by Anura Guruge

> >> Construction RESTARTED! << <<

Partly constructed tree will be lit Christmas Eve, 2016.

Refer to this post.

Click here to access original from Sri Lanka “Daily News”
from August 20, 2016.

Click to ENLARGE and enjoy here.

It was this effort to ban Christmas trees
in Catholic Churches last Christmas
that has motivated this desire to raise the
tallest Christmas tree in Sri Lanka.

Click here to access the “National Post” original.

Click to ENLARGE and scan here.

Tallest Christmas tree to-date. 361.25 feet, in Mexico City, in 2013. From the “NAM News Agency“.
Click image below to ENLARGE.

My attempt to show YOU the scale.

This is SO quintessentially Sri Lankan. I love it. This was a country that in the 1960s did away with the Western ‘Sunday/Monday …’ calendar and went with a phases of the moon based one. A proudly democratic nation that tried to nationalize the press! Stuff like this is good to show that the once well known national trait for ‘sloth’ is now (hopefully) history.

We celebrated Christmas when I lived in Ceylon. My surrogate father, with whom I spent ‘half my time’ (and most of weekends and holidays) was a well to do, childless lawyer. He was also a Baptist Burgher (i.e., a white European descendent living in Ceylon). I always got pillowcases full of Christmas presents from him (the husband of my eldest aunt) and they always threw a gala Christmas lunch — with imported lamb from New Zealand — for the rest of the family. But I can’t remember having a Christmas tree at his house. I had another aunty, another baptist, who I think did have one at her lavish, government provided residence. Her husband, my uncle, was the Municipal Commissioner for Colombo. No matter. This is a GREAT idea.

As an out-and-out pagan I am all in favor. Yes, we all know that Christmas trees have nothing to do with Christianity. They have all to do with paganism, eternal life (i.e., evergreen) and SOL (i.e., the Sun (King)). I think it is a great idea. Bravo. Kudos. Sri Lankans should think of it as they do ‘Sunday’. It is in HONOR of MY Sun God (Sol).

Not sure that ‘Galle Face’ (a place that we used to go at least once a week) is a good place for a Christmas Tree — though the symbolism of having the Sun set, majestically, into the Indian Ocean, behind the tree can’t be beat. I think the salty wind and the HEAT of Sri Lanka will do a job on the poor tree. But I look forward to seeing this happen.

Thank YOU, Sri Lanka.

That the ‘Tanned Ratziner‘, Sri Lanka’s often misguided cardinal TRIED (not that successfully from what I see) to ban Christmas trees is also classic Sri Lankan. Ranjith, Ranjith, Ranjith. You have to chill out, man.

Three Comments re. the picture at top of a guy in a sarong trying to dig a hole.

1. Why aren’t there are ANY females in this picture. Sri Lanka’s GREATEST achievement was that it was the 1st country in the world to have an ELECTED Female Prime Minister, my ‘aunty’ Bandaranaike.
2. You can’t dig a hole for a 400′ Christmas tree using a shovel. Get an excavator.
3. Couldn’t help but notice the ‘Dahl (lentil) Bellies’ on all the ‘older’ men. This is the problem with Ceylon’s white rice and dahl based diet. Goes right to the waist.

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by Anura Guruge