We went with Elizabeth to visit the Kelaniya Temple, the second busiest Buddhist Temple in Sri Lanka.  It was a quiet Friday afternoon when we visited.  Elizabeth had hoped to hand a copy of Fr. Aloysius' latest pamphlet to the senior Thero (monk), a friend of his.  Unfortunately, he was out but we did meet a young monk from Bangladesh who spoke good English and who, like so many young people, wanted to pursue his studies abroad.

The temple boasts a particularly fine Bodhi tree around which many devotees meditate, pray, eat and chat.

Part of the temple was constructed in the nineteenth century and inside the walls are decorated with probably the finest murals in Sri Lanka.  They are reproduced on postcards and in books.  This scene shows Portuguese invaders in the sixteenth century destroying the Kelaniya Temple.  So the temple we see is a relatively new one on an ancient site.

Talking of western encounters with Buddhism, Elizabeth donated a copy of her last book, "Theravada Buddhism and the British Encounter: Religious, Missionary and Colonial Experience in Nineteenth Century Sri Lanka" (2006) to the TCL library.  We are the first borrowers and can confirm that it is a very interesting read indeed.  Here Elizabeth and Rosemary pose by the Kelani River that passes behind the temple.  School children are going for a boat ride.