Colombo Zoo

Click above to view photos from the Colombo Zoo, in Colombo, Sri Lanka

The zoo was pretty large, well laid out and had a wide variety of animals. I liked how the concrete/artificial aspects seemed minimal, i'm not sure if this was done on purpose but the abundance of vegetation gave it a less 'artificial' feel than some western zoos. There weren't many people there the day we went but that might have been because of the bad weather.

Zoos in the west have tried to move away from their traditional role - exhibiting exotic animals for public entertainment. Now they're more focused on things like education, research, repopulation and conservation. As far as I could tell, the Colombo Zoo wasn't that interested in education; most exhibits had species' names but nothing beyond that. I can't speak to their research or conservation activities but there wasn't any mention of that anywhere.

The facilities for the animals ranged in quality: the sloth bear and the chimps had large, open 'habitats'. The big cats were all crammed into small cages and they looked overweight and bored. The asian elephants are the most popular draw at the zoo, they have a structure built in a central location where people sat and watched them. I'm not sure why we sat and watched them, they weren't doing what elephants do in the wild. They were chained to columns and stood in place swaying from side to side. Once a day they're taken for a walk. The conditions of the elephants could stand to improve a great deal.

Anyways, the Zoo is a good place to spend half a day when you're in Colombo. I wish I had gone on one of the wildlife tours that are available in Sri Lanka. The island has a vast amount of diverse wildlife and I think I would have preferred to see it in the wild.

LTTE Cemetery (Updated)

Click above to view photos from an LTTE cemetery in Jaffna.

I was told there are over a dozen more cemeteries identical to this one in other parts of northern and eastern Sri Lanka. I'm not sure how many bodies are buried here but there are obviously many.

There is a stage on the opposite end to the entrance gates where commemoration ceremonies are held yearly. As you'll see from the photos, there has been a lot of care put into the creation and upkeep of this cemetery.

Update: August 16, 2005

Ram left a few questions in the comment section and I thought I would answer them here. I should have covered this in the original post anyway.

These cemetaries were established and are maintained by the Tigers as burial sites for their dead, as they say on their website:

The cemetery is called "Thuyilum Illam" using the concept that they are sown and are resting. The cemeteries are well maintained under the care of cadres.

Christiana Natali wrote an informative paper on the cemeteries that provides some insight into their purpose and functions:

The Tiger's cemeteries are indeed called Tuillum Illam, literally "Sleeping houses", and are often portrayed as temples.

The LTTE is a secular organization but up until the early 90s it seems that dead cadres (called Maaveerar - Great Heros) were all cremated according to Hindu practice. In the early 90s this was changed to burial in the Thuyilum Illum. Natali quotes an LTTE authority who says that this change occured in order to satisfy the families of Muslim and Christian cadres whose practice it was to bury the dead.

Natali also believes that the use of these graveyards, similar in style to those used by militaries in the west, helps to confer legitimacy to the LTTE. The Tigers are often dismissed or denounced as unthinking, purposeless terrorists; established memorials help to combat that view.

She finds that the reasons for the change differ depending on who you ask. One line of reasoning cites the permanence of the cemetaries and their role as places of remembrance. Cremation doesn't leave any tangible, visible evidence of those who have passed, burial does.

Natali finds that the cemetaries serve other functions as well:

The Maaveerar are celebrated on November 27th, officially remembered as the day in which the first Tiger died. In this day the LTTE pay honours to their dead fighters all over the world ... in Sri Lanka the ceremonies take place in the Tuillum Illam.

[LTTE Leader] Prabhakaran's yearly speech is delivered and broadcast through loudspeakers in all Tuillum Illam.

The article goes on to discuss how the practice of burial is rationalized with the opposing beliefs of Hinduism and the explanation for these seemingly religious sites within a secular organization.

In the past I have heard other reasons for the LTTE's practice of burial over cremation. One explanation draws on the symbolic nature of burial; it creates an explicit link with the physical land, which is what the conflict is all about. A second reason i've heard is that pre-Hindu Dravidians also buried the dead and the Tiger's, for whatever reason, wanted to return to this practice. I'm not sure how accurate this is though.