Ingiriya (AFP) – The alms bowl, or “paathra”, is a symbol of monks, yet in Sri Lanka, artisans are struggling as cheap substitutes flood the market, igniting a debate over Buddhist tradition and quality. Thenuwara Badalge Sarath says he is the only blacksmith left in a village that once supplied much of the country. “Prices of raw materials have gone up,” he says. “But the bigger disaster is the cheap aluminum alms bowls that are coming from abroad.”
