Free food and compassion: Inside the Sri Lankan tradition of dansal 15.7%
BBC - By Zinara Rathnayake - 5/27/2026, 1:00 PM
Availability Heuristic 20.3% - Anecdotal 20.2% - Halo Effect 12.5%
Rooted in Buddhist teachings, Sri Lanka's roadside dansal offer free food and drinks to strangers – and this year, amid rising costs and extreme heat, the tradition feels especially relevant. When I was a little girl growing up in Sri Lanka, I always looked forward to the month of May. That was when my father and I would decorate octagon... more