Seeking Piety at Katargrama and leopards at Yala National Park

January 19

Seeking piety at Katargama and leopards at Yala National Park 

After a 4 hour drive and changing our non air conditioned hotel to one that is air conditioned and closer to the Yala National Park we wander about Katargama looking at city life. 

Puja for offerings 

We have another wonderful curry dinner at a local restaurant. John thinks this is the best “down and dirty” curry meal he has had yet in Sri Lanka. Steve and Marie continue eating with their hands and John and I still stick with spoons.

Katargama, named for the eponymous god, is a center for Sri Lankan pilgrims of Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim faiths.  It is considered one of the most important religious pilgrimage sites in Sri Lanka.  Every night of the week (6 pm) there is an elaborate puja ceremony at the Katargarma temple complex. Many families with children come with puja fruit offerings which they make to the gods, and especially to Kataragama himself (also known as Murugan).  This is a fascinating Hindu temple that also includes a Buddhist temple inside its grounds and a bodhi tree. Additionally there is a large whitewashed Buddhist dagoba just beyond this temple and a Muslim mosque close to the entrance. People seem to be visiting both the Hindu temple and the Buddhist temple. As we walk down a large and beautiful walkway to the Buddhist dagoba we meet a man who offers us each a lotus flower to put on the alter.

Buddhist Pagoda

He is a lovely, generous man who tells us about his 3 children living in UK and how his father worked for the British monarchy.  Again I am struck by the generosity and kindness of these people.  


We return to the Hindu temple and the shrine of the resident god, Maha Devale which contains the 12 armed Hindu war god , Murugan. Outside the shrine we see a place where people are smashing burning coconuts while praying.  I am not sure what this tradition signifies.  We crowd into the temple where there is incense and drumming music and people pass in their puja. 

Offering Puja in Temple 

I am surprised to see that the fruit is returned to them for eating after it is blessed. Later a couple on the street share their food with us. 







The monkeys also seem to benefit from the puja. 






It is fascinating mix of traditions, religious rituals and music where there appears to be tolerance of different religions. I am entranced by the spirit at this place and the people and feel I have missed something special by not having such traditions in my life. 

We drive to Jetwing Yala Hotel, just outside Yala national Park and are happy to have comfortable beds with air conditioning ~ even though some of us were initially tempted to have a down and dirty experience in a more basic room in Katargama. 

January 20

Yala National Park

Searching for Leopards

In the morning we relax and swim in the incredibly long pool at the Jetwing Yala hotel. 
















At 2:30 pm we leave on a jeep for the park. We are on a search for leopards.  Our guide book says that this place is Jungle Book brought to life. It is a strict nature preserve where you are not allowed to get out of the jeep (even to pee) and includes 126,786 hectares of scrub, forest, grassy plans and ponds or lagoons.   Originally it was reserved for hunters, but was given over to conservation in 1938.  It is said to have 38 leopards and is renowned for one of the best places to see these cats.   The best time to see them is when the waters are low. We notice everything is lush and that there are lagoons and water holes everywhere. 

We see 3 elephants, numerous water buffalos, cows, spotted deer, boars, one crocodile, mongooses, monkeys and a jackal.

Water Buffalos

Jackal

No leopards  ~ but we don’t despair as we are booked to take the safari again at 5:30 am the next morning.  




What I find the most interesting is the amazing bird life.  Perhaps after seeing so few birds on the Tea Factory hike, we are amazed by bird life every where.  I don’t know the names of  many birds and try to learn a few on this trip. Marie checks the accuracy of the names the guide gives us  on her google bird app.  We are all mesmerized by the beautiful green bee eaters which fly about everywhere like hummingbirds. Eventually we realized these birds are so common that I refer to them as crows which is a quite unfair since they are incredibly beautiful and they are much more melodious than crows.  We see peacocks  strutting for peahens, grey herons, paraquets, baby serpent eagles, hawk eagles, hornbills (tucan), weavers and their nests hanging in trees, blade solar kites, and Indian rollers. 

Serpent Eagle

Peacock strutting for Peahen 

Weaver's Nest

Grey Heron

I decide I would like to become a “birder” after this display of beauty.

Hornbill

It is a very bumpy ride on these jeeps as the roads are in poor repair. It feels like we are on a constant roller coaster.

Back at the hotel after 4 hours we are excited but tired of our bronco riding.  We meet in the bar to watch re-runs of the Seahawks game.  As I watch John, Marie and Steve who are Seahawks fans I think perhaps they are more excited by these football plays than our safari.  But tomorrow we will see leopards.

Steve, John and the Guide 

January 21

Still Searching for Leopards

At 5:30 am Marie, John and I meet for another adventure of finding leopards.  To our dismay we have slept in (and are awakened by Marie) so have missed getting to be first in the jeep line, but our guide drives like a New York taxi driver and soon gets us to the head of the pack. We see birds which are starting to look familiar and few new birds such as the bellied sea eagle, Indian darter bird, Indian roller, Hornbill, Ibis, branded stork and Blackwinged stilt.  I am not sure if I have recorded these names correctly and will have to check with Marie’s data.

Green Bee Eater 

Ibis 

Banded Stork

We stop for a break at a place where tourists and locals were killed in the tsunami in 2004. I think about the unpredictability of nature.

We see a few more elephants up close. 

After 3 hours, John tires of the roller coaster ride and we head back to the hotel discouraged by our failure to find leopards.  On the way back our guide shows us leopard tracks in the road so we are excited about the possibility. Will we pull out a success like the Seahawks? 

  Around a corner we see up to 20 jeeps parked and are told there is a leopard!! We wait there eagerly, however, with so many jeeps and motors running it is hard to imagine a leopard sauntering about.

  I wonder if this is just a guide set up tease to keep people’s hopes up.  Eventually we give up and return to our hotel for breakfast. Should we be more persistent? Are we too impatient and giving up too easily?

Afterwards our hopes are refueled by watching Obama’s State of the Union speech. Obama is a model for persistence and patience.  Despite all the adversity he has faced he is still advocating for the same issues he talked about when elected.  He is  positive and uplifting about living values we can be proud of.  I feel the Republican response by Joni Earnest doesn’t provide a model for women  because she doesn’t seem "real" despite her efforts to tells about her difficult upbringing.  We all think that Ted Cruz is coming from an “alternative reality”.  My hopes are for Hillary who has always been an advocate for the poor and health care.