Moonstone of Sri Lanka documentary of Patrick Voillot

at the dawn of time in the south of the island of Salem where Buddha chose to spread his doctrine a moon like stone occurred in the bowels of the earth legend has it that on a night when the moon was full its beams transform themselves into a shimmering gemstone with magical properties [Music] in this region in the month of August the inhabitants invoke the monsoon rains through a spectacular pageant called the para era brain is a source of life and when the moon is full the gemstone exposed to its gentle rays attracts water at the same time in the minds of media gora the moon stones are regenerated [Music] [Music] a doctor at the court of false waapahh me a possessed a magic moonstone its shimmer reflected the different phases of the Moon the cutting edge has to be perpendicular that the shimmer definitely oh follow [Music] the gem cutter chooses the cutting angle that will set off the stone to its best advantage there can you see the bluish shimmer shimmering gems like the moonstone have different reflections according to the play of light [Music] this is what's known as a rough cut the cabochon is a smooth dome shape without facets which maximizes the gems shimmering effect [Music] [Music] it enables the fullest expression of the moonstones glow for centuries travellers and merchants have brought stones back from sri lanka already in the 13th century Marco Polo became an ambassador of the great calm in order to be able to trade in gemstones this island said in the Indian Ocean close to India has a majority population of Sinhalese mainly Buddhist forever in conflict with a minority population of Hindu Tamils the Muslim population which comprises only 7% of the 18 million inhabitants holds the key positions in commerce and mining in the fifth century King casaba had a fortress built on the rock of sigiriya as a refuge for himself after killing his father to distract himself he held sumptuous feasts where the female dancers were richly adorned with jewels and precious stones he reigned for 18 years before killing himself after being dethroned by his half-brother the city of pelone Arava is one of the stopping off points on the moonstone route what sort of stone is it it's a moonstone moonstone yes a genuine one yes a genuine wanted okay let's see when you're right it doesn't burn using the flame tests to ascertain whether or not a stone is genuine is useless here as these synthetic materials have a very high melting point how much 400 these moon stones are fake and are made to take in the tourists a Ratna pura is the major gem trading city of Sri Lanka situated in the heart of the island's wealthiest province it's name means city of precious stones every morning at a busy market part of the region's stone production is bought and sold here moon stones as well as sapphires rubies zircons and garnets are the treasures offered by the traders who were exclusively men and Muslim for the most part yes okay you can go okay [Music] Sunil has been a gem trader for over 20 years his best deals are made directly on the mine site he sometimes sells stones for other dealers in exchange for a commission but earns more selling on his own account [Music] this is no place for amateurs here buyers are put to the test this moonstone is a doublet a piece of transparent ports which has been stuck on a thin slice of moonstone in order to obtain a bluish the gem cutter cuts the two stones in cabochon while taking care to place their junction point on a ridge which renders the soldered joints less visible this ruse is difficult to detect once the stone is mounted how many car you have moonstone did we find moonstone in this area no yes I probably find one no no no okay and yellow sapphire Oh a lot of stone are burning yeah no yeah in return for their Angelus when meeting a buyer for the first time it's common for dealers to offer fake stones as a means of testing the buyers knowledge and thus the possibility of being able to sell him anything at this market moon stones are rare the best gemstones have already been snapped up they are bought as soon as they leave the mine and are sent to the best gem cutter in the region to be cut then they are either sold in the capital or directly abroad Sunil has his contacts in the village of Catania a two-hour drive away in a tube tube or a motorcycle taxi from Ratnam Puri near the foothills of adam's peak he finally arrives if the first mindset in the middle of the paddy fields the mining carried out here is small-scale and he doesn't always find stones to buy [Applause] [Music] torrential rain often stops the mining activity millions of years ago the rains washed away alluvia from the nearby mountains and deposited the heaviest stones in the riverbeds the rivers were later diverted but the alluvial deposits remain the miners dig pits of dozens of meters deep in order to reach these ancient concentrated layers this soil is called Leela it is brought up in baskets and stalked on the mine site before being washed to obtain the jams Sunil knows exactly on which days the liam is washed on the mine sites on his route the ritual is the same each time under the watchful eye of the mine owner the Li lab is washed in bamboo baskets this enables the light ordinary pebbles and sediment to escape these pebbles are carefully examined because a large gemstone may be hidden amongst them at the end of the operation all that remains in the bottom of the basket is the heavier pebbles containing the gemstones this work can take all morning we're all day even depending on the quantity of gravel that has been stocked in the dry season the stocks are larger as they have to wait for the rain water in order to carry out the washing the baskets containing the precious mixture are piled up and taken to the owner who will do the sorting this operation requires a great deal of skill and extremely good eyesight the stones are picked out one by one and examined by the mine owner he'll keep the best ones for selling the less valuable ones will be given to the miners here the workers are fed but they are paid according to the stones they find today the findings aren't too bad a decent colored blue sapphire of several carats and a pink stone which will pay for the working of the mine for several months nothing is left to chance here after digging in the ancient alluvial deposits the searching continues in the riverbed the men scraped the bottom of the river with large holes a diver brings up large rocks that are hindering the collection of recent deposits the bends in the river white Ganga block large quantities of gem rich alluvia washing down from the central mountains and in particular from adam's peak where it is believed that buddha himself has left his footprint there is no cantina the meal consists of fish from the river with leaves from nearby trees used his place there are no showers either but the Buddhist men wash themselves several times a day in the river in accordance with the religion when the rock is too hard the workers use underwater dynamite to break it up once the alluvial deposits have been dislodged the washing operation begins all over again this rhythmic rotating movement and the hope of finding a large stone helps the miners forget the presence of leeches and mosquitoes the river is surrounded by tropical forests infested with snakes and in particular the famous Raja Naja whose bike causes the death of its victim within a few hours this snake alone is responsible for a lot of deaths in this region [Applause] in order to exploit these mining plots gem seekers must possess a license granted by the government on this River in particular a hundred meter plot of land sold at auction in 1991 for two million rupees this is why the owners supervise the production very carefully a stone of high value will enable them to cover their expenses and pay for their license which can easily be stolen [Applause] the gravel sorting is carried out by the most highly experienced miners with their naked eye they are often capable of differentiating between the different varieties of gemstones found in this region a single basket will be examined by several different people the sorting takes place out in the daylight in order to see the stones better the combined battery keep the what sort of stones do you have you said less than five thousand less than five thousand you're a long way off the price if you like I can let you have it for ten thousand all right when the men shake their heads from right to left that means yes Sunil finally find some stones to buy unfortunately no moon stones this time but sapphires of mediocre quality with a bit of luck heat treatment will improve their colour and thus increase their value they are called goodas see you sadirah is 13 years old he and his brother who is in his 20s are responsible for providing for the family his father who was in charge of dynamite blasting in this mine was killed in an accident two years ago Sudhir goes to school but every minute of his free time is devoted to working on the mine site [Music] he knows every nook and cranny of this isolated jungle Valley [Music] on the road leading to his secret spot where he hopes one day to find the stone that will enable his whole family to live comfortably he meets men who are searching for stones without a license today they're here tomorrow they'll be somewhere else it isn't the government that chases them away but the owners these latter pay a high price for their mining plot and don't tolerate intruders on their territory for very long [Music] [Music] like all the other miners sadirah accompanied by his mother is going to pray and make an offering to the gods sama there's a local belief that a golden statue of the deity is hidden behind a door at the back of the temple but no one is allowed to see it the statue is said to have a precious stone encrusted in its forehead and navel the miners say that this God existed long before Buddha who endowed him with special powers so that he could protect Sri Lanka and the Buddhist faith [Music] as well as being the god of Earth and war he is also the god of miners and his home is on Adam speak Sunil has finished buying his stones he now goes to see mr. bang doula an expert stone heater can you heat these stones their milky those ones are too small can you do something with these three pieces this milky colored stone can be heated it has a bluish tint with the aid of his special machine bond doula transforms at very high temperature the mediocre colored sapphires into sellable stones no I'm going to burn Micky guna best I don't put this little boy I'm going to fire after working for 20 years at the gem corporation he is now set up his own business up to two minutes I will keep inside and start the machine the stones are placed in the center of the oven [Music] I'm going to start the machine kerosene vapors are blown into the flame in order to intensify the heat now start about upon our server heat maybe 900 centigrade after 2 hours 2600 after 4 hours having the thousand seven hundred after six hours come in thousand eight hundred centigrade this technique enables the termination of the process left unfinished by nature the ties imported this heat treatment technique to Sri Lanka in the 1970s before then Goudas didn't interest the Sri Lankans and many of them threw them away in their garden thanks to this new technique enormous fortunes have been made today 80% of Sri Lankan sapphires formed from aluminium oxide are heated the pale milky colored stones will become a very beautiful blue which will remain permanent this three six nice blue color this not enough color this little life this one I can be happy more pieces are as became for some the gooder trade is like the lottery so Neil buys and sells small stones of around 10 or so carats that is 2 grams in weight [Music] some large dealers buy and sell Goodis weighing over a kilo without being 100% sure of obtaining a good color after he did if things go well the profits can be enormous [Music] the beautiful moon stones remain unobtainable at Radnor pura Sunil makes an appointment with mr. purandara renowned for his collection of gemstones this is a by color sapphire I can take in spin moonstone is a very interesting stone because it tells the name has derived from the Sanskrit word Chandra Conti hundreds moon Kunti is the light because this particular stone attracts water that's why is known as Chandra contig moon stone yes they were in the moonlight if you give a tray of more stones it attracts water his collection comprises different colored sapphires of up to 50 carats but no moon stones he is also a healer if you like we do therapies with minerals and gems we keep the stones on the body if you like we can I can show you this type of stones white color red color the blue color green color white color either according to attack us mr. hi you from media they have the finest moonstone mines in the area moon stones are found in the south of Sri Lanka Ayumi is the mine owners uncle he supervises the family mine to get to it one inevitably has to cross through rubber tree plantations this tree which provides latex was introduced in Ceylon in 1876 and is now cultivated throughout this whole of Southeast Asia it is said that these forests originated from two thousand seeds stolen from Brazil imported by the British tea replaced coffee plantations decimated by a disease with an annual production of two million tonnes of tea this activity employs six million people making sale on the world's third-largest tea exporter [Music] [Music] sri lanka is one of the rare countries of asia where one can still see large herds of wild elephants [Music] this is the place where you get the moonstones the best moonstone in of the world right you know this area is less than an acre you see and you know you get one or two mines over yeah you know you can keep about four or five years of mine can you form the structure and already keep on digging you know how many or I mean if you know you find one some but want some food surely by the thing is you know it always depends there the you are just referring to the harvest to see you call it how is like the problem so sometimes you might come across boots quality sometimes you may get tons and tons of birth will be moved from inside and put out and washed sometimes we might not be able to might not be able to get the good stuff it I cannot say that exactly the amount you could get in these pits that are dozens of meters deep the spaces on the walls are stuffed with leaves to keep the earth moist as this region is marshy the tunnels are solidly propped up in order to prevent cave-ins for this palm tree wood is used as it is light resistant and flexible natural elements and Atmospheric agents have altered the rock which was formed over a billion years ago this alteration has produced kaolinite a white colored clay certain zones have resisted weathering better than others and it is here that moon stones are to be found at a depth of 35 to 40 metres tradition requires that when a new mine is opened the owner has to consult an astrologer to determine the most propitious date for delivering the first blow of the pickaxe this is what you must do you take 8 pieces of banana leaves and you put them in the lamp this cannot be done early in the morning essential flour oil is used for those for the miners whatever their religious persuasion or beliefs take these practices very serious as Shaymin comes to make offerings and prayers to the earth God he plans a stake at each cardinal point and places offerings there the boundary of the mind is marked [Music] come on robot regalia not resist Akali Haven what retaliate is T or our ah Torah I wanna come barn on two o'clock actually I was a galactic sewer my he policy galaxy apartment Ambani exert an AVI how are the boom Bondurant uncle I got you a monozygotic actually my he political attach oh yeah in accordance with the natural and divine elements the mine work can now begin the owner and the miners are confident that they will discover great treasures the tools used are rudimentary hammer chisel and jumper [Music] here's the bucket hey I'm sending down the bucket a bucket enables the men to descend 50 meters further down a mere a Muslim is the first to disappear into the dark abyss of the mind at the bottom the only source of light is a candle [Music] as he reached the bottom alright it's amoeba a Buddhist who's in charge of the winch this is an important post because the slightest false manoeuvre can cause a fatal accident Arie how do you know [Music] at the pit bottom in the narrow galleries the men using jumpers dig into the Kayla Knight which serves as the matrix of the moonstones the sticky heat and bad ventilation make breathing difficult [Music] water drips endlessly it's impossible to forget that these mines are dug right in the middle of marshland Amir is in the scene [Music] the Shaymin was right and the prayers weren't made in vain the first discoveries look promising a meters experienced I detect glitters in the decomposing rock [Music] [Music] the gemstones iridescent cannot be clearly seen in the dim light of the candles let's fool moon stones are also found in other countries such as Myanmar India Brazil and even Switzerland where they are known as a jewel area derived from the name of the place where they were discovered a doula but in none of these deposits are they as big and beautiful as those found in media da Amir often states proudly it's here where the most beautiful ones in the world are found the work must be carried out with extreme precaution because it's a fragile gemstone it's hardness is six while that of the diamond the hardest stone is ten the moon stone is formed from silica aluminium and potassium it can be transparent or silvery blue it's a variety of the feldspar mineral a transparent stone with a bluish tint is the most sought-after this aspect is due to the presence of fine slices of another mineral albeit rich in sodium the alternation of these slices and their spacing reinforces the blue color making this stone extremely rare and valuable the water pumped up from the mine bottom is stocked in large hollows dug in the ground it will be used to wash the kalo night the men immerse the bamboo baskets in the water and rotate them this waters away the earth covering the gem stones the stones remaining at the bottom of the basket are mainly composed of feldspar but not all of them will turn out to be moon stones and even less blue ones under the watchful eye of Ione this sorting begins only the stones of good quality are retained and the people say they're yeah it should be greenish blue greenish blue there's a greenish blue and some of the stones you get to know when you light a spirit lamp you know a spirit lamp right with gas you know the spirit there's a the frame that comes out of the dam is some purplish blue that is the working conditions at the bottom of the mine are extremely hard the men take several breaks during the day here the miners receive food and a fixed salary instead of being paid according to their findings as is practiced on other mine sites work begins early in the morning the mines are a long way from the villages and a lorry picks up the miners but some of them make their way to the mine on bicycles or mopeds which can be quite risky the tools are sharpened after the break then it's back to work again [Music] [Music] the winch cable is meticulously inspected several times a day the life of each miner depends on this 50 meter long wire which lowers them down to the pit bottom [Music] stored in shamans safes are several months production of stones quantities of blue-tinted moon stones unique in the world a rare treasure shamil is muslim since his ancestors first landed in the Bay of beroun Walla in the 8th century trading has been the family activity and in particular gem trading soil but is it difficult to find very good quality of one's own they are very difficult to find what is the difference bad quality and no and they would call the you know is a wood wood blue sheen shine in a very clean and everything depending on the sizes we are it we had reality get from the light 15 to 20 Cal someone is to mostly we are getting a five six seven eight color something like that incredible 234 Arad turned red 34 karate karate he and his family have the largest production of moon stones in the country and no doubt in the world every week stones are brought to him that have been extracted from these mines that he supervises himself the sorting of the valuable stones is carried out in front of him and the cutting is done in his workshops moon stones are cut in cabochon in the traditional way Buddhism was introduced in Sri Lanka in the third century before Christ Buddha chose this island to spread his doctrine in its original form [Music] the monks relate that the illumination came to him three times and that he resided in 16 different places that later became important pilgrimage sites Hameed often goes to the temple to pray that his hand will remain steady when he hoists his colleagues up from the bottom of the pit [Music] he makes an offering of flowers in exchange for the protection of his God Hamid takes every opportunity to pay a visit to his family they're fishermen and despite their frail boats don't hesitate to sail a distance of seven hundred and forty kilometers to reach the waters of the Maldive islands [Music] [Music] Oh tonight when the moon is full a long time ago during a long fishing trip several miles out from the coast a fisherman found a moonstone as big as this in a fish's stomach [Music] it was a fish like this one and such a thing has never been seen since [Music] a tradition requires that the Muslim women so a moonstone into their clothes in order to have a lot of children Amir knows all about this stones power he has three sons who accompany him to the mosque every day religion is a great support for him his father's reversal of fortune obliged him to take up the pick and shovel again in order to feed his family this rich opal dealer was unable to adapt himself to changes in fashion and was ruined the different religious communities cohabit peacefully and it isn't rare for a Buddhist to invite a Muslim to a family ceremony exorcism is traditionally used when the traditional or Western medicine remains without effect a priest khadiyah dressed in the costume of the demon king dances to the beat of the devil's drum the young family The Exorcist speaks to mara Sania the most evil of the demons he negotiates with him until the demon accepts the offering on the altar and blesses the patient [Music] [Music] [Music] curiously these exorcisms often do the patients a lot of good it's August and in a few days time the moon will be full in the ancient royal capital candy the most spectacular Buddhist festival of Asia takes place theyes ala perahera I'm Edith fully attentive every year [Music] the customs and culture of Sri Lanka are embodied in this colorful pageant the origin of which is lost in time for ten days a hundred or so colorfully decorated elephants parade through the town in five different processions each one leaving from one of the great sacred shrines of the capital [Music] [Music] the last one leaves from the temple of the tooth where the Royal elephant minagawa Tusker is entrusted with transporting the golden jewel studded casket containing the famous tooth relic in the year 311 of our era Amala and indian princes hid the sacred tooth of buddha in her hair in order to bring it to the island of Sri Lanka since then the relic has been venerated and especially coveted for the enormous power it has that of bringing forth rain a long time before Buddhism was introduced into the island it is said that the ancients used to cover the walls of the highest rooms of their palace with moon stones the moon stone was believed to possess the power of attracting water in crustaceans can be found in the steps and columns of the am bellum goda temple [Music] [Music] i'm eid knows all this he firmly believes in the power of his stone the monsoon rains will make the rice and t grow they will enable the stones to be washed they will transport them down from the mountains and bring them to the miners in this region of the world water represents life [Music] [Music] this stone which possesses the power of the moon symbolizes femininity [Music] the prophecy is perpetuated in the beams of the Asolo full moon the gemstones are regenerated in the earth of the material Goethe [Music] the monsoons have arrived [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Voillot Patrick

Views: 255,240

Rating: 4.5923882 out of 5

Keywords: French, documentary, gemmologist, sapphire, moonstone, Sri Lanka, Ceylan, gemstone, precious stones, patrick voillot, gemmology, jewelry, stone, movie, tv, frenchtv

Id: mAke_2sMmig

Length: 52min 28sec (3148 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 05 2018