Indiana Buddhist Temple - Kathina Ceremony 2010

Indiana Buddhist temple is located in Fort Wayne, northern Indiana. It is the place where all Sri Lankan Buddhist people in Indiana gather for special events like Sinhala New Year, Wesak...etc.  Though it takes a 3 and half hr drive from Bloomington, IN to the temple, Buddhist people here in Bloomington pay regular visits to the temple for special events and alms givings.  Actually it is the only Sri Lankan Buddhist temple in Indiana state.

There are two monks, Ven Thalangama Devananda and Ven Neluwe Seelawimala devoted to the temple, serving their best to Indiana Buddhist people. There was a Kathina ceremony, which is an annual event,  in last October (2010)  following the traditions of  Buddhism. So it was the second time me and my husband visited the Indiana temple. Last time we visited there for a personal alms giving. Anyway it was so eventful this time because of the Kathina ceremony.

The very first event was a "Pindapatha ceremony" (alms round), which is one of the fading Buddhist traditions in Sri Lanka these days. In ancient days, monks used to walk in a line carrying alms bowls to get meals from laypeople. That's how the monks got their breakfast. This method has been followed by the Sri Lankan Buddhist monks till the 1950s. So this event was a good opportunity to experience it, though we served dry food and goods instead of meals.

Next event was an unveiling of a "Bosath" statue in the temple premises. It was a really nice event with all the Pirith chantings and some other chantings by Vietnam bhikkunis.

Then there was the alms giving. After the lunch all got dressed for the Kathina perahara(Procession). The tradition is to have this event before the sun rise but here it has been adjusted in a way that comfortable with everyone. Normally people carry the Kathina cloth in the procession for the religious devotions of laypeople, and arrive at the temple before the sun rise. Then they set the cloth up in a frame called Kathina and make the kathina civara(robe)  by sewing and coloring. This robe is offered to Maha Sangha (normally to the eldest monk who spent the rainy season according to the traditions) by the laypeople. However we can't do all those thing here in USA. So they take a ready made robe and carry it in the procession as Kathina civara. It is considered that this ceremony is the religious event from which we can get the most merits for the life, or afterlife.

We should be really thankful to the two monks who continue these valuable religious events , for trying their best to serve the Buddhist people in Indiana and Buddhism itself. Indiana Buddhist Temple is open for anyone regardless of their religion or nationality. They can participate for the meditation classes too. It was nice to see that many Americans participating the Kathina ceremony.

Habitat for Humanity

First, I'd tell what these Habitat people do. They build cost effective houses for families who live in inadequate houses. The family should pay back the material cost (no-profit mortgage / no-interest loans) but there is no labor cost as the labor is provided by volunteers. Some companies like Whirlpool make donations for habitat constructions to reduce the material cost. This organization (Habitat for Humanity) is a worldwide organization which does constructions in regions of Asia, Middle east & Africa, United States, Latin America  and Canada.

So..do people volunteer? Of course. The ideal work groups are teams from private companies, Student groups, scouts, etc. People from our work place participated in this last week, as a team building activity. The construction site we worked on belongs to Habitat of  Monroe county. There were three houses being constructed. Our people worked on installing insulation, pantry cabinets and trimming the ceilings and walls. Also, we had to organize two trailers full of power tools, nail buckets, concrete, I'd say everything needed for constructions. Well it was not that easy. Had to grab all those out and reorganize. But volunteers normally don't feel that way. They volunteer expecting nothing but satisfaction. At least, that's what I got.

I think people should be informed about this organization. Honestly I didn't know about this till I come to US. I wonder why we didn't know about  Habitat in Sri Lanka.  Why many of  private companies organize  team building events spending/wasting enormous amount of money? I'd rather give a hand for this at least once coz what you get at the end is lot more worthy.

Fight poverty - Build hope !!!

Our First Car

We bought our first car in last September. It's a 2006 Lexus. We have been in car hunting for couple of months and finally ended up with this :)

Hambantota Harbor Opening - New Era Begins in Sri Lanka

15th Aug, 2010 is a historical day for Sri Lanka. The water-filling ceremony of Hambantota Harbor was held in the morning of this historical day.

The constructions started based on an idea of president Mahinda Rajapakshe, in January 2008. This is the second largest harbor in Sri Lanka. The fact that made this idea a brilliant one is, the economical importance of the location. Hambantota is very closed to a key international shipping route which connects Asia and Europe. The main intention of building this harbor to provide services and resources for ships which use this international shipping route. As estimations show the number of ships that use this shipping line is about 36000 annually. So it is apparent that this would be a great source of income for Sri Lanka.

President Mahinda Rajapakshe poured the first drop of sea water into the tank  on the auspicious moment, with the Buddhist religious blessing.   I used to live in Hambantota for sometime when I was a kid. My father, Jayasiri Ruwanpathirana worked as the divisional secretariat of Hambantota. So it is a great pleasure to see the area is being developed. I still remember the calm little harbor which was near the district secretariat office. I wonder how it'll look like when I get back to SL. I just can't wait :)

Anyhow it seems like a new era begins with a revolution in development. It is a certain fact that there will be an economic revolution after a war in a country. I wish it should be the same for my country too. In Sri Lankan history, great kings are defined as the kings who protect and develop the country. Both of these tasks should be accomplished by a king to be a great king. I believe this is the our president's second phase of the path of being a great king, after completing first phase by defeating Tamil tiger terrorists. No matter what he has done in the past or who he used to be, his name is already included in great kings list. Everyone has black and white spots...so is a president, but does anybody question how many black spots were there in King Dutugemunu's character?  Who cares...so no doubt the future generations will consider president Mahinda Rajapakshe as a "great king".

Trip to Chicago

This trip was organized in a rush, in last spring (2010).  Covered Shedd aquarium, Willis tower, Fields museum and Adler planetarium. Anyway this trip was kind of ruined by the mist.

Here is the link for Trip to Chicago in my travel blog.

Cure for Dengue - Papaya Leaves

Good news on Dengue cure.

This is for Sinhala readers only - Dengue cure.

Working Parallely with KFS and IFRI

I was working on IFRI as a summer employee when I get a permanent position in Kuali Financial Systems(KFS).

IFRI(International Forestry Resources and Institutions) is a research group which focuses on how institutions and governance arrangements shape forest use and management outcomes. I was assigned to solve problems in their huge database and data entry application, by Professor Beth Plale. While working there, I got the rare chance of working with a noble price winner: Elinor Ostrom.

However I was still working on IFRI when I get the full time job. Therefore I couldn't leave IFRI at once to join with Kuali. Anyhow I was able to negotiate with both parties and to get permission to work half time for both till the summer ends.

Now I am working for Kuali in the morning and for IFRI in the afternoon. It's a bit different experience but interesting.

Trip to Tennessee

It was our first trip in US. I thought to start a separate travel blog for US trips rather than including those here. This is the link for Trip to Tennessee.

Missing Sinhala Newyear for the First Time

Sinhala new year is the favorite festival of most Sri Lankans and I am one of them. According to the traditional calendar, April(Bak in Sinhala) is the first month of the year. The auspicious time is defined when the Sun moves from house of Pisces (Meena raashiya) to house of Aries (Mesha raashiya). Spring begins....Paddies make harvest.....Koha starts singing....buds become flowers.....Simply, the nature's heart is blooming.

So this is the first time we (Saliya and me) are missing it. We both celebrated the last new year with our own families.  We used to play Panchi in many newyear times. It was a one hell of a fun time. Everyone (male, female, old, young no matter what) was participating. No words to say how much I miss it. I miss my beloved Aththamma who always volunteers to resolve disputes in a way that makes everyone (in her team) happy :)).  I miss our Loku nenda and Maama, who quarrel like kids as they were always separated into two teams :). I miss my mother, father who join us mainly to catch cheaters, so my father never gets caught ;). I miss my brothers, cousin brothers and sisters who make the game a funny mess. They must be having the fun without me this time. Hmm no......they can't do the same without their pebble moving genius :D

Think my brothers are enjoying the sweets and fire crackers alone this time (the cracker thief is missing). Cleaning the oil lamp, grating coconut for kiribath and organizing the Aurudu table are the tasks which should be accomplished by someone else this time. Anyone is welcome to light up the vacant slot of the oil lamp too. I imagine my father, announcing the time second by second to amma, who is preparing for the auspicious time near the fire place. It is the time all five of us get together to observe the milk pot till it overflows. Finally, I really miss our funny little Aurudu trip with cousins.

After all this is the first new year we (me and my husband) spend together. Isn't that great? We will celebrate it at our best though we are not in our home country. We wish a happy and prosperous Sinhala new year to every Sri Lankan.

My Sinhala Poems

I thought to make an online archive of my Sinhala Poems. Those were written sometime back and now it is hard to find many of those as they were kept here and there.  So I thought it is worth keeping atleast the remainings in an accessible place :)

This idea came to me after seeing Tharindu's blog, in which he has kept his creations. Thanks to him I am having an online archive of my poems now. Also, thanks to Saminda I am typing Sinhala well now:). He has implemented a Sinhalaadd-on for firefox too.

62nd Independence day - Sri Lanka

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We, Sri lankans celebrated our 62nd independence day on 4th Feb 2010.  We achieved  independence and self rule from the British empire 62 years ago (in 1948). This is considered as a remarkable milestone of Sri Lankan history as the country (or a part of  it) was always under some foreign custody since 1505 A.D.

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1505 - Portuguese come in

1660 - Dutch take over the control

1802 - British get the Dutch controlled areas

1815 - British take the control of whole island by defeating last kingdom (Kandy) of the country

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4th Feb 1948 is the day we got the full political freedom after about three and half centuries. So no doubt it is a glorious day we should celebrate. However this time independence day celebration was very much special. Actually it was a celebration of real independence after 30 years of war(people like me who were born in the era of war, had not ever witnessed a real independence). It was the first independence day celebration after defeating Tamil tiger terrorist group (LTTE) which is responsible for 30 year war in Sri Lanka. The day the LTTE leader "Velupille Prabhakaran" was killed (18th May 2009), should be the second independence day of Sri Lanka.

Deviating from the tradition, this independence day celebration was held in Kandy,  being the last sovereign kingdom of the country, seems to be the most suitable place for the purpose.