Great Heaps of Holiness

A Buddhist ceremony in process at the Ruwanwelisaya Dagoba, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

Continuing on Sri Lanka, here’re more dagobas / stupas. Stupas (literally meaning ‘heap’ in the ancient Sanskrit language) are mounds built over Buddhist relics and artefacts. They entomb things like a dead monk, or a tooth, or a collar bone, or some personal object of a venerated monk, …some scrolls maybe, got the idea? Well, let your imagination run wild.

Each country or region has more or less evolved its own style of stupas. A Sri Lankan dagoba (Sinhalese for stupa I guess) is typically an upturned hemisphere, with a rectangular box on top, capped with a cone. And Tada! See example below.


Mirisavetiya, Anuradhapura

A Thai chedi (e.g. like in Ayutthaya and Bangkok) is usually bell-shaped, while a Burmese one is …kinda difficult to describe (what the heck, it’s got steps at the bottom, topped with a bell, and then an upturned alms bowl, then some lotus flowers, then a banana bud, crowned finally with an umbrella, e.g. Shwedagon Paya). A Tibetan stupa (chorten) will be somewhat like an upturned trapezium / trapezoidal bowl, with a cone on top and steps at the bottom, usually painted all white (got loads of pictures from my Ladakh visit, but that was unfortunately before my blogging days). Nepali stupas are well-known for those symbolic Buddha’s eyes painted on the crown of the dome shaped mound, topped with a high golden spire (e.g. Swayambhunath).

Enough on stupa architecture, here’s a collection of dagobas from around Sri Lanka. The main site is in Anuradhapura, one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka, and a darn expensive place to visit, (for cheapskate travellers like us, that is – due to its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, perhaps). Imagine 30 friggin USD (or was it 25?) per head, for a day’s pass, and there were 3 of us, 2 adults and a kid! I remember Angkor Wat was 20 USD per day per head or 40 USD for 3 friggin days, and there were a lot more sites to explore there! (but then again, that was in the early 2000’s. Things might have changed now…)


Ruwanwelisaya at dusk




Thuparamaya, is said to be the earliest dagoba in Sri Lanka. It’s been renovated / rebuilt many times after that.


Offerings by red-robed monks at Thuparamaya Dagoba, Anuradhapura


Thuparamaya, with white Sri Lankan-styled walls surrounding it

Dagobas come in a few different colours, (besides white obviously) –


Jetavanaramaya (red), in the countryside, Anuradhapura


Jetavanaramaya, up close – this would be the tallest stupa in the world if the conical spire at the top hadn’t broken off


Abhayagiri (red, with stakes, undergoing restoration I guess)


Rankoth Vehera (green, overgrown with vegetation) – this one is in Polonnaruwa, not Anuradhapura


Kiri Vehera (white), Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka


A newer stupa at Dambulla (gold)

Coming back to Anuradhapura, here’s also where you’ll find the Mahabodhi Tree, the direct descendant of the tree which Buddha meditated under, when he attained enlightenment in Bodhgaya, India. A sapling from the tree was brought to Sri Lanka and planted in Anuradhapura. The Maha Bodhi Tree is now the oldest known living human-planted tree in the world and is one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in Sri Lanka. See a picture of this and more explanations in my earlier post, On a Pilgrimage Spree.


Here’s another famous tourist site in Anuradhapura – Kuttam Pokuna (Twin Pools). They’re meant for bathing (in the past). Nope, didn’t bring our swimming gear. Besides, we didn’t see any swimmers around so it might not be such a good idea!

Tropical Island Buddhist Sanctuary

Lord Buddha in Mihintale, Sri Lanka

Continuing on the Buddhist theme, here’s a tropical island that is staunchly Buddhist – Sri Lanka.

Buddhism started in India, but has more or less disappeared from India except for a few pockets here and there. It’s a completely different story in its island neighbour to the south however. Here, in Sri Lanka, Buddhism is still very much a part of everyday life. Buddhist temples and figures dot the landscape like in Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. And any gesture perceived as an insult to Buddha will get you into big trouble with the authorities. Don’t believe me, try taking a selfie with Lord Buddha and see what happens.


“Papa, what’s that Didi (sister) doing”? “Oh, she’s courting trouble, by showing her back to Buddha, posing for a photo”. She’s lucky no officers were nearby, or her camera would probably have been confiscated, and worse... A Sri Lankan couple asked me to snap a photo of them with their phone posing in front of the Tooth Relic Sanctum in Kandy. Immediately after that, an officer of the temple approached them, reprimanded them in the local language and took hold of their phone (and probably deleted the ‘offensive’ photos, …nope, didn’t stay to find out, got as far away from them as possible…)


A white dagoba (stupa in Sinhalese I guess) in Mihintale


A smaller dagoba and the Lord Buddha statue


Anu, on the stairway up to Mihintale – be careful of the monkeys, years of pampering have taught them to terrorize and snatch food out of unsuspecting tourists, like Anu and Justin. They had their mangoes, which we had just bought, snatched from their hands! Classic case of spare the rod and spoil the child, (apes in this case). Ask Justin about Sri Lanka, and he’ll probably tell you this story. I think it's about the only thing he remembers of Sri Lanka.


The rock where Buddhism purportedly arrived in Sri Lanka, brought over from India by the son of Emperor Ashoka. He either flew, or there must be some teleportation portal on that rock, a stargate, or moongate perhaps… (another view of the rock can be seen in this earlier post – On a Pilgrimage Spree)


This looks like a nice place to meditate, famous rock for Buddhist landing in Sri Lanka, nice view of the surrounding countryside, convenient place to jump off in case you get tired of meditating…


A view of the countryside from Mihintale

Return to Ayutthaya

Wat Phra Si Sanphet, Ayutthaya, Thailand

Might as well carry on with Thailand, since it’s Wesak / Buddha Purnima, and I have pretty much nothing else to write about. Here’re some pictures of Ayutthaya, the previous capital of Siam (Thailand). It was ransacked and destroyed by the Burmese in the 18th century (they’re arch rivals and frequently waged wars). It is named after the Indian city of Ayodhya, the birthplace of the Hindu deity Rama, and the setting of the Ramayana epic, which features prominently in the culture and arts of Thailand and South East Asia.

Somehow or other, we always end up in Ayutthaya on visits to Bangkok. This is the third time in memory that I’ve visited. The first, I have little recollection, apart from remembering that it was quite a nice place, with lots of ruins and statues of Buddha draped in yellow cloth. I might have visited with Michael Har, a colleague and friend from my Ireka days (don’t really remember). Those were the days of the film camera (late 90’s or early 2000’s), so there might still be some photos tucked away in some boxes, somewhere…

The second visit, I remember vividly. It was raining cats and dogs, and whatever God could throw down. We spent the whole day waiting for the rain to subside, looking at ruins from the confines of our car, or was it a bus? We finally braved the rain and explored a little of the ruins in pouring rain, and were thoroughly drenched, nice! (See pictures of our exploits in my earlier posts of Apr 2009 and Feb 2006). This was the last trip the family made overseas with my beloved Granny, who was becoming increasingly frail due to old age. I remember changing my plans from visiting East Malaysia and Brunei, to visiting Thailand with the family. Glad I did this as she passed away not many years after this.

And here’re pictures of our third visit – in burning sunshine, for a complete change. Nice for a thorough suntan, which the missus wasn’t very happy about!






Wat Mahathat, Ayutthaya - with leaning towers, half-destroyed temples and headless Buddhas


The Buddha of the Tree, at Wat Mahathat – a famous postcard / souvenir view of Ayutthaya




Views of the Chedi's (Thai stupas) of Wat Phra Si Sanphet – at the heart of the Ayutthaya Historical Park, this was where we braved the rain in our last visit


Temple at Wat Phra Si Sanphet


A Sleeping Buddha near Wat Phra Si Sanphet (I think it is Wat Lokkayasutharam, thank you Google Map), how can a post on Ayutthaya not have a Sleeping Buddha?


Wat Chaiwatthanaram – reminds me of the Temple of Doom, with a Khmer (Cambodian) styled prang (central spire)


Wat Phu Khao Thong




Wat Yai Chaimongkon, Ayutthaya, Thailand




Buddhas at the Wat Yai Chaimonkon

Moving to England

We’re gonna move to England soon. From Russia.

Yeah, we’re moving from Russia Cluster to England Cluster in International City, Dubai. It’s a ten minute walk away. Haha! Got you!

Have been told to quit our company rented apartment since November last year. Finally got one apartment in a building not too far away. Spent yesterday cleaning up the place with niece, Karishma. (Anu has the flu). On top of the kitchen cabinets, we discovered a treasure trove of fossils, hundreds of little cockroach carcasses preserved in tar pits (i.e. grease traps formed from cooking oil deposited through the years of the previous tenants’ cooking). Can’t really tell what age these cockroaches are from, as we lack carbon-dating equipment and technique, but the carcasses are still nicely intact, if somebody wants to try something like that.

As we had little love for fossils, we went to work right away, spraying grease removers and obliterating all traces of whatever’s been here before. Take that you bloody critters! It was such a fun thing to do, standing crooked on the kitchen table (to prevent my head from hitting the ceiling), scrubbing grease and picking dead cockroaches, and having muck and soap flying on your face, that I forgot to follow basic safety rules (such as stools are not meant to be ladders). Ended up on the kitchen floor on my bump and twisted my friggin left wrist.

Hope to nurse it back soon to continue our migration… Would have started cleaning earlier if it wasn’t for the flu. The past week has seen first Justin, then I, and finally Anu catch the flu. I don’t think this was some ordinary flu, or I wouldn’t have had this long a fever. I’ve not had a fever since… I honestly don’t remember, but this one stayed for 4 friggin days! Justin had it for 6 days! And it’s the 5th day running for Anu now. Hope little Jayden doesn’t catch it.

And hope Nepal can quickly get back on its feet after that devastating earthquake. Don’t know anybody in Nepal, but we’ve been to most of the places shown in the news in Kathmandu and Pokhara (was there in 2010). Must be terrible for the people there. Nepal’s a nice place, and pretty friendly. May God help the missing to be found alive. May He keep the affected safe and provide them with shelter, food and necessities. May the families and friends of those who perished, find peace, strength and hope to carry on.