In this “Behind the Scenes” update, we’re sharing the special blessing ceremony that marked the beginning of our construction. Starting any construction is a special moment, and in South Sri Lanka, it holds even greater significance with a unique blessing ceremony for the groundbreaking. This marks the official handover of the site to the constructor and the initiation of foundation laying.
As Europeans, we didn’t expect much from the ceremony, but the experience surpassed our expectations, evoking emotions throughout. Two Buddhist monks led the ceremony, arriving in tuktuks and accompanied by a few others. A few days before, workers dug a deep hole, and our partners set up two tents to provide shade for the monks during the ceremony. Parts of the site were ringed by white strings blessed by the monks, and in the corners stood small “birdhouses” illuminated with lights.
On the ceremony day, about 20 people, including the entire Sola team, architects, and constructors, gathered. The monks’ chants filled the air as we stood in a half-circle, holding a white string throughout the entire
Midway through the ceremony (during which the monks had been chanting all time), we were invited to approach the monk, who handed each of us a foundation stone, one by one. Guided by the monks’ voices, we placed these stones in the construction’s initial hole. Workers mixed the cement for the stones by hand, only using soil sourced from our land.
At the end of the ceremony we’ve got a part of the white string we had been holding, tied around our wrist – a buddhist ritual that accompanies significant events. To express our gratitude, we presented umbrellas and sandals to the monks. The entire ceremony lasted just over an hour.
Following the ceremony, our architects treated us to a Sri Lanka typical lunch buffet, featuring spicy sambol, various cakes, fruits, and non-alcoholic beverages. With a lot of leftovers, we extended the joy by inviting our neighbors and workers to take the extra goodies home with them
Following the blessing ceremony and as the monks departed on their tuktuks, the remainder of the day was dedicated to finalizing the property’s layout with our architects on-site. This involved reaching a final agreement on the precise positions of each building, including the pavilion, pool, all eight lodges, and the staff house. Although we had been thinking about these locations since the start of the design phase 10 months ago, this day marked the crucial decision-making point. The architects had already marked different locations on the land and even arranged a movable scaffold to assess various views. It took until sunset, but we successfully reached consensus on all locations, bringing us closer to the construction phase.
The conclusion of the blessing ceremony also signaled the start of “construction” or, more specifically, the mobilization phase, which spans about two weeks. During this interim period between completing construction documents and initiating construction, the constructor organizes everything to kickstart the building process. This includes administrative tasks like securing bank guarantees, listing workers, ordering initial materials and machines, establishing infrastructure, and ensuring the provision of electricity on-site.
Additionally, the constructor sets up temporary accommodation, toilets, and office buildings. While the use of containers for temporary offices is common in the western world, the constructor in Sri Lanka goes a step further by constructing proper houses from the ground up, complete with a solid foundation slab, windows, air conditioning, kitchen, and more. It is common in Sri Lanka for some workers (or in shifts) to sleep at the construction site during the build
Mobilization also involves excavation work and leveling the land. Given our elevated land with lodges spread across 12,500 square meters, extensive excavation work was necessary and took two weeks to completion. This process also included the transplantation of coconut trees that we wished to preserve.
Starting the construction phase brings us immense joy, especially considering our journey since acquiring the land nearly two years ago.
