Source

BATTICALOA, SRI LANKA, January 6, 2004: Patrick Harrigan of the Kataragama Pada Yatra organization in Sri Lanka has posted photos of the devastation in Batticaloa. He writes, “Just now I am uploading files to the Kataragama Pada Yatra web site (“source”) taken today south of Batticaloa. I was anxious to see the condition of the Kalladi Tiruchendur Murugan Temple. The devastation in Kalladi is the worst I have seen anywhere on the east coast, perhaps because Kalladi is a densely populated suburb of Batticaloa, where houses and temples where built directly upon beach frontage facing the full brunt of the tsunami. The devastation at Kalladi is as though it was situated near ground zero of a watery nuclear bomb. The Kalladi Tiruchendur Murugan Temple, I am sorry to say, has been completely destroyed. There was no loss of life within the temple premises, but I am told that 800 perished in Kalladi alone.”

Post Views: 578