HOLY SCARS #TheerthaThiruvila, #HavelockTown, Colombo. Aug 2024. The holy ash on the young woman’s face mark the scars of piercing from the previous day’s #Ther festival. More@ sonofthemorninglight.wordpress.com/2024/08/12/hol… #SriLankaExplorer #travelphotographysrilanka #authenticsrilanka

THE SOFT ARM OF THE LAW #2 Theertha Thiruvila, Mayurapathi Sri Badrakali Kovil, #HavelockTown, Colombo. Aug 2024. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5wm #urbanexplorer #streetphotographer #streetportraiture #streetsofcolombo

THE GREATEST DELUSION Stone and flesh. Goddess and man. Light and shadow. #Bhadrakali Kovil, Mayura Place, #HavelockTown. August 2024. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5wq #urbanexplorer #streetphotographer #travelphotographysrilanka #streetportraiture #streetsofcolombo #traveldeeper

REFUGE FROM THE PYRE #8 #Oddamavadi, Sri Lanka. Oct 2023. Shot for 'Oddamavadi: the Untold Story'. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5wu #journalist #newseditor #documentaryphotography

LOST IN THE FIRE #2 Kiyas, in his Negombo home, holds up a photo of his parents. The body of his father, Jamal, was seized by the Sri Lankan authorities & burned after he died during the #COVIDpandemic of 2020... [more@ wp.me/p331hA-5wz] #documentaryphotography #Oddamavadi

EXCUSE ME – Theertha Thiruvila, Mayurapathi Sri Badrakali Kovil #Ther Festival, #HavelockTown, Colombo. Aug 2024. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5wD #culturevulture #urbanexplorer #streetphotographer #travelphotographysrilanka #streetphotographysrilanka #streetsofcolombo #traveldeeper

FACES OF DEVOTION #5 Theertha Thiruvila, Mayurapathi Sri Badrakali Kovil #Ther Festival, Wellawatte, Colombo. Aug 2024. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5wH #urbanexplorer #streetphotographer #streetportraiture #streetphotographysrilanka #streetsofcolombo #traveldeeper

WHAT COLOUR IS LOVE? Theertha Thiruvila, Mayurapathi Sri Badrakali Kovil #Ther Festival, Wellawatte, Colombo. Aug 2024. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5wO #urbanexplorers #streetphotographers #traveleditors #streetphotographysrilanka #srilankansmile #streetsofcolombo

"SIDE! SIDE! SIDE!" #4 Papaya delivery at the FOSE Market, #Pettah. Nov 2023. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5wS #urbanexplorers #streetphotographers #streetphotographysrilanka #blackandwhitephotographysrilanka #streetsofcolombo RF15-36/2.8L courtesy Canon Sri Lanka

THEERTHAM Hindu families enjoy #WellawatteBeach, awaiting the #Theertham procession carrying the Mayurapathi Badrakali Kovil deities for the post-#Ther purification in the waters of the Indian Ocean. Aug 2024. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5wY #srilankantraveller #visitsrilanka

GHUSL MAYYIT Ritual washing & shrouding is an essential part of Islamic #funeralrites. During the pandemic, the GoSL forbade this & banned burial altogether. Shot in Dec 2023, for my book, '#Oddamavadi: the Untold Story', now available from Sam Perera. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5x4

RFUGE FROM THE PYRE #9 Muslim children pray at a graveside in #Oddamavadi. The remote burial site received over 3,000 #COVID dead between 2021 and 2022, mostly Muslims, saved from the Sri Lankan government’s [contd@ wp.me/p331hA-5xk #Journalist #photojournalism

GANGS OF WELLAWATTE #Theertham, #WellawatteBeach, Colombo. Aug 2024. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5xv #srilankantraveller #traveldeeper #visitsrilanka

NAATTAMIS IN PETTAH #Naattamis, Pettah’s ubiquitous gentlemen of both street & market, part stevedore, part porter, prepare to unload a lorry at the FOSE Market. Nov 2023. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5xF #RF15_35_28L courtesy Canon Sri Lanka #urbanexplorers #streetphotographers

WELLAWATTA OLD BOY Marine Drive, Aug 2024. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5xK #urbanexplorers #streetphotographers #streetportraiture #facesofcolombo #streetsofcolombo

THER FOR ALL Traditionally dressed Muslims walk through the bustle of preparations for the final day of the Mayura Place Hindu temple’s annual #Ther festival. Havelock Town, Aug 2024. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5xO #urbanexplorers #streetsofcolombo #authenticsrilanka

"THROUGH THE JUNGLE VERY SOFTLY FLITS A SHADOW AND A SIGH" “He is Fear, O Little Hunter, he is Fear!” As twilight falls, a #SriLankanelephant, largest of the #Asiaticelephants, slips out of the shadows by the Trincomalee Rd. #Minneriya, Sept 2024. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5xT

FISHERMEN IN THE MORNING, NILAVELI Sri Lanka, Sept 2024. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5y1 #SriLankaExplorer #srilankantraveller #travelphotographysrilanka #EasternPromises #Nilaveli #travelfurther

EVENING OVER KANTALE The Kantale Tank, built by Aggabodhi II in the 7th cen, is 216sqkm & holds 120 million m3 of water. In 1986, heavy vehicles on the 4km embankment caused it to breach, killing almost 200. Sri Lanka, Sept 2024. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5ya #SriLankaExplorer

FACES OF DEVOTION #6 A devotee awaits the arrival of Hindu deities for #Theertham at #WellawatteBeach, #Colombo. Theertham is the ritual bathing & purification of temple statues on the last day of a festival. Aug 2024. More@ wp.me/p331hA-5yn #culturevulture #traveldeeper