(featured photo by Sanya)
The destination
Nested in the center of Sri Lanka Anuradhapura is the country’s first capital. The ancient city treasures memories of kings and queens and ruins of their story. The Anuradhapura mosaic was a micro trip dedicated toward appreciating Sri Lankan culture and history by portraying it through a diversity of art media including photography, writing, and sketching.
Day 1
First on our itinerary was a visit to the Yapahuwa rock fortress on our way to Anuradhapura. Reeling back to O level history lessons Yapahuwa was converted into a rock fortress by general Subha following the Kalinga Magha invasion of the Polonnaruwa kingdom.The massive stone stairway was wholly intimidating, climbing up the steep steps leaving our calves burning. But the beauty of the innate carvings on the short flight of steps leading up to a doorway soon overpowered the pain. The railing of the stairway was adorned with stone sculptures each displaying a great deal of precision and detail. Notably, the Gajasimha sculptures carved into the railing stood out to me. I was marveled by how the figure was carved and molded to fit into the space.The entire fortress was also beautiful in the sense that unlike modern-day constructions it seemed to blend in with the natural elements around it.
After our climb, we journeyed on to our destination. After reaching our hotel in Anuradhapura and settling into our rooms we visited our second site for the day the royal bath. Were had about twenty minutes of reflection to reimagine area as what it was in the early centuries. We also saw a stone carving which depicted a stargate rumored to be a portal to another dimension.
Day 2
After a brief walk and breakfast at the hotel, we went to visit a temple and some ruins from the ancient capital. Submerged our photography we didn’t notice the policemen coming toward us. Sadly we were asked to leave as they weren’t too happy about the area being photographed. While we were disheartened we simply moved on to our next location which was the Sri Maha Bodhiya the oldest recorded tree in the world. I got some beautiful photos of the smaller bo trees and of the monks against the temple background. I also found that the ribbons tied on the bo trees and the cages enclosing them were a great subject to photograph. Although simple the knotted ribbons held a colorful array of vows made by pilgrims and seemed to carry the weight of those promises. We also visited the Ruwanwelisaya temple where we took pictures of the offerings, oil lamps and stupa.
Day 3
I started off day 3 with a 5k run (/walk) along the Nuwara Wewa bank. The lake was still and crystal clear, a beautiful way to start the day. Scheduled for the day was a visit to the caves in Mihintale and then a service session at the SOS kids village. The visit to the Mihintale caves was educational and was a prime example of the sustainability of the ancient Sri Lankan civilization. Our guide directed us toward the ruins of the ancient dining hall and helped us visualize the system which fed hundreds of Monks in the past. What resonated from his description was the level of collaboration and unity so of the ancient villagers. However, our visit was cut short by the pouring rain. Soaking wet headed back to the hotel and work on our reflections. That evening we visited the Anuradhapura SOS village. We spent around three hours at the institute and joined the students in creating self-portraits and then stringing together so create a symbol of community. Later we played games which included football and rap battles. Overall, I had a great time working with kids who were highly energetic and enthusiastic.
Day 4
Day 4 started a little late and had a far more relaxed schedule with compassion to days 1 through 3. After a visit to the ‘‘kalu diya pokuna’( black water pond), we traveled to the “back of beyond” which is the ecolodge we would spend our final night in.
After a much-enjoyed nature walk, we climbed up a boulder to watch the sunset. The orange sun reclining through the canopy of trees was a magnificent sight, one that our cameras simply could not begin to capture. After a delicious barbeque dinner, we turned in for the night in our treehouses surrounded by the forest.
Day 5
We woke up in our treehouses on day 4 excited to embark on our hike up Pidurangala rock. Never having tried the climb before I hoped that it would be physically challenging but doable.While the hike up was not too bad because there stone steps to aid us it still left our legs sore by the time we reached the top. There was also a final stretch of boulders we had to spider through to reach the peak which was definitely the most challenging part. The view from the rock was serene and served as a background for many group photos.
After returning to the bottom we set out on our journey back to Colombo.
This Week Without Walls was extremely enjoyable as it was a trip where we did a mosaic of activities ranging from photography to hiking to bird watching. Although I had been Anuradhapura before going to the same area with a camera in hand created a different experience altogether.
Learning outcomes
Challenge and skills
As mentioned before my week without walls trip focused on replicating culture through art. While my initial idea was to do sketches of the area I found it difficult to create good pieces within the limited time constraints so I shifted my medium to photography. Having never actually done photography before the trip was a great opportunity to develop my photography skills. Although my pictures may not be the best quality this trip gave me the motivation and initiative to continue working on my photography.
Initiative and planning
Planning our service activity was done across two sessions. I could attribute the success of the SOS visit us being well planned out and organized
Recognize the ad consider the ethics of choices and actions
When working with the kids we had responsibility for what said to not bringing about uncomfortable topics like family. We also had to ensure that we made all the kids feel included in the activities Safety was also very important in the evening to ensure that there were injuries within the day.
Comments
This is a nice post Ashvini and it is good to see you exploring the medium of photography. The pictures are coming along. Now you need to develop a signature that you can overlay on the images. Can you consider sharing some of your sketches in this space? The links to the CAS learning outcomes are appreciated.