Leaving for Sri Lanka in a week's time and realized that we will be in Kandy during the next Poya day. Are there anything special or of note taking place during this time? Are there any Buddhist services taking place that are open to tourists and / or foreign worshippers?

There are many temples all around Sri Lanka and they are all active and have special services, chanting of "pirith" etc on poya days. The poya day is the full moon day and is a national holiday. On the poya day one can see many devout buddhists dressed in sombre whites flocking towards temples.

The 5th March poya is the Medin poya. There is a small newspaper article about the significance of this poya which can be found here

http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_...de_title=75513

I am sure the Temple of the sacred tooth in Kandy will be very busy with devotees on this day.

If you are a drinker, just be aware that restaurants don't sell alcohol on Poya days. You can probably get a drink at your hotel though...

Mohammed, thank you. Appreciate the info.

Craig, I do enjoy a drink or two with my meals, but I usually refrain from alcohol on full moon and new moon days (I'm Buddhist).

Have a wonderful trip -- I'm already looking forward to the future trip report, which will definitely be going into the "saved" file.

Paule

It will be special to be in Kandy on a Poya day!

Enjoy your trip.

Thank you Paule and Kathie. I may experiment with doing the trip report along the way, to help with some of the details; no promises though. I leave in six days...

Hi just a thought, I recall earlier in your thread you were planning to fly from Mattala Airport (Hambantota) to Colombo hope you are aware that Mattala Airport has been since virtually closed down and most regular flights in and out of there are now cancelled.

Thanks Mohammed. I have not taken a look at my airline tickets in the last couple of months, and did not receive any notice that something is out of order. Will check.

Oh yes please do check it and also see this article

http://www.news.lk/news/business/ite...attala-airport


Incase your flight has been affected don't fret over it.

Driving from Yala to the airport is about 5 hours with the new expressway via Matara.

If necessary you can consider a last night closer somewhere depending on the departure time of your flight.

Thank you again Mohammed. Appreciate the information you provided. I just checked our reservations, and as suspected, our flight from Hambantota to Colombo is now cancelled. I've contacted SriLankan Airlines for a response and have asked BSL to take us straight to the airport from Yala.