Kabilittha In the heart of the National Park of Yala (Zone 4) is a sacred spot known as the Kabilittha temple. There are no human inhabitants in these parts of the dense forest. But the place is full of reptiles, crocodiles, leopards, bears and wild elephants. It will take two days to reach this destination crossing rivers with strong currents and marshy land. There is a belief that in order to reach this destination one must purify oneself by abstaining from alcohol, meat and fish for at least one month. It is said that if an individual attempts this journey failing to comply with the purification process, the whole group will be obstructed from proceeding. There are known incidents of floods washing away vehicles, attacks by wild animals and the travellers falling ill thereby obstructing the ... read more

Delft is the north most point of Sri Lanka closest to India. A ferry operates between Delft and mainland once a day. You can go into the in the morning and catch the ferry back at 3pm or stay in the Island overnight. There are no hotels in Delft but arrangements can be made amongst the locals to hire a room. Those with foreign passports need Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence approval to visit Jaffna and an additional clause inserted to get permission to go to the Islands. This is offered on request so please remember to ask, if not you will only be visiting the town of Jaffna as Peter nearly did. His letter did not include the Islands but on this occasion he was lucky. A crew from the Sri Lanka Rupavahini television corporation ... read more

Our first day consisted of meeting some distinguished members of the Jaffna community. It was Kingsley’s view that we should seek their blessings or perhaps it was as a mark of respect to drop in since we were in town. He stated that if the elders knew that we were in town and did not visit them in going about our work there might be some misunderstandings. The phenomenon of dropping in was another one of those Sri Lankan habits I have had to get used to. In UK, I was used to making arrangements a good two weeks before visiting a friend for dinner. And that was just the Sri Lankan friends who in their own country simply pop up—try dropping in on them in UK and you will hear your share of ‘Chucks & ... read more

The ‘Black Water Pond’ is evidence of Buddhism having prevailed long before the introduction of Theravada Buddhism. This place is a serene site with all that nature has to offer to us. The pond itself is a natural basin of black rock and as a result the water is of clear blue-purple. It appears that Tantric practices had been practised at this site. This is an important discovery as Sutra and Tantra, both of which I practise are not the way of the Theravada Buddhist. These are Tibetan Sharman techniques. The Black water pond is situated not too far from Mihintale, the site where Mahinda Thera started Buddhism. This to me seemed too much of a coincidence that he chose an area of Sri Lanka where Tantric practices had already prevailed many hundred years before. The ... read more

My second and last day with Kingsley on this trip. He was to take me to Mihintale and some neighbouring sites before catching the train to Colombo. After that I was on my own for three more days and then back home until next month when I will pass this town on my way to Jaffna. That night I slept too well. Kingsley politely mentioned my snoring; I know that when I am tired I do bring the roof down. So perhaps next time I should get him a separate room—the poor man. Got to do something about this noise, even the mosquitoes keep out! Mihintale Having left the Jeep at a nearby garage for the silencer to be repaired, we made our way to Mihintale the site at which Mahinda Thera appeared to King Devanampiya ... read more