conservation – Son of the Morning Light

Special Feature — THE FORGOTTEN TEMPLE: Dakkinagiriya & the Other Kaludiya Pokuna

March 27, 2023March 26, 2023 David BlackerLeave a comment

A thousand-year-old ‘mountain monastery’, lost in the Kaludiya Pokuna Forest, east of Dambulla; forgotten by the tour guides, and seemingly by time itself. For the visitor seeking something literally off the beaten track, the Dakkinagiri Viharaya is an intriguing but serene detour away from the well-trodden sites of Sri Lanka’s Cultural Triangle.”

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_2819.jpg — The stupa of the 9th century Dakkinagiri Viharaya, with Erawalgala behind it.

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Special Feature — Mysteries in the Jungle: the Batatotalena Cave Temple

March 12, 2023March 12, 2023 David BlackerLeave a comment

Current belief is that Batatotalena is the Divaguhawa of legend, though the argument on its authenticity goes on.

The characteristic triangular shape of an arch cave can be clearly seen at the mouth of Batatotalena.

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Lotus Eater

January 13, 2023January 12, 2023 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/img_5386.jpg — A tufted gray or Hanuman langur (Semnopithecus priam), supremely comfortable in his myth-straddling status, enjoys a floral tribute on the perimeter wall of the 2,100-year-old Mirisavetiya, in Anuradhapura. Shot on assignment for Serendib, the inflight magazine of Sri Lankan Airlines, in December 2016. My piece, ‘The First Kingdom of Lanka‘, ran in February, the next year.

^{• 200mm • f/5.6 • 1/200 • ISO400 • 600D & EF-S18-200/3.5-5.6 • polariser •}

The Doomed Giants of Anuradhapura

January 9, 2023January 8, 2023 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/img_5270e2.jpg — Sunrise over the Basawakkulama Tank, believed to be Sri Lanka’s oldest reservoir, built in 400BC, against the backdrop of the Ruwanwelisaya and, faintly in the distance, the massive broken Jetawanaramaya, both over 2,000 years old. The tree silhouetted against the morning is one of many that line the tank’s retaining bund. For perhaps a century or more, these broadly spread giants have sheltered farmers, workers, schoolchildren, and the occasional photographer, using the bund as a footpath into Anuradhapura. When I took this picture in January 2017, while on assignment for Serendib magazine, the trees were also home to rock squirrels, numerous nesting birds, and families of grey langurs. But sadly, it has now been reported that the government has begun felling these ancient trees because they are believed to be damaging the bund with their great roots. The perspective they have given to one of the most iconic views of Anuradhapura will be the least of the losses their deaths will bring.

^{• 18mm • f/3.5 • 1/250 • ISO100 • 600D & EF-S18-200/3.5-5.6 •}

Twilight of the Kings

December 12, 2022December 12, 2022 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/img_9702e1.jpg — Last light over the almost completely dry bed of the Habarana Lake, in northern Sri Lanka. One of the country’s oldest historical reservoirs, the lake is believed to be the ancient Aggivaddhamanaka Tank, built by King Vasabha of Anuradhapura at the end of the 1st century AD. Shot on assignment in January 2016, for Explore Sri Lanka magazine.

^{• 18mm • f/3.5 • 1/40 • ISO400 • 600D & EF-S18-200/3.5-5.6 •}

Gods and Other Things

December 9, 2022December 9, 2022 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/img_9811b.jpg — In a small shrine on the edge of the jungle below Ritigala, the Hindu god, Ganesh, shared space with something I couldn’t identify. But the crude outline, in white paint on a dark stone, showed it had a skull for a head, sharp teeth, long hair, and claws. This was in January 2016, on the first of a number of visits I made to Ritigala, during which I wrote two articles for Explore Sri Lanka. I took a lot of photos here (and missed a crucial one), but I never submitted this picture, and I doubt the magazine would have published it. Standing above the northern plains, Ritigala, and its jungle, has its own unique climate; with its two-thousand five-hundred-year-old ruins, it certainly has its own atmosphere.

^{• 18mm • f/3.5 • 1/30 • ISO100 • 600D & EF-S18-200/3.5-5.6 •}

Restoring the Balance #2

November 30, 2022November 29, 2022 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/img_0737b.jpg — A cleared hillside close to Haputale, in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka. September 2017. The island has lost huge areas of jungle and forest to the plantation and timber industries over the last two centuries. Many areas in the Central Highlands are now being removed of environmentally harmful pine trees that were introduced by paper manufacturers in the 1970s; replacing them with endemic trees in a government-initiated reforestation programme which will encourage the return of undergrowth.

^{• 110mm • f/8 • 1/200 • ISO400 • 600D & EF-S18-200/3.5-5.6 • circular polariser •}

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/img_0929b.jpg — Tropical sub-montane forest in the mountains above Belihul Oya. Shot on assignment for Serendib, the inflight magazine of Sri Lankan Airlines, in September 2017.

^{• 40mm • f/4.5 • 1/60 • ISO400 • 600D & EF-S18-200/3.5-5.6 • circular polariser •}

The Death of Prabhāsvaratā*

November 25, 2022November 25, 2022 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/img_2821bw-1.jpg — A dying frangipani tree (known locally as a temple tree) stands before the ruined stupa of the 9th century Dakkinagiri Viharaya, deep in the Kaludiya Pokuna Forest, east of Dambulla. February 2018. The smaller of the guardstones flanking the steps is inscribed with writing attributing this Buddhist pabbata monastery to King Sena II of Anuradhapura. The other houses the carving of a Hindu Nagaraja deity.

^{• 18mm • f/7.1 • 1/160 • ISO400 • 600D & EF-S18-200/3.5-5.6 • circular polariser •}

^{*Sanskrit term for the Buddhist concept of luminosity or light}

Beach Morning Glory

November 18, 2022November 18, 2022 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/img_8214b.jpg — Also known as bayhops and goat’s foot, Ipomoea pes-caprae sprawls across the sunlit morning beaches of Waikkal, north of Colombo. These are recent re-edits of pictures I shot for my very first Explore Sri Lanka assignment, in November 2015. My piece, Waterworld Waikkal, ran in the December issue that year.

^{• 24mm • f/2.8 • 1/400 • ISO100 • 600D & EF-S24/2.8 • circular polariser •}

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In the Vernacular

November 14, 2022November 13, 2022 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/000a0496b.jpg — Traditional Sri Lankan veranda in late 19th century style, incorporates some European touches (the latter most obvious in the Tuscan pillars), with some recent restoration. Kosgoda, December 2019.

^{• 24mm • f/4 • 1/160 • ISO800 • 5DMkIV & EF24-70/2.8L •}

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