is designed to resemble. Beautiful!
Our next stop is Sri Kailasanathar, a Hindu temple that defies description! It is defined by hundreds of sculptures using every color in a box of 64-Color Crayons!
Just for form, here’s a close-up of the middle section!
This is the first temple I’ve seen with a dress code like this!
The interior is just as colorful as the exterior!
Consistent with the Hindu religion, a cow is the central figure at the shrine.
This temple has a beautiful cobra-like Naga in silver with ruby eyes! Stunning!
Asiri warns us the Sri Lankans like to copy American architecture. We see that in the Colombo Town Hall – it is a combination of the US Capitol and the White House!
The “Basket Building” is the Lotus Pond Performance Arts Theater!
We are now at Independence Square. This is the Independence Memorial Museum.
Snake Man is hanging out in the parking lot!
The interior of the Independence Memorial Museum displays the timeline and events leading to the independence of Ceylon! Bronze reliefs depict the events.
A statue of D. S. Senanayake stands at the end of the Museum. He was a statesman and former Prime Minister of Ceylon.
This large building stands out! BMICH is the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall!
We arrive at the Colombo National Museum! The Museum includes the grounds around the building. We start with a walk around the grounds!
In front of the Museum is this statue of William Gregory, the Governor of Ceylon when the British occupied the country!
Nearby a long shaft holds a ship’s screw…
…with an inscription that identifies the screw as a Canadian product!
Now it’s time to head inside!
We are greeted by this stone Buddha, the Buddha from Toluvila! I don’t know if this is the reason Asiri commented on the Buddha at Kelaniya Temple, to “remember it for later.” They are in identical poses! This is the “Samadhi” pose, reflecting the perfect mental state of Buddha!
This is a sample of a reliquary that is inside a stupa. Every part has significance. For example, the large block represents Mount Meru, while the seven ribs around the block signify the seven encircling hills. Four guardian deities guard the relics, and nine chambers reside underneath.
This is Siva-Nataraja, a four-armed god stamping on the demon Muyalaka.
This recumbent Buddha is unusual in Sri Lanka. Recumbent Buddhas cast in metal are rare, and this one was recovered by the police when someone was attempting to illegally sell it! Perhaps this is the Buddha Asiri wanted us to see – it has the same Siraspatha headpiece the seated Buddha at Kelaniya Temple has! (I regret forgetting to ask Asiri to clarify his statement!)
This is a portrait of the last King of Ceylon! This is Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe.
The King sat on this throne!
I’m fascinated by the detail in the arms of the throne! This is exquisite!
It’s time to return to the ship! On the way we pass by the Old Parliament building!
As the bus rounds this traffic circle, I catch this view of the new city buildings and the Colombo Fort Old Lighthouse down the street on the left!
Soon we’re sailing away, our last stop in Sri Lanka behind us!
We say “Vitaiperatul” to Colombo and Sri Lanka!
Our next stop is Cochin, India!
