The opening ceremony of the new Kovil in Kalmunai. It isn't finished yet but the ceremony went ahead anyway. In fact I don't think I have been to, or heard of anything where total completion has been achieved before the opening ceremony. The banner is a must and in this case we had to walk down the road to the Kovil as part of the ceremony. The garland was the biggest yet and was nice and fresh, they are beautiful and smell lovely, the white flowers are Frangipani I think.The audience started out as mainly children but finished up as mostly adults and as we left the music started.
The ceremony was late in the afternoon and I ended up driving 30km back to Ampara on my motorbike after dark. Not the best idea, as I came along the flat plain where all the paddy fields are you could see the insects in your headlight like snow in winter. Being on a bike you could also feel them hitting you and going down your shirt. Every now and then a big insect hits your helmet, like a small stone. I also experienced a frog being exploded on my foot, nice! Add to that cyclists without lights, cattle, dogs and goats to be negotiated.
