R. Doug Wicker — Author

The Buddhist Gangarama Temple features an eclectic blending of Sri Lankan, Indian (of course), Thai, and Chinese architecture. Construction began in 1885, but nowhere can I find a specific year of completion. All that’s mentioned is that it was finished sometime in “the late 19th century.” Odd record keeping, but there you have it. The temple was founded by Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera, a Buddhist monk and the founder of Sri Lanka’s Vidyodaya Pirivena monastic college. While Ursula went inside, I photographed the exterior. After that it was time for tea, but we’ll get to that adventure in a moment. For now, here is a photo gallery/slide show of the temple:

Next stop, before heading back to Celebrity Millennium, was to a very famous Colombo destination. It was high time for high tea… just a tad early. At any rate, we and other tour groups descended upon:

This 5-star wonder is one of the oldest hotels east of the Suez Canal. Situated on the Galle Face Green, a 12-acre/5-hectare ocean-fronting park, the immense Galle Face Hotel is a sight to behold:

Just to the north you’ll catch a glimpse of a sight I showed you on Monday, the Lotus Tower:

This week’s Fun Photo Friday concludes Sri Lanka. After that it’s on to India. But for now, let us head inside for some refreshments:

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Last week I showed you the Colombo National Museum, also known as the Sri Lanka National Museum. For a refresher see: Sri Lanka — Arriving to Colombo; Colombo National Museum and Sri Lanka — Colombo; Exploring the Colombo National Museum. Today I’m going to treat you to an extensive tour of the remarkable sights around the museum grounds to the south of the main entrance. After that, I’ll finish with two photographs of Colombo’s interesting skyline. So, let’s get started:

There is a lot of statuary awaiting you and your camera. Here is a sitting Buddha beneath what appears to be a bodhi tree:

A fun photographic subject here is, of course, the magnificent Italian architectural details of the museum building itself.

The vegetation on the grounds is quite photogenic as well. Alas, I’ve no idea what type of tree this is:

But the things I kept returning to were the statues:

Here are a couple of zoomed in photos of the above statues:

One more shot of the museum grounds before I leave you with two Colombo skyline shots:

About thirty minutes after we left the Colombo National Museum we arrived Gangarama Temple. While Ursula went inside, I stayed across the street to photograph the exterior of the temple, which I’ll show you on Wednesday. But while I was out there, I snagged these next two fun skyline shots. This first one features the Courtyard by Marriott Colombo with the unique slope-towered Altair behind. The Altair is also the tallest inclined building in the world:

This next building has a bit of a story to it. This is the uppermost part of the famous Lotus Tower. This free-standing tower rises 1,153 feet/351.5 meters. That makes Lotus Tower the largest self-supported tower in South Asia. Completed in 2019, it cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $110 million.

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