Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Sri Lanka - Part 2 - Colombo

Today we toured two Buddhist "viharas" (monastery complexes) and visited the National Museum.

Not far from our hotel, and right next to the US embassy, a large backhoe is demolishing the former British embassy. This piece of equipment is perched about 7 stories above the street!
Temple door at Gotami Vihara. The temple is filled with modern paintings that have a Picasso-esque flavor. Unfortunately, photography is prohibited inside the temple.
Our next stop was the National Museum.
We drove by Victoria Park.
After lunch we visited Kelaniya Rajamaha Vihara. The temple and stupa are in the background.
The inside of the temple with it's modern (late 1700s) Kandiyan style paintings. The sanctum with Buddha is in the background. Elsewhere there are 20th century paintings as well.
A ceiling panel from Kelaniya.
The Bodhi Tree at Kelaniya.
Oil lamps lit behind the Bodhi Tree enclosure.
A monk on the temple steps.
A small pavilion has a statue of the starving Buddha.

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