Day Seven: Going back in time....
This morning Sid announced that we were going to see one of the oldest treasures in Jaffna and so it proved to be. The Kadurugoda site. On a simple dirt road in a small field stands some ancient mounds that have been carbon-dated to five hundred BC, before Hinduism, Buddhism and christianity. (Although I'm sure all of those religions would claim this site as theirs).
These skilfully-constructed mounds were perfect spheres of varying sizes clustered together. Apparently coins and pottery have been retrieved from the site, but there was little evidence of any archaeological investigation. Mind you, there was a board outlining the consequences in detail if any antiquities were stolen, but no information at all about the site itself.
It's a little unclear as to the purpose of these mounds although it may have been a burial site. Their placement may have been in relation to the stars but there's a lot of questions about them.
Although they have been designated as an Archaeological site by the Government that doesn't ensure their preservation. Apparently there are seven hundred such sites across Sri Lanka but more than a third have been destroyed or built on, many by Muslims.
The sight of them is very moving when you consider their age and their still perfect shape.
Then it was off to see the ruins of one of the last remaining Portuguese buildings -a church- built years ago. The animosity between the Portuguese and Dutch has resulted in most Portuguese buildings being destroyed. Just like the Fort it was made of black coral and the coral shapes could still be seen. A very simple design with huge thick walls made to stand the test of time.
The next stop was a rather intriguing and very ecumenical Protestant Church first built by the Church of South India in 1646. It has been rebuilt at some stage and has some very old Portuguese and Dutch headstones. The gate tells the story of its inclusivity.
Finally we headed to a very significant but small Fort guarding two possible routes into the north of Sri Lanka. India is only a few kilometres away so both the Portuguese and then the Dutch were keen to use this strategically-placed Fort.
The boat trip was a a great idea. However a gang of men were attempting to fix the engine and there was a lot of doubtful faces, shaking of heads and instructions being exchanged. Sid looked as if he was about to jump in and assist, as everyone knows that the more men involved in solving a problem will lead to success.....not!
And so it was here: eventually we had to give up and go to the Hammenhiel Fort Resort for lunch. The area is part of the Navy so there were lots of their members having lunch. It took forever to get even basic lunch food: fried rice, kottu, chips and some curry. I'm afraid service is not key to many restaurants in the north!
Then swimming was on the agenda: us and others! We headed north from Jaffna to reach the northern ocean.
The Keeramali natural mineral spring is reputed to have healing properties. The springwater is only separated from the sea by a curved stepped brick wall. We saw the Mens Only spring pool and although there was also a women's pool we had other plans for swimming.
It seems this area is considered a sacred site and so there is an Apayakiriyya Hall near the springs: a simple open air wooden structure. We were invited to go in by the poosai (swami) who was blessing the cremated ashes of an elderly man. No photos of course as that would have been too intrusive. The family members, about 9 of them, were led by the chief mourner - in this case the eldest son. They chanted, said prayers, walked around the ashes and sprinkled flowers. The father had died 31 days ago so this was a memorial service prior to them ceremonially sprinkling the ashes into the ocean.
Whilst the wife was distressed the others were calm and
quiet and seemed resolved somehow. We moved away as they left the Hall and headed for the beach.
The water looked tempting in the heat so the next stop was a trip to Casuarina Beach which is considered to be one of the best beaches in northern Jaffna. Named after the casuarinas that line the beach it was a stretch of white sand and wide ocean. The facilities have been updated and we changed into our bathers and went for a swim to cool off.
The sun was behind clouds so the sea was a dull green. On a clear day it would be a great spot to laze away some time.
Then we travelled back through the flat countryside: ricefields, swamps and more water everywhere.
After we dropped Kerryn off at the Hotel to do some work the rest of us toured the town in search of one of the 'masks' that adorn many house gates. They act as an evil eye to ward off bad spirits. Udaya said that when babies are born they are given a black spot on the forehead which attracts the attention of bad spirits and diverts their attention away from the baby itself.
No success as it was a Sunday.
Back to the Hotel for some R&R before heading for a 'cultural performance' being provided just for us at the Hotel. To be honest, we approached it with some fear and trepidation as, over the years, we have been treated to some very long-winded cultural performances that were best forgotten.
In order for us to decrease the wait time for dinner we organised to order our meals before the performance so that we didn't have to wait for an hour to be fed: very common in restaurants here. Thisenkamur - the supervisor in the restaurant even managed to come to the Banquet Hall before the performance started with a bottle of our cold Hunter Valley white, which we really enjoyed!
The performance was surprisingly lovely: four young dancers dressed in traditional costumes with lots of bling and red dye decorating their hands and feet - not henna.The dances ranged from traditional dances based on Tamil music to some more Bollywood Tamil music according to Uduya. They used some interesting props too. They stuck to their 45 minute limit and we went off to the Restaurant to enjoy some Sri Lankan food.
After a busy day with lots to think about, and bags to pack, we took ourselves off to bed early - again!
your tired but happy correspondent
Dianne
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