Raditha’s Photos

Torque Monkeys. They are endemic to Sri Lanka and their numbers are dwindling fast. Sri Lanka’s population is overwhelmingly Buddhist. The Buddhist literature tells us of how the Lord Buddha appeared in previous incarnations as a monkey (eg VĀNARINDA-JĀTAKA.).

What does the average Sri Lankan do when they come across Torque Monkeys? throw rocks at them and light fire-crackers to scare them away. In some extreme case they are fed fruits laced with poison or shot with Air Rifles. So unwittingly perhaps these Sinhala Buddists are behaving like Devadatta