Lanterns and Lights

This post was in the pipeline for a long time. Actually the pictures are almost a month old. On the 27th of May the Sri Lankan community celebrated Vesak in great grandeur. It was the first Vesak celebration since the 30 decade long civil war was over and that it self, added extra flavor and color to the festival. Sri Lankans from allover the island joined together hand in hand to make this Vesak season one of the best any Sri Lankan had seen.


Vesak is celebrated by all most all Buddhists to  commemorate the birth, enlightenment (Nirvana), and passing away (Parinirvana) of Gautama Buddha. It's a time of celebration which is much anticipated by not only the Buddhist but by the whole community itself. Streets, houses, buildings, basically anything deco-ratable is colorfully dressed up with lights and lanterns and flags and what not? 


I too had a blast this Vesak, well I did something that I wanted to do for so long and I finally did it. I do not have the licence to ride motorcycles. On the 27th I had a grand tour of the "Vesak Themagula". I rode with no licence at all on a big ass motorcycle, to one of three locations the "Themagula" was held, "Bauddaaloka Mawatha". The others being "Gangaraamya" and "Lake House" were also splendid. The street was filled with so many people, I could barely choose my direction, I was pulled all over the place the crowd went. Here are a few pictures I managed to capture in all that rush.

All credit goes to the Sri Lankan army for putting up this excellent piece of art.

One of the best I saw this year.

This is the traditional "Atta Pattama", diamond shaped lantern.

Sri Lankans proudly celebrated Vesak in style, unitedly as one nation this year and I'm glad I was alive to see it. I hope this same spirit will linger on till the end of age.

Hope you enjoyed the post.

Cheers!