Tag: worship site

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

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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.”

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The stupa of the 9th century Dakkinagiri Viharaya, with Erawalgala behind it.
Continue reading “Special Feature — THE FORGOTTEN TEMPLE: Dakkinagiriya & the Other Kaludiya Pokuna” →
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Special Feature — Mysteries in the Jungle: the Batatotalena Cave Temple

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.
Continue reading “Special Feature — Mysteries in the Jungle: the Batatotalena Cave Temple” →

Prayer Time in Pettah

David BlackerLeave a comment
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Muslim men remove their footwear and enter the Memon Hanafi Mosque on 3rd Cross Street, for Friday evening prayers. Colombo, January 2023.

• 35mm • f/4 • 1/10 • ISO400 • R6 & RF14-35/4L •

Someone’s at the Door #2

David BlackerLeave a comment
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The Aluth Maligawa Entrance, Temple of the Tooth, Kandy. Sri Lanka, October 2018. Shermaine Willis and Anuradha Perera, for Ashraff Associates and The Radh, Kandy.

• 24mm • f/8 • 1/2000 • ISO800 • 5DMkIV & EF24-105/4L •

Almost Christmas

David BlackerLeave a comment
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A teenage choir awaits their cue to take part in a Christmas carol service at the Anglican Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour. Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo. December 2018.

• 24mm • f/4 • 1/1000 • ISO400 • 5DMkIV & EF24-105/4L •

Gods and Other Things

David BlackerLeave a comment
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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 •

Coke of the Masses

David BlackerLeave a comment
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Colpetty Junction, Colombo. October 2022.

• 24mm • f/2.8 • 1/125 • ISO12800 •

Hewisi Pooja, Temple of the Tooth, Kandy #4

David BlackerLeave a comment
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A thammettama drummer plays during a musical ceremony on the lower floor of the temple’s main shrine. The twin thammettama are traditional Sri Lankan drums, played with curved sticks called kadippuwa, in Sinhalese. Hewisi is a form of religious music once reserved for use by Kandyan royal decree. Today, hewisi is still used almost exclusively in Buddhist ceremonies, and is seen as an offering in itself. Shot on assignment for The New York Times in December 2018.

• 105mm • f/4 • 1/30 • ISO1000 •

Hulftsdorp Architecture

David BlackerLeave a comment
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Old and new, functional and fantastic; all crammed together on Messenger Street. Colombo, September 2020.

• 15mm • f/5.6 • 1/4000 • ISO400 • M6MkII & EF-M 15-45mm/3.5-6.3 courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.

Pleas to the Uncaring

David BlackerLeave a comment
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Prayer flags flutter below the bo tree (Ficus religiosa) of the 18th century Padeniya Buddhist temple. Sri Lanka, May 2022.

• 18mm • f/3.5 • 1/640 • ISO100 •