Poya at Kelanya temple

Wedensday was Poya. This is a Buddhist public holiday that occurs every time there's a full moon. I went to one of the most important temples just out of Colombo. The crowd was massive. Everyone dressed in white, chanting and sacrificing flowers - most like the ones on the picuture, incense and money offerings. Quite an amazing experience to me. I have visited temples before, but I havn't ever seen anything quite like this. Eventhough, there were A LOT of people there, the place had such a calm and serene feel to it.

The temple had beautiful paintings on the ceiling, but to me the surrounding artifacts were just as empressive.

What made it even more special to me, was that along with the people I went with, I was the only non-local there, which just makes it so much nicer.

Actually, I get that feeling a lot in Colombo too. Eventhough, the country does have some turists, they surely don't stay in the city. I'm sure it'll come, though. With the country finally being at peace, I think that people will -and should - begin to visit. The cultural and geographical variety within the country is one, I think, you won't find a lot of places of this size.

As the last picture shows, it is also a country of great contrasts!