Then we took a tuk tuk about two kilometers to the Tissa bus stand. There was a government bus to Katragama waiting. It was the typical, old-style, Lankan government bus. The seats were mostly broken and squashed very closely together. I requested an aisle seat which really means I made Jay sit near the window. I could stretch my legs that way.
The bus only took a half hour to get to Katragama. Let me discuss a bit about what it is. It’s a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists and Hindus as well. Lots of folks take the trip in special busses. There are lots of ‘stays’ there which are extremely cheap digs without any of the comforts of a regular hotel. Some also just ‘camp out’. They cook their meals outside and wash up in the river.
It encompasses a very large area. It’s also sort of a religious marketplace with a mosque, kovil, and temple. We made it plenty early enough to walk to the stuppa and bo tree. We walked back to the temple area for the 11:00 am service. The god of Katragama is celebrated in a service that mostly consists of noise. There’s a drummer who starts, stops, and keeps up a tempo. Numerous bells hang around the edges of a fairly small chamber. When the drummer drums, people keep the bells ringing. A few words are said. Water and white chalk is applied to one’s forehead. When people leave after 15 to 20 minutes later, they take a handful of rice to eat. Most offer fruit to the god through the priest. What is not selected in now blended into juice to quench the thirsts of thirsty pilgrims.
On the bus returning to Tissimaharama, we stopped at a famous, Buddhist temple of its namesake.
It was time for a nap and then we stayed around and chatted with the proprietor of the guesthouse, Dhamith. He was an instantly likeable chap. He is 38 and is in the middle of constructing a second floor with eight additional guestrooms and a third floor with banquet hall facilities. He’s taking risks but I had the impression he’ll be successful. He was especially interested in learning from foreigners although he hopes his business to be frequently by local tourists too. I found him very handsome, affectionate and kind. We left our address in Canada with him. When we print some of the digital photos, we’ll surely make sure he gets prints.