Art and Beauty in Coastal Sri Lanka

Its always a pleasure when dear friends travel and bring their memories live and share with you, isnt it?How happy are you to see the images and enjoy them.This was the perfect time for my dear friend Ambika  to travel to SriLanka coz i am head over heels in love with Srilanka :)- with  Geoffrey Bawa :)-

An amazing tour she did with whatever little time she got and has captured the essence of SriLanka in her gorgeous images..

 Ambika creates art wonderfully,she is a blogger and blogs at "My Sunny yellow Window".She also shares DIY'S,Decor ideas and travel stories..

Shall let Ambika speak now...

“Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller” and I couldn’t agree more with Ibn Batuta.

While noting the striking resemblance of Sri Lanka to India, there were some stark differences too - the cleanliness and aesthetics of the general public in Sri Lanka are many notches above.

Four days in the island nation whizzed past and I have just photographs as memoirs. A few among them are special to me, and I wish to share them with the readers of Celebrations Decor. Without further ado, I will let my pictures do justice..

Lotus picking for the boutique hotels

Red and whites swim around to add fragrance  to the decor

nooks of the lovely home stay

Inside the home stay

nooks and corners

lovely corners

charming office of the idle bikes at Unawatuna

at the beach side

outside galle fort

an antique store

shadow play in a Dutch Bungalow converted to a heritage resort

beautiful tiles

light streams in

the old rusted signboards stole the heart

gorgeous windows at the JApanese peace pagoda

painting at the ambalangoda mask factory

portuguese tiles and clock

Batik painting in progess

sculptures in tune with the surroundings

travel photographs framed by a dutch door

sun shining down on the Nooit Gedacht Heritage Hotel

I thank Ambika for accepting the offer to write and share images which she very readily did..Thanks  for the collaboration..Hope to do more in future.

All Photographs  courtesy Ambika Sudhakaran..please ask before reusing them..do not copy nor steal

Rajakkad Estate - Dindigul, Palani hills

The fragrant Dianthus and Arijit Singh's voice as I sit here happily getting embalmed in the memories of a beautiful travel...

Searching for something in particular and drifting away from it and finally landing up somewhere else:)- it has always happened to me. Search Engines do a wonderful travel therapy by not letting us move an inch and already we would have travelled  miles away..isnt it? It was that  kind of a day when I did a virtual


 travel to Munnar:)- searching for places to stay and landing up in "Rajakkad Estate". Falling in love at first sight:)- Not realising how many hours to drive, I had already fallen in love with this place. The traditional looks, the courtyards, the ambience, the simplicity and warmth of the place struck a chord.. I would repeat it a hundred times..if I ever build a house it would be in terms of this concept of flowing and connecting spaces. This Concept based on the Great Master Architect, my inspiration  "Geoffrey Bawa"!

Time for travelling during summer vacations has always been kept aside. This time it wasn't different either. A long tour which started from Trivandrum to Kochi and ended in the Palani hills.. Beautiful ghat roads through the tea estates, rains and finally the forests, winding paths and then on to Kumily, Thekkady and finally to the plains of Tamilnadu, Theni and then up the hills of Palani. The trip could have been planned from Trivandrum  via Madurai  and then to Palani Hills as well. That would have taken less time and effort. But the landscape is quite different the former way. The rains were a constant phenomenon during the travel and so we enjoyed it much more than usual.

No words is enough to describe a place like that.. You have to see it to believe it.. The Rajakkad Garden Estate. We indeed travelled, drove lots and were really tired by the time we started the climb up the Palani Hills. We were travelling for nearly nine hours at a stretch by the time we started climbing and were quite unprepared for the climb. Hesitantly we made calls to the hotel and were informed we were on the right track and then we needed to climb:)-At first there were growing shrubs and then the forest thickens and thickens.. Not even a person in sight and not even a vehicle on the way and then suddenly there wasn't any space for another vehicle also.. And then finally after a drive of 45 minutes we started passing through clusters of houses and then saw the board "Manjelparappu". We turned left and through the stony path we drove through the coffee plantations and  we reached the place. It left us astounded and amazed seeing the beautiful traditional structure atop a small hill. I really couldn't believe when they said this building had been rebuilt for the third time here. Its traditional architecture, the wooden pillars, the Mangalore tiled roofs, the simple black oxide floors, the Samarkand Carpets and so much more... The eye for detailing is evident. Of all the things what I loved most was the courtyards.. two of which were filled with water, fishes and plants.. exactly the one in my dreams.. am i a dream chaser.. i think so:)-

Rajakkad's Pallam Palace began life in a very different environment. It settles now with quiet authority upon its hill, having found its way here. Twice dismantled, twice transported, twice re-assembled, a living testimony to its wondrous construction.

Rajakkad would not have taken quite the same path without the considerable input and sensitive eye of Pio Coffrant, of the Rose Hotel, in Delhi and the exuberant spirit of Agathe Gaillard, who has established the Maison Rose, in Pondicherri.(Text courtesy... hotel site)

We lazed around.. lying on the green grass, went for endless walks.. yes with a ten month old in hand.. thats the spirit.. Thoughts of going to the close by Kodaikanal were there in the mind.. but we didn't budge from there. Scared  of losing a minute there and also the sight of light falling in the courtyards.. I just sat with my camera :)-can you all imagine..

interiors

light as you enter

reflecting pools

outdoors

flowing spaces

of Mangalore tiled roofs

the view

open courtyards

flowing spaces and corridors

cool granites

terracota floors

inside out from the room

  

black oxide floors and shadows

bamboos ..and colocasias

thoughts of Geoffrey Bawa

shadows and reflections

the detailing on the doors

courtyards and plants

from our room...

the room 

twinkling fairy lights

thoughts of coming back...pensive thoughts

Images and Ideas Conceived ...Lakshmi Arvind
Please don't copy images or use them in other sites without permission..

Tales of an Ancient town-The Jew Town

A Tryst with monsoon every year at the sweet  spice smelling Jew street .I really don't know what's the strong force that takes me back there every year.

Getting lost in those lanes and antiques every year.  Is it my fascination for all that is old or the love for the small streets.Running in  and out of those antique shops,a child like.This year was not different either..Being a regular even they look forward to see me every year and that i have many friends out there in Jew street.

Small old dilapidated buildings,air filled with the biting aromas of ginger,cardamom,cumin, turmeric  and cloves,those winding lanes of Synagogue filled with scores of antique stores and that is Jew Street for me ..and i love them to every bit..

To walk in those lanes and to get wet, a dream come true,the never ending journeys of a lifetime..with Jew street.

as we drove along the main spice market

running colours and closed windows

flower oils and attar bottles

beautiful houses

curio shops

its all beautiful

looking on to the streets

knobs in the brightest designs

old clay dolls,way too pricey

antiques and look alikes

combinations are perfect

light was just awesome

old clocks on the walls

azolla in big cement pots

pretty and lady like

eyes are bright...

in the prayers

on to the lane which goes to the synagogue

all old houses

curio shops

synagogue lane

typical tourist bargain

its all on the walls