Flying To Manila - August 28, 2018

The whole day was spent flying, waiting, visiting and flying some more. Sister Bamasinghe with Sister Violet.

Sister and Brother Bandaras.

Sister Somawatti. 

Jagath is standing behind me. 

Hard to see but I'm here with Kalyani. This group of seven have been patiently waiting to go to the LDS Manila Temple. We have been trying to get visas since December and now we are able to go. We have one more group to go. We are hoping that next month we will be back with them.

We made it to Manila! View outside our hotel room. We are staying at the Citadines. Very nice place to stay. The rooms have kichenettes so the people can cook their own food if they wish.

Long day for everyone. 

Sleep tight for we are going to leave early in the morning!

Full Monday - August 27, 2018

We were invited to this families Alms. It has been a year since Sister Erondi's father passed away. They remember a loved one by sharing lots of food with friends and neighbors. Here are some of the people that cooked the huge meal.

This is Erondi standing by the big pot of rice they cooked for the event. One of my favorite things that they made was pineapple and mango jam. Oh, it sure did taste delicious!

Erondi lives on a busy street with a canal in front of her home. Even though it is busy outside her home Sister Erondi always make her home inviting and comfortable.

Some of the children waiting to eat.

Here I am with Sister Erandi, her mother and brother.

We enjoyed our time at Sister Erondi's home!

Thank you!

Later that evening we had dinner at the Malagado home. We found out that it was Brother Malagado's birthday. We have a lovely meal of rice and curry. Ended with cake, ice-cream, fruit and jelly (Jello).

Happy birthday Brother Molagado! Thanks for sharing dinner with us!

After dinner we headed to the church. We are leaving early in the morning with seven others to go to the Philippines LDS Temple.

This is me trying to sleep at the church before we leave at 1:30 AM.  Didn't get much sleep though.

Family History!

Today we had two people come from Hong Kong and India to teach us about Family History.

The Branch members were very happy to get the training.

They did a great job of presenting. They had the presentation in English and Sinhala.

Thanks Peter and Derrick for coming! Also, they ordered a computer for the church to use for Family History.

It will be great to have a new computer at the church for people work on their 4 generations!

If you are interested go to familysearch.org or lite.fs.org

Monkeying Around!

Just a typical monkey hanging out.

They do like to be mischievous!

When we first arrived in Sri Lanka we thought they were cute. Still cute but they are a pest. They can cause a lot of damage. People light fire crackers to scare them away.

No monkeys jumping  on our bed!

🐒🐒🐒🐒🐒🐒🐒🐒🐒🐒🐒🐒🐒🐒

Protesting!

Well we are going back to teach English at Peradeniya University.  We met with some of the teachers to figure out what we will be doing. We will start September 3 helping with assessing the students on their conversational English. There are about 1,000 students for us to meet with in the next 2 months. We are going to be very busy.

As we drove around the campus students were protesting against Private Universities and how the police handled a situation in Colombo.

We don't understand it all.

It will be fun to be with the students on Mondays and Wednesdays .

Good luck to them and hope they don't go on strike before we get there next week.

Dancers From Perahera!

This group of dancers reminded me of the sons of Helaman in the Book of Mormon with their shields and swords.

Alma 56:47-48

47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.

Beautiful Kandiyan Dancers.

Love watching the dancers and listening to the drums.

What neat things we are learning here in Sri Lanka!

We are so blessed!

Perahera! Wednesday, August 26, 2018

Wednesday night we went with the Bradshaws to Perahera. We were able to get tickets at Pizza Hut which is on the second floor. We had pizza, salad, breadsticks and soda. Plus being in an air conditioned room and having a great view of Perahera. 

This is the view of people lining the street just before the parade starts. You can even see people on the roof.

More people!

Lights are on so parade is about to start. Let's open the window and get a great view! Today the pictures will be about the elephants and some history of Perahera. 

1 - Elephant

The Kandy Esala Perahera (the Esalaprocession of Kandy) also known as The Festival of the Tooth is a grand festival celebrated with elegant costumes and is held in July and August in Kandy, Sri Lanka. This historical procession is held annually to pay homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha, which is housed at the Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy. A unique symbol of Sri Lanka, the procession consists of many traditional local dances such as fire-dances, whip-dances, Kandyan dances and various other cultural dances, in addition to the elephants who are usually adorned with lavish garments. The festival ends with the traditional diya-kepeema ritual, a water cutting ceremony which is held at the Mahaweli River at Getambe, Kandy.

2 - Elephants

3 - Elephants

The Esala is believed to be a fusion of two separate but interconnected "Peraheras" (Processions) – The Esalaand Dalada. The Esala Perahera, which is thought to date back to the 3rd century BC, was a ritual enacted to request the gods for rainfall. The Dalada Perahera is believed to have begun when the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha was brought to Sri Lanka from India during the 4th century CE, eight hundred years after the passing away of Lord Buddha.

According to tradition, the Tooth Relic was taken in procession to Sri Lanka by Princess Hemamala & Prince Dantha.

4 & 5 Elephants

6 - Elephants

The Kandy Esala Perahera begins with the Kap Situveema or Kappa, in which a sanctified young Jackfruit tree (Artocarpus integrifolia) is cut and planted in the premises of each of the four Devales dedicated to the four guardian gods Natha, Vishnu, Katharagama and the goddess Pattini. Traditionally it was meant to shower blessing on the King and the people.

7 - Elephants

8 - Elephants

For the next five nights, the "Devale Peraheras" take place within the premises of the four Devales with the priest of each Devale taking the pole every evening, accompanied by music and drumming, flag and canopy bearers, spearman and the Ran Ayudha, the sacred insignia of the Gods.

On the sixth night, the Kumbal Perahera begins and continues on for five days. Initially, the Devale Peraheras assemble in front of the Temple of the Tooth, which is Sri Lanka's most important Buddhist Shrine and where the Buddha’s Sacred Tooth Relic has been kept since the 16th Century) with their insignias placed on the ransivige (a dome-like structure) accompanied by the Basnayake Nilames (the lay custodians of the Devales).

9, 10, 11 - Elephants

The middle elephant is carrying Buddha's Sacred Tooth.

On the sixth night, the Kumbal Perahera begins and continues on for five days. Initially, the Devale Peraheras assemble in front of the Temple of the Tooth, which is Sri Lanka's most important Buddhist Shrine and where the Buddha’s Sacred Tooth Relic has been kept since the 16th Century) with their insignias placed on the ransivige (a dome-like structure) accompanied by the Basnayake Nilames (the lay custodians of the Devales).

12 - Elephants

13 - Elephants

The relic casket, which is a substitute for the Tooth Relic, is placed inside the ransivige affixed to the Maligawa Elephant, the Maligawa Perahera joins the awaiting Devale Peraheras and leads the procession. Whip-crackers and fireball acrobats clear the path, followed by the Buddhist flag bearers. Then, riding on the first elephant, is the official called Peramuna Rala(Front Official). He is followed by Kandyan Drummers and Dancers who enthrall the crowd, and are themselves followed by elephants and other groups of musicians, dancers and flag bearers. A group of singers dressed in white heralds the arrival of the Maligawa Tusker carrying the Sacred Tooth Relic. The Diyawadana Nilame (traditionally required to do everything in his power to ensure rain in the correct season) walks in traditional Kandyan-clothed splendor after the tusker.

14 - Elephants

15 - Elephants

The second procession is from the Natha Devale, which faces the Sri Dalada Maligawa and is said to be the oldest building in Kandy, dating back to the 14th Century.

16 - Elephants

17 - Elephants

18 - Elephants

19, 20, 21 Elephants

The third is from the Vishnu Devale (Vishnu being a Hindu god), also known as the Maha Devale. It is situated in front of the main gate of the Natha Devale.

22 - Elephants

23 - Elephants

24 - Elephants

25 & 26 Elephants

27 & 28 Elephants

29, 30, 31 Elephants

The fourth procession is from the Katharagama Devale (dedicated to the God of Kataragama deviyo, identified with the warrior god Skanda) which is on Kottugodalle Vidiya (a street in Kandy). This procession includes Kavadi, the peacock dance, in which the pilgrim-dances carry semicircular wooden contraptions studded with peacock feathers on their shoulders.

32 - Elephants

33 - Elephants

34 - Elephants

35 - Elephants

36 - Elephants

37 - Elephants

38, 39, 40 Elephants

The fifth and final procession is from the Pattini Devale (Pattini being a goddess associated with the cure of infectious diseases and called upon in times of drought and famine), which is situated to the West of the Natha Devale. This is the only procession that has women dances.

41 - Elephants 

42 - Elephants 

43 - Elephants 

44 - Elephants 

45 - Elephants 

47 - Elephants 

48, 49, 50 Elephants 

Parade over and everyone trying to get home.

What a wonderful event! So happy that we were able to go!

I'm on Elephant overload!

🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘