A memorable day at the Cave Temples Dambulla, Sri Lanka

Our 43rd wedding anniversary -and another memorable one!

Leaving Kandy around 9am for a leisurely drive to Dambulla we arrived to find that it had been raining and there were few other people around. Excellent !

Entrance to cave Temples, Dambulla

 I was a bit puzzled because I did not recognise the place at all - a giant Buddha Statue was erected just a couple of years ago [ reminding me irrevently of the tourism habit to erect things such as big pineapples, prawns etc to catch visitors' attention. The line of smaller but still quite dominating orange clad Buddha statues leading  to the big Buddha left no doubt that we were in the right place. 

The entrances and columns were added about 1938

After I had got tickets for Melanie and myself, we slowly climbed the many rock hewn steps to the top of the hill where the caves are located. This huge rock towers about 140 - 150 metres above the flatish land below so it was quite a climb but the steps were good so we had no problems. No sooner had we entered the complex than the rain came upon us in great quantities so I was pleased that we were close enough to take shelter inside the caves.

There are more than 80 caves on the rock but only five are able to be visited. They have been in continuous use as a monastry or religious site for twenty two centuries. First used by a monk who came from India, by the 2nd century BC history records that a monastry flourished here.

Sam and Lucky under the Bodhi tree

King Valagambahu who was King of Anuradhapura was ousted by an Indian King named Elara and took refuge in the monastery where he stayed for 17 years raising an army to retake his city. After his success in doing this at a battle near Aukana, he showed his gratitude to his hosts by building a new temple here. This was added to by other kings such as King Nissanka Malla who gilded the caves and added 70 Buddha statues around 1190s. Over time, the caves have been repainted many times and in 1938 entrances columns and arches were added.

The first cave, The Cave of the Divine King, [ Devaraja lena ] was the biggest  - about 52 metres wide and 22 metres deep. A commanding 14 metre high Buddha haloed statue hewn from rock was surrounded by many others, three of which - also haloed, making identification easy, were also hewn from rock and placed around the walls. Others were made from wood and then plastered over - Lucky showed us where the humidity has caused some of the plaster to fall away, revealing the wood beneath.

Paintings covered the ceiling and walls. In fact I believe that these caves have the largest area of paintings in all of Asia. Lotus flowers, Buddhas . . .  . . For some time, all I could do was to walk around in the stillness and fill my eyes. Then I remembered that my camera would provide me with something to hang my memories on!

 Of course there were large statues in the three positions. I learned to tell the difference between a sleeping Buddha and a dead one. In the former, the toes are not aligned, the hand is clutching the robe, they eyes are shut, the robe is ruffled and the stomach is pulled in. Thanks to this information from Lucky, I was able to observe all other reclining Buddha statues with more knowledge !

Toes are not aligned

The second cave, The Cave of Great Kings - Maharaja lena - is also stunning and has a couple of added points of interest in that there is a statue of King Nissana Malla - the one who gilded the caves around 1190 and also a spring with water that flows UP the ceiling. Is there a physics or water expert who can explain that, I wonder ! I SAW it therefore . . . .  . . . . .This cave also has statues of two Hindhu gods, Vishnu and Saman relating to the period when Hindhuism flourished in Sri Lanka. I noticed that often wherever there was a Buddhist temple, there was also a Hindhu shrine. This second cave also had its ceilings covered with paintings with some depicting parts of the Buddha's life as well as some historical events in Sri Lanka.

The third cave, Maha Alut Vihara or the Great New Monastery, was smaller but it still had around fifty Buddha statues as well as a statue of a King - Kirti Sri Rajasinha, I think. Its ceiling was also decorated with paintings which were done around 1747 - 1780s

Dambulla Cave Temples

Dambulla Cave Temples

The remaining two caves were much smaller, less cared for. One used to be a store room until it was turned into a shrine.

We spent some time in the caves with Lucky explaining the origins and telling stories and I noticed a great difference between his knowledge and approach when other guides came in and really showed that they did not have the same knowledge and ability. At one point, another visitor stood just apart from us and was listening to Lucky instead of his own guide.

The rain had continued to belt down but we decided to go back down to the car regardless. Reassured by Lucky that there were no leeches in this dry zone, umbrellas up, we took off down the steps minus our shoes,unable to keep up with the fast moving stream of water and mini waterfalls cascading down the steps and swishing at our ankles. Thoroughly soaked we drove into Dambulla and had lunch at Ekanayake Bakehouse. This was a good decision as the bathrooms upstairs were wonderful and we also had a choice of resturants. We ate with the local population downstairs but later also revisited and ate at the Chinese resturant upstairs. Great pitstop !

Lucky then suggested that as we had time we could visit Aukana to see the 46ft Buddha standing in a jungle like environment. This was a very pleasant deviation to plans with a drive through floating paddy fields, along the bank of a large tank, filled to capacity and spilling over and past the scene of the battle to retake Anuradhapura by King Valagambahu near Lalawewa. 

 The statue itself was really lovely. Carved from a huge rock under orders from King Dhatusena around 5th Century and standing  about 14 metres high The Buddha's righ hand gestures a blessing while his left one holds his robe  while preparing to cross the river, representing the cycle of rebirth. This statue is much loved by Sri Lankans and once you have seen it, you can recognise copies all over the country. We were able to appreciate in the stillness and peace, ruffled only by a few monkeys in the trees. We had not planned this visit but as we left, I was very glad that we had had such an opportunity to visit this quiet, peacful and significant place. 

Wewa Near Aukana - overflowing!

Temple at Aukana

Kandy - the Temple of the Tooth and Peredeniya Botanical Gardens

Our wake up call on this morning at 6am was the sound of the Sri Lankan National anthem followed by drums and Buddhist chanting so I decided to get up and have a look at the day. The view from the balcony off our room at Nature's Walk Guesthouse was that of hills framed by nearby trees and shrouded in mist. Before long the rustling of leaves and branches revealed two groups of monkeys out looking for food and action. One by one they walked along the power lines, some of the younger ones leapfrogging daringly over each other. I noticed that the older ones stopped directly in front of our room and seemed to be making a deliberate observation and eyeballing me. This was exactly what they were doing as later the leader actually got around to the side of our balcony and came inside to finish off the remains of Sam’s cup of tea which was left on the table. There were also many birds flying from tree to tree, in particular some

Kingfishers showing off  their vibrant blue plumage.

Only photo that is OK due to morning light and amateur photographer

 After breakfast Lucky drove us around Kandy and up to a point where we could see the city centre stretched out below. 

As this is a popular tourist photo stop, there were some street sellers who were quietly upon us as soon as we left the van. I bought a T shirt for Isaac and Grace from them so they started the day with a sale.

 After this we went down to the Temple of the Tooth, to keep company with the worshippers on an important Poya Day. The crush of bodies pushing to get up the stairs into the building and them up to the Shrine Room was strenuous with the most pushy people of all being the women who, while holding bowls of flower offering carefully in both hands, used their elbows effectively to ensure their progress upward and onwards. 

As it was a special Poya Day the Shrine Room which housed the Tooth Relic was open and this was an extra draw card for the devout. It was not possible to get even a glimpse of this Tooth Relic as, like the Russian dolls, it is in the last of seven boxes. The smallest three are made of gold while the bigger four are made of brass. Anyway this did not deter the worshippers and they were sitting around the perimeter of the temple, old people, young children as well as small babies and all were in a good natured and happy mood, smiling, nodding and saying “Hello”.

After a visit to the Library to see the old manuscripts, some dating 1600 years, we went to the Museum where I wanted to see the pictures that tell the story of how Buddhism came to Sri Lanka. That was not possible as the museum was jammed with a sea of white clad people sitting on the floor taking part in the Poya sil ritual. Those seated outside in the porch and near the door happily shuffled a bit to allow me a space to go inside for a short time and I would have liked to stay longer but Sam, Melanie and Lucky were ready to move on.

The Temple of the Tooth, Kandy

 We then went upstairs to see the upper level of the Museum which housed artefacts from the early days in Kandy. There were some trousers, a shirt and headpiece worn by a Kandyan King. Custodians in western museums would despair of the conditions these and other items were being kept in and it is a wonder with all the humidity that they have survived so long. I found out what a chowrie is – a fly whisk made of Yak hair from Nepal which is tied to elephants taking part in Pereheras today and the King’s elephants in Kandyan times.

A walk around the temple complex found people of all ages meditating or worshipping everywhere. This man moved only once in about thirty minutes to make devout gestures and was fully focused on his devotions.

Before leaving, we visited the Library where the ancient Buddhist texts are kept. These are very big as they are written on palmyra leaves. There were notices banning mobile phones so it was amusing to see the on duty monk answering his phone !


Buddhist practice often seems to be entwined with Hindu practices and this was noticeable here as there was a Hindu shrine within the same grounds and people were coming out out of the Temple of the Tooth and across to the Hindu shrine to worship there too.

One of the flowersellers near the gate

Lunch followed and then as we wanted to buy some jewellery, Lucky took us to a jeweller just out of the city. There were so many lovely pendants and rings to look at that it took us nearly three hours and as usual, we gave way to temptation and bought more than we had intended.


By this time, it was late afternoon and a quick trip to the Peredeniya Botanical Gardens was next on our plan. We decided to see the Palm trees, Cycads and Orchids first so we had a very pleasant walk through these areas. I was interested to see that two types of cycads that I have at home are very large plants here. If they grow that big in my garden I will have a problem !

Bird of Paradise

 The Gardens are a popular venue for Kandy people for picnics and family outings so there were people everwhere. By far the most common grouping though was young couples sitting quietly under trees. In Sri Lanka usually young women are closely supervised in their interaction with young men so this was quite noticeable. I have been told several times during this trip that these days young people find their own marriage partners and I guess that may be true of certain demographics but I still hear differently from others - especially the parents of young women !

Cycad in Peredeniya Gardens. I hope mine doesn't get so big!

. . . Or this one either

A sudden heavy downpour had us making a speedy departure ! 


Can you get the message of this advert we saw on our way back to Kandy? No knowledge of Sinhala needed I think ! 

Adam's Peak - Sri Pada

The very last step eyeballed me menacingly. The final challenge !

Focusing determinedly on lifting my right foot up, I gripped the rail on either side and heaved my reluctant body upwards for the last time, noticing that the space around me was lighter and that drums had begun to beat their distinctively Sri Lankan rhythm. Together with Melanie and Udara, I had made it to the top of Adam's Peak, in time for the daily puja ceremony and sunrise! A huge range of emotions - excitement, happiness  and relief - engulfed me, washing away the pain of five kilometers of steps forever going skywards to the top of Sri Lanka's most sacred mountain, Adam's Peak - 2240m above sea level.

Adam's Peak, Sri Lanka

Adam's Peak's sacred status is shared by all the main religious groups in Sri Lanka. The Buddhists believe that the Buddha visited Sri Lanka and that his foot touched the top of the peak leaving an imprint in a large sapphire rock. One of the kings of Lanka later covered this precious sapphire with a huge granite slab to protect it because worshippers were taking bits of it home with them to treasure,  or so I was told. Anyway, there is a small temple there today which protects the footprint and is a focus for believers and other interested people. This,  with the physical challenge of achieving the ascent and 360 views, was the reason we  were there today.

Muslim people believe that it was Adam's footprint, while the Hindus attribute it to Shiva and the Christians to St Thomas. [ as explained to me !] So it was that it was an interesting crowd gathered there in the biting wind to observe their own religious rituals, see the sunset and chat to complete strangers.

Start of the climb

 We had arrived at Delhousie around lunchtime having passed vans and buses displaying the traditional pilgrimage sign - flowers of the coconut tree tied on the front - and carrying loads of sleeping passengers who had made the pilgrimage the previous night, a Poya Day. A walk around the village gave a taste of the air of anticipation in the village as shopkeepers arranged their goods such as warm sweaters and hats, foods and sweets, soft toys, incense sticks and such. 

Hindu Shrine, Adam's Peak

 I had invited Udara to climb with us and when he arrived, unable to be sensible and have a nap, as did Melanie, the two of us went off for a walk around the Tamil village nearby, meeting some of the children and being greeted by women returning home. It was a very enjoyable walk and I also got to to have time with Udara.

We had intended to leave our guesthouse, Punisiri, at 1.30am so that we would have plenty of time to get to the top by sunrise, however we were the last to leave and did not get away until after 2 am. I think that this was a bit of a problem for Udara who had climbed the Peak several times previously with his family and thought that we did not have time enough. The first part was an easy walk, with the way well lit, brightly lit shops along the      

 way so we made good time. 

The red bridge as seen on the down trip

  It wasn't until we had crossed the well known red bridge that the going required a little more effort. The steps were mostly concrete and better than I had anticipated although we had to watch out for the deceptively higher ones amoung the more evenly sized. Before long, easy steps were a thing of the past and we began the series of steep staircases that eventually had us desperately hoping that each corner would reveal that we were very close to the top! Of course not! At this point I set myself a challenge of going up 30 steps before stopping for a brief rest. Before long 30 became 20, then 12 and by the time we actually got to the top about 2 or 3 !

Easier steps

 Along with these mini stops we made three ten minute breathers at designated rest areas. Here we found several people sleeping soundly on the benches, wrapped so well that they looked like bundles of clothing.[On the way down in the daylight we could appreciate all that these areas had to offer the weary pilgrims as there were streams and waterfalls to cool feet and even take a bath.]

Udara and Melanie on the way down

 Udara was a great motivator and guide, encouraging us along the way, suggesting that there was a rest area coming up and we could sit a while there, just when we needed that information . He was a little worried as we left our last major stop, where for the first time in many years I drank tea with milk and sugar and relished it ! He said that we needed an hour and a half still to get to the top and that the sun would be up in less than an hour. At this point Melanie and I looked at each other in dismay, then at the visible summit and decided that the only way to go was still UP. Thankfully my last step was taken only forty minutes later ! We had made it in less than four hours and received Udara's congratulations as apparently his previous climbs with his family had taken five and a half.

One of the staircases, by day

Sunrise from Adam's Peak - Sri Pada

Flags flapping

F

The wind was biting but as we had our shoes off, it was our feet that felt it most.

I wonder if this peak has a name ?

Going down was not that easy on wobbly knees

Despite the cold, we were warmed by our experience and were one of the last groups to head back down. Before we left we followed the tradition of ringing the bell - one gong for each time you make the pilgrimage to the top. Getting down was harder on the knees than going up but we were in no hurry, stopping to take photos, watch the birds - saw so may little yellow green ones - name something like "bulbul" according to our fellow travellers - and talking with others. 

Carrying supplies to the top !

This young monk was going down with his mentor/teacher

Three hours later we arrived back at the guesthouse to face two flights of stairs to hot showers and thankfully, breakfast.

On reflection, it is the friendliness, the air of generosity, peace and understanding of strangers with different religious viewpoints and life experiences that made the experience so special for me. Sharing this day with my daughter and Udara ensures that it will be remembered for a very long time.

Would I do it again? I hope I do !

From Olu Ella to Kandy

We have been looking forward to our tour of the North Central part of Sri Lanka with "Lucky" Lakshman Bolonge for months.  Lakshman arrived well on time and had the idea of taking a short cut by continuing along the road towards Nawalapitiya. He had been told by tuktuk drivers that it was 17km to Nawalapitiya that way and also a beautiful drive however we were rather dubious because the road is famous for being almost impassable for all but 4 wheel drive vehicles.  Lucky had been assured that the road had been upgraded so as we had plenty of time, off we went.

Map showing location of Olu Ella Inn, Dombepola

True . The scenery was spectacular. True. The road had been upgraded but only for a little way. Once again a bridge was to add interest to our day ! Just past Nagastenna we rounded a bend and Lucky went "Oooo ! " and applied the brakes firmly, stopping  at a bridge that had many holes and seemed to have only a surface for the space of tyres with great holes gaping wide. We all let out a sigh of relief when we slowly reached the other side.  That we managed to complete this part of our trip without getting stuck or damaging the vehicle is due to Lucky's driving skills and cool head.

False. The distance was actually 26km and it took almost three hours to reach Nawalapitiya.  Most of the way was what could not ever be described as a road.  I was happy that Lucky actually seemed to be enjoying the experience, especially the magnificent views.

From Olu Ella to Nagastenna, the road was fine.
This is one of the better parts towards Nawalapitiya.

This is really a very beautiful part of Sri Lanka with rainforest vegetation, many streams and little waterfalls and amazing rock formations. We saw steep cliff faces with trees growing in them, their roots must have gone down in crevices too high up to be obvious to us. We stopped many times to take photos and as Lucky is a birdman, he pointed out several birds -  an eagle circling on a thermal, some tiny little birds that at first looked like butterflies. So although it was a slow trip it was a very pleasant one.

Nagastenna area - a few Kilometers from Olu Ella.

 After a short break at Gampola for short eats that became lunch, we arrived at Kandy and our guesthouse – Nature’s Walk. Sam and I had a spacious room with private balcony and view over the hills. Melanie’s room was at the side of the building and unfortunately did not have a view however this was later changed for her and she had the best view of the Kandy.

Kandy is really the cultural and religious heart of Sri Lanka with the most revered Buddha relic, his tooth, being housed at Sri Dalada Maligawa - The Temple of the Tooth. It was also the last of the Lanka kingdoms to fall to the British. this happened in 1815 after a bit of treason when one Ekneligoda revealed an entrance to the well fortified city in the hills. So, the last King of Lanka Sri Vikramarajasingha 's reign from 1795 - 1815 was over. Sad to think that a Kingdom that survived the invasion by the Portuguese in the 1500s and the Dutch who chased out the Portuguese fell by such an act.

Sam and I have happy memories of Kandy as, due to our car breaking down at Gampola, we spent our honeymoon at Queens Hotel instead of Nuwara Eliya. We have also enjoyed other holidays here with our children and just the two of us.

Melanie and Sam by the Kandy Lake

In the evening we went down to the Kandy Lake for a short walk before attending a dance performance at the Kandy Cultural Centre. This was somewhat of a disappointment as I have never seen such a poor presentation of Sri Lankan dance. The reception from the audience was not at all enthusiastic and I think that the people who are responsible for this presentation of Sri Lankan culture should be aware that those who visit Sri Lanka most likely also visit other countries nearby and, like me, would compare such presentations. As I watched, I was reminded of the dance performance at our 30^th Wedding Anniversary party put on by our niece, nephew and their friends who were then studying dance.

the Low country Mask dance

The best performed dance - the Plate Dance

Now at Olu Ella Inn, Dombepola, Sri Lanka

After much planning and anticipation we finally arrived at our second home, Olu Ella Inn, Dombepola where the time has already flown by ! Our family here was surprised to see Melanie as they had no idea of who the person coming with us was.

We were picked up from the airport by "Lucky" Lakshman with whom I had arranged a tour to the "Cultural Triangle"  and this has proven to be an excellent decision -  more to follow about this in a later post.

We had an easy exit from the airport, bypassing the clamour of taxi and tour men on the outside. In doing this I realised that I missed the "buzz" I usually get on arrival but we were soon on our way and I could enjoy the feelings arriving in Sri Lanka evoke in me - a comfortable happy feeling and also one of excitement.

My excitement and anticipation of an imminent arrival increased when we passed the Halgolle tea factory at Malalpola. When we arrived at Olu Ella, Sam was out of the van and straight down to inspect the work that had been done on our car park since our departure last June.

Melanie and I spent the first day settling in and organising our things and it was not until the next morning when we set out together to explore the area and for Melanie to recover  memories and re familiarise herself with the village and surrounds. This proved to be quite exhausting as we walked at least 6km daily and not on the flat either. Good for our health and lots of fun anyway !

On the second day, we planned to take a stroll to the Vihare at Malalpola so off we went at 10am. The approximately 3km walk was very pleasant in the morning conditions with only a few hilly bits to tax our fitness and the temperature quite comfortable. Walking as opposed to tuktuk or other vehicular transport has great advantages when it comes to actually seeing things around the area such as people picking tea, making concrete on the road surface, selling icecreams from the back of a motorbike .. . . . 

So, we stopped frequently to enjoy the experience. We climbed up steps through a tea estate to see how the women picked the leaves, took photos of the beautiful mountains, waterfalls, dripping rocks. Chatted to the bemused locals in my pathetic Sinhala – but at least I could make myself understood with basic information to satisfy their curiosity as to where we were going, where we had come from and why we were walking when we could have taken a tuk tuk.

At Malalpola, we set off up the steps up to the temple [ vihare] and before we had got far looked back to see that an audience had appeared from nowhere and was peering up at us. At the top of the steps was the sacred Bo tree with shrine where a young boy monk was placing a tray of flowers.

 As luck would have it, we had arrived at the time when the daily offering of food was being made to the four monks. We were able to sit in the porch with the local worshippers and heard the chanting by we think the young monk – he had a beautiful voice. After this we scrambled to stand up, taking our lead from the other people and stood back as the monks left the temple. At this point we were able to go inside the little temple to take photos of the three Buddhas – sitting, standing and lying positions.

 At this point a procession was formed, led by 2 men beating drums, one man carrying on his head the ceremonial mini Buddha statue surrounded by  a platter of flowers. This was shielded from the sun and other possible elements by a big yellow umbrella held overhead by another man.  The four monks and a couple of men followed behind - the women having raced ahead presumably to ready the dana food at home.

 I asked if they were going to the man’s home for dana – the traditional feeding of the monks that must be completed before 12 noon. He confirmed this in simple Sinhala - realising my language limitations - and motioned for Melanie and me to follow the procession and join the dana offering. This was a kind and generous offer so Melanie and I became the end part of that drum beating procession.       

  

 . . . .and walked for about ten minutes along the road until the procession then left the road and began to climb up some steps alongside a hillside stream through the trees. The dana giver indicated that we should follow to his house the share in the ritual and I would have really enjoyed to do that, however we realized that if we were too late getting back to Olu Ella then people would be anxious and send out a search party [ They were getting ready to do just that when we eventually arrived back anyway.]So, I explained as best I could in Sinhala and with miming gestures pointing to my watch that time was short however my Sinhala did not enable to me explain the reason. Regretfully, we turned and retraced our steps.

By now it was close to midday and the sun was decidedly hotter so we sought the shady side of the road wherever possible. It was a pleasant walk with local people greeting us and saying a few words and I was happy to at least be able to manage a few sentences to respond to their enquiries. Usually Sam is with me and all conversation is directed at him with speed so I have a hard time keeping up with what is being said and find it hard to get the right words to respond. Today showed me that I can manage when solo.

The ice cream seller on his bike caught up with us after his many stops to provide a treat for the children along the way. He was amused that we were walking so far in the heat.

We had decided to detour on the way back to see the mini hydro station about 500 metres before Olu Ella Inn. This involved crossing the river at a newish vehicular bridge, visiting the station and then returning to Olu Ella Inn via the village road and then descending the U bend slopes to our pathway.  So when I spotted some steps going down from the road, I thought that was a short cut for pedestrians to the bridge and we headed down them only to come to the swing bridge that had once been the only way for villagers to cross the foaming river. I should have remembered that Sri Lankans will always walk on a road, even if a pavement is there !  Anyway, I have crossed this way many times in the 1960s and 70s  and as recently as a year ago, so why not ?  Once I remember dressed in a flowing sari on my way to a wedding. I remember stepping carefully on the coconut plank surface steadfastly ignoring the raging white water and huge boulders below. Today there were no coconut planks but after waiting for two local men to exit  the bridge and for the swing to subside I checked with a squeaking Melanie to see if she was actually agreeable to going over – she sort of was, well said OK – I started out.

Two things then became clear. One, the bridge must have been condemned because the there were many cross struts missing others crumbled beneath my weight. Two, it was better to keep going than to turn myself around and get Melanie turned around to return to safety. So, better keep going. Every time I spoke to Melanie to see if she was OK I got the clenched teeth reply “Just KEEP GOING” so I/we did. Wrong decision. Seriously scary, the far half of the bridge was much worse than the first half with missing struts requiring almost impossibly long strides across gaps displaying the white water below. I’m lucky that I don’t panic in an emergency so I was able to find a way across for Melanie to follow.

I was so happy when she joined me on the rock solid section at the end that it was some time before I noticed the old man who had come out of his house beside the bridge to watch us and clapped loudly to applaud our nerve? Courage? Stupidity? Lack of local knowledge? Survival ? Several women carrying children were having a giggle and laugh. What could we do but laugh it off and say “See you later!”as nonchalently as possible.

 After another ten minute walk including some more uphill work,  and a few stops to watch monkeys swinging and dropping from tree to tree,  squirrels running along branches, birds flying in and out of the trees and taking photos of grazing bullocks, we arrived at Olu Ella Inn to hear that a tuk tuk was about to be dispatched to find us. Lunch and then a swim in the river  was waiting.