In Kandy, this year's Randoli Peraheras are getting started now. Randoli Peraheras are the processions of the last five nights of the annual Kandy festival fortnight. Though theprior five pageants called Kumbal Peraheras are pretty interesting, too, the Randoli Peraharas are the most spectacular pageants. For most visitors talking about the great processions held in Kandy in the month of August (end of Sinhala month Esala in Kuly and August), 'Kandy Perahera' and 'Esala Perahera' and 'Randoli Perahera' are synonymous. Actually, Esala Peraheras are held in other Sri Lankan towns, too, as this term only refers to the time period of the celebrations and not to the location. As said, Randoli Peraheras form only a third of the kandy Esala Perahera, but they are the climax. Most tourists think that the last night is the most spectacular one. Indeed, it's the most sacred event in Kandy and also the most visited one. However, the procedure of all five Randoli Peraheras is the same, the number of elephants and the sequence of groups of dancers and the route of the processinan and timetable of the Randoli pageants do not differ. Hence, if you are interested to see the famous Kandy pageants when the streets of Kandy are less crowded, the earlier of the five Randoli Peraheras are more recommendable than those of the last two nights. This is to say: If you are in Sri Lanka, visit the Esala Perahera in Kandy now. All five Randoli Peraheras are the most spectacular events on the island and an unforgettable experience.

Although strong monsoon winds are to be expected in all regions of the island, the precipitation will be moderate. Light showers will only occur in the wet zone of southwestern Sri Lanka, as usual during monsoon season. Sri Lanka, though in recent years exposed to heavy rainfall resulting in floods and landslides increasingly, has not suffered much from this year's monsoon season, which can be called ordinary, quite the oppposite to what happened in the neighbouring Kerala region of India.

Let's have a weekend break, no blog upload on Sunday, more posts with images next week

The Sri Lankan Rupee closed near its all-time low against the US Dollar on Friday mainly due to importer dollar demand. Altogether, the Sri Lanka Rupee has declined 4.6 percent this year. Though increasingly a problem for imports and leasing to prices for consumers, the good news for travellers from abroad, of course, is the high value of their money. Even without Rupee decline, travelling in Sri Lanka is comparatively cheap, good value for money.

Kumbal Peraheras are celebrated in Kandy these days. Kumbal Peraheras are the first five of altogether ten pageants held in the evenings of the Kandy festival. Kumbal Peraheras are not as flamboyent as the subsequent Randoli Peraheras. However, the city is less crowded than during the final days of the Kandy Perahera season. However, the slightly less spectacular Kumbal Perahera is a chance to gain an impression of authentic Sinhalese culture undisturbed by large crowds of tourists. Anyway, if you are in or near Kandy these days, don't miss the opportunity to see one of the evening processions. Access is free in the streets of Kandy.

Last week, we reported about railway strikes in Sri Lanka. We are glad to inform you that the strikes were called of this week after talks of the trade unions with the president. Trains are operated according to schedule again.

Being a mighty king who becomes an adversary of Lord Rama, Ravana is one of the main characters in the Ramayana, one of the two famous Indian national epics. Ravana is a demon-king residing on the island of Lanka. He is not an entirely evil character, as he is honestly devoted to Shiva and a capable ruler and famous for his healing powers. The Ramayana epic, in contrast to the even longer Mahabharata epic, has become very popular outside India, though not in Sri Lanka, though the island of Lanka is the setting of the most important episodes of the story, the location of the decisive battle and Sita's fire ordeal in particular. It is in Southeast Asia, that the narrative became popular, as it inspired the first comprehensive epic poems in Thai and Khmer and Malayan languages. Likewise, the Burmese version known as Yama Zatdaw can be called Myanmar's national epic.

In Hindu iconography, Ravana is usually depicted with 10 heads side by side and often with 20 arms. In those representations of Ravana found at Khmer temples in Cambodia (see above lintel carving of West Gate 3 at Preah Khan in Angkor) the number of heads and arms is not fixed and the heads are partly aranged above each other.

Sri Lanka's Theravada Buddhist tradition played a crucial role in the estavlishment and development of Buddhism in Southeast Asia, particularly as monastic Buddhism had been on the decline in India, before the centres of Buddhist scholarship in the Ganges region finally fell victim to destruction during the Muslim invasions of the late 12th century. It was during this period that the empire of Bagan (Pagan) in Myanmar (Birma) reached is climax under King Chansu II (Sithu II, also known as Narapatisithu). Under his reign the young Buddhist monk Sapada (Chapata)travelled to Sri Lanka in order to study there and to receive a renewed higher ordination to introduce the Sinhalese line of succession in Myanmar. He was from the Mon ethnicitiy, which played a crucial role in transferring the Theravada tradition to the Bagan kingdom. His reform resulted in the establishment of a second order of Theravada Buddhism in Bagan, which became dominant in later centuries. During the 13th century, Sapada's followers, who initially caused only a kind of shism in the Theavada Buddhist culture of Bagan, were even more successfull in missionaries in the Menam region, where the newly established Thai (Siamese) kingdoms were gaining independence from Khmer hegemony. Hence, the Thai adapted the Sinhalese Mahavihara pattern of Theravada Buddhism and made it the official state religion, thereby intentionally turning away from the Hindu religion of the Khmer empire.

However, the Sapada mission and the Thai tradition of Theravada finally succeeded in the Khmer empire, too. According to some reports, one of the companions travelling with Sampada was a son of King Jayavarman VII, who was the first Buddhist king in Cambodia, but an adherent of Mahayanism. After Jayavarman VII's reign during the same period mentioned above, Hinduism had a royal revival in Cambodia inthe second half of the 13th century. But finally Theravada was successfull in Cambodia due to its appeal in rural villages. The Theravada teachings and monsatic line of the Sinhalese sect had been introduced in Cambodia in the course of the 13th century. Unlike Shivaism, Vishnuism, and Mahayana Buddhism, which were imposed from the empire’s elites, the new doctrine was mainly preached to common people. Khmer farmers during the centuries of Hindu and Buddhist state cults had remained to be animistic, sparcely touched by those foreign Indian religions of the Khmer elites. Instead of elaborate court ceremonias, the monks of the Sinhalese tradition prescribed meditation and were devoted to a life of modesty and austerity. Unlike the priestly hierarchy close to the royal family whose political power was in decline, the Theravada monks were in direct contact with ordinary people and managed to stimulate a popular movement. This carried the Khmers, too, into the Theravada fold, until the present day.

Despite monsoon season in southwestern Sri Lanka, only light showers are expected in Colombo during the first half of this week. Showers and thunderstorms can occur in the second half and on Friday in particular. The following week will be less rainy again.

Sunday break, as usual...