day 6: anuradhapura and mihintale. some of my favorite temples so far in sri lanka. mihintale in particular, is so striking and dramatic in its setting. i was blessed there by probably an 8 yr old monk, so young that he had trouble tying my blessing string bracelet and the effort had to be rescued by a slightly older boy! super sweet. the stories of this ancient city and all the temples around here are fascinating, but probably better told elsewhere by people more knowledgeable than myself! one funny story tho is that of the Mirissa Vetiya Dagaba temple, which means “too much chili”… legend has it that it was built out of remorse by a king who shared his food with some monks before tasting it himself - when he finally did taste it and realized it was far too spicy, (the monks having given no indication of this, and ate it without complaint so as not to offend him) he was so upset he built them a new temple!!!
the final sunset series below are at mihintale. we caught the final part of the evening puja, an exquisite procession of 2 drummers and some sons-like horn (a ney? really don't know) up and down all the various stupa and dagoba sites, plus a small stampede of monkeys! also, the beautiful act of faith of children, who put these little sticks under the gigantic boulders to keep them from falling...<3 <3 <3
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