Elephants seemed to be venerated. It seemed strange to me. Inside the temple there was a big Elephants head and huge stuffed elephant.
Outside, in a tiny pen, they had a young elephant chained up so that it could hardly move. It seemed a very unbuddhist type of thing to do.
The poor elephant looked half-crazed and was exhibiting all manner of disturbed behaviour.
Our next port of call was the Buddhist temple of Gangaramaya.
Outside the florists sold their flowers as offerings.
Inside it was like a museum of porcelain Buddhas.
The wood carvings on the panelling were delightful.
The monks were very friendly.
Like most Buddhist temples, it had a serene feel to it – though this was far busier than many I have been to.
