Anuradhapura – An Ancient Capital

I had originally planned to have a few weeks at home after our 2 week tour around the island but my mom had other plans!  Almost as soon as we had got back, she was on the phone planning another trip, this time to the far north and the Jaffna Peninsular!  

Many of you are probably aware that the civil war in Sri Lanka is now over.  The conflict lasted for more than 30 years and during this time travel up north was out of the question.  The main road leading north, the A9 was also closed for part of this time.  When we were kids, my dad had always talked about visiting Jaffna but somehow we never made it.  Jaffna is now the ‘in’ destination with local travellers.  There are many historic temples here and pilgrims people from all over the island are heading north and now so are we! 

With a few rest stops it is a 12 hour journey and we have invited a friend of my moms to join us.  Aunty Miriam is a friend from church and an ‘aunty’ I have known since I was very young. 
She isn’t related, but here in Sri Lanka, anyone who is your parents generation is referred to an ‘aunty’ or ‘uncle’ out of respect.  She is great fun and game for anything so I knew we would have a good time.

We set off shortly after 4 in the morning and I am barely awake.  We decide to break journey in Anuradhapura for breakfast and a quick visit to one of our ancient capitals.  Anuradhapura is a UNESCO World Heritage site and of immense significance to the Buddhists of this country.  The Anuradhapura period ranged from the 5th BC to 10 AD and was a period of cultural advancement amazing building activity.

The city is also home to a vast amount of ‘tanks’ and subterranean conduits built to supply water to the city.  In fact the city had one of the most complex irrigation systems back then and many of these tanks are still used for irrigation today.

This city’s most famous sites are referred to as the ‘Atamasthana’, ir the eight most venerated sites.  We have time on our whistle stop tour to see quite a few of them.

The Mirisaveti Stupa was built by King Dutugamunu after his famous battle with King Ellara in the 2nd century BC.   This battle resulted in unifying Sri Lanka and King Dutugamunu is remembered as one of Sri Lanka’s greats.  I believe a ‘stupa’ houses Buddhist relics while a ‘dagaba’ houses the relics of Buddha.  In this picture you can also see Tissa Wewa (or Tissa Tank). 

The Ruwanwelisaya is another amazing monument reputed to be one of the worlds tallest monuments and built by King Dutugamunu.  This is one of Dutugamunu’s great masterpieces but unfortunately its construction was not complete  before he died.  However, the stupa was covered by a white cloth and shown to the King on his deathbed and he died believing his beloved stupa was complete!

Thuparamaya Dagaba was built by King Devanampiyatissa and is reputed to enshrine the collarbone of Buddha.  It is believed to be the first dagaba built after the introduction of Buddhism and was originally constructed in the shape of a paddy heap.  Dagaba’s are found in one of four shapes: paddy, pot, bell and the bubble shape with the latter being the most popular shape here.

The Lankarama Stupa is unique in that it is encircled by stone pillars.  It is believed there might have been a house (vatadage) encircling and providing shelter to this stupa. 

Abayagiri Vihare was built by King Valagamba around the 1st century BC and was one of the great monastic centres of the ancient world.  It attracted international scholars and has been declared a World Heritage Site.  When Buddha’s tooth relic was brought to Sri Lanka, Abayagiri was selected to house it.  The first perahera is believed to have set out from this spot. 

Jethwanarama Stupa is also a World Heritage site and was built by King Mahasena during the 4th century AD.  At the time of its construction it was the tallest monument in the ancient world but today it is overtaken by the pyramids and is the 3rd tallest.  It is reputed to have housed thousands of Buddhist monks during its heyday and a belt worn by the Buddha is believed to be enshrined here.  It is estimated that 93 billion bricks have gone into its construction.   

Another interesting ruin in Anuradhapura is the Dana Sala or refectory.  This was the alms hall for more than 5000 monks who resided close by and in the picture here you see a 19 foot rice boat and a smaller curry boat!

The ‘Kuttam’ or Twin ponds are a great specimen of hydraulic engineering in Sri Lanka.  These bathing ponds were used by the monks who resided nearby and are fed by underground conduits.  The water which flows from one of tanks close by is first filtered before being allowed to flow into the ponds.  This picture shows the ponds and filtration system. 

There is so much more to see but we have a long journey ahead of us and it is time to move on.  I will definitely be coming back to the cultural triangle and the ruined cities of Sri Lanka!

“While in the progress of their long decay, Thrones sink to dust, and nations pass away.” Fredrick Howard

Our Guide Nawfer

We once again struck it lucky with our tour guide.  In fact Nawfer is a chauffeur guide, so he drives the vehicle as well acts as tour guide during our  Sri Lankan tour.

He is a keen naturalist and shares with us his love for and knowledge of the flora and fauna of Sri Lanka.  We spot many endemic birds during our safari’s and he spots many camouflaged animals we might otherwise have missed.  He is also very knowledgeable about historic sites and other bits and pieces of my birth country I never really knew about before. 

Nawfer is married with 2 boys and is a practising Muslim who studied in Sinhala.  However, he is proficient in Sinhalese, Tamil and English and also speaks fluent German!  His language skills came in really handy when we visited the Eastern Province as not many people spoke anything but Tamil there. He has grown up in Negombo, the same area my dad’s family is from and still lives there.  He has been a volleyball champion in the days of his youth having represented Sri Lanka and played for the National Team in many tournaments overseas. 

He has spent about 6 months playing volleyball in various parts of Germany, having won a grant to play overseas.  This has helped polish his German skills and he is now a proficient guide in German as well!  He has visited many countries besides Germany during the days when he played volleyball for his country.  They include Indonesia, the Maldive Islands, Bulgaria, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore!

He fell into the Tourism industry having first been recruited to play volleyball by the travel company he now works for full time.  He is really happy in his job and obviously his people skills have enabled him to cultivate a good rapport with his clients.  He dreams of owning his own van one day, running his own business and freelancing in the travel trade.  Right now his family and extended family depend on him so he is grateful for a secure job and steady income and taking risks is not something he can afford to do.

I wish him well for his future.  He had made our tour extra special and we are appreciative to him for his thoughtfulness and attention to detail!  I would certainly recommend his services and that of the company Jetwing Travels if you are visiting Sri Lanka!

 Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.  ~Chili Davis

My Father’s Ancestral Home

Our lunch time stop is at my uncle’s home in Negombo.  We have come to visit my father’s younger brother who lives about an hour north of Colombo.   After lunch I take off with my uncle and aunt (my father’ sister who travelled around with us), take off to Minuwangoda, the village they grew up in.  I am keen to visit my grandfather’s house and have a look around the area.  

My uncle and his wife lived with my grandad here in Minuwangoda till he passed away.   I have fond memories of spending weekends at their house.  It was quite an excursion for us in those days and I used to love driving through the green paddy fields to get to the house.  It was quite a buzz for a little kid from the big city to see open space and feel the clean air.

The old house was set on an extensive plot of land that had loads of coconut and other trees.  They even had a mill to process the paddy.  My uncle had lots of animals from bees, to dogs, fish and cows.  It was very exciting for us city kids to come here and experience a bit of ‘village’ life!  Minuwangoda is quite a big town today but back then it had a lovely rural feel to it.

The house has passed through several hands since my uncle sold it and the new owners don’t know him.  A young girl answers the door and stands there looking at us a little nervously, not quite sure what to do.  I am dying to have a look around but she doesn’t even open the door wide enough for us to have a peek but she is OK with me taking photos from the outside.The house is still looking great.  They have painted it white (it used to be pink in those days) but the extensive grounds have been subdivided and sold off.  

The old ‘Nellie’ (a fruit) tree is still there.  My uncle and aunt are quite surprised and pleased to see it.  I guess they have memories of this tree just like I do!  We used to pick fruit and play here as kids.  It is such a trip back memory lane to be here…and I wish my dad could have come back with us although my uncle tells me he did come here not too long before he passed away. 

My grandfather had owned lots of land around these parts, coconut, paddy and rubber plantations and my dad had inherited some of the paddy fields, now long since sold off.  My dad used to have the paddy fields cultivate when we were kids and we actually ate the rice we grew but only my uncle has land left in these parts.

My uncle and aunt reminisce during the journey and tell me tales of their childhood.  They take me back to how they were boarded in Negombo so they could attend school and what it was like here during the war years.  My dad attended the girls school in this village and I hear stories of some of his classmates who have ended up in high places in Sri Lankan society.  It is interesting that he too started his academic career in such humble beginnings and ended it by wining a scholarship to Stanford.  We see the church where they worshipped and pass other landmarks from their childhood. 

I learn that both my grandfather and grandmother had been quite well educated, having attended missionary schools.  In fact they had both attended the same school as young children and competed with each other for the class prize, both being keen students!  My grandfather too had been a keen reader but not as studious or hard working as my dad.  He had been the agent for one of the big companies around here, coordinating the collection of coconuts from the estates.  My grandmother had been a trained teacher, quite an achievement in those days. 

It has been quite a trip down memory lane for my dad’s 2 remaining siblings (a younger sister has also passed away) and I am grateful to them for sharing so many stories from their childhood and filling in a few gaps for me from the days of their youth!  Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years.  We grow old by deserting our ideals.  Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.  ~Samuel Ullman

A Journey from East to West & The Puttlam Peninsula

Sri Lanka is a land of temples and a temple is often the dominant feature in any village no matter how remote it may be.  The south is dominated by Buddhist Temples and the East by the Hindu Kovils and Muslim Mosques.  There are many temples in Mahiyangana as well and we visit a couple that are quite stunning before we say good bye to this town.
 
Along the road journeys it is also quite common to see massive Buddha statues.  Here’s one that dominates the landscape from a top this massive rock. We have a long drive to the Puttlam Peninsula across the island, driving up and over the hills once more, this time stopping for lunch in Kandy, one of our ancient capitals.  We check in to our hotel in the late afternoon.  It is a beautiful location, overlooking the Puttlam lagoon but it is the hottest we have encountered it during our entire time on the road. Fortunately, it cools down a little at night and we have dinner at the little table you can see in the picture here!
The next morning we explore the peninsular.  It has a great laid back feel to it but it is also quite stark and is sparsely populated with large coconut plantations and more randomly scattered Talicot palm trees.  Occasionally we spot a massive mansion in amongst the coconut palm.  Holidays homes of the rich plantation owners who reside in Colombo. One of the points of attraction here is the Shrine of St Anne’s at Talawila, which has a long history.  While there are many stories about its origins, one of the more popular ones is that of a European sailing ship that was ship wrecked around here during the 18th century.  The vessel was dedicated to St Anne and was carrying her image.  The sailors asked for her protection and came ashore at this spot carrying a replica of her image.  They vowed they would return and build a shrine on this spot to St Anne who they believe had given them protection and saved them from the seas.Today, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all walks of life visit this popular shrine, which is believed to have special powers, especially for women who hope to get pregnant!  The festival of boats and the feast of St Joseph,held in March are popular & festive times around here.  More than a hundred brightly decorated boats are drawn up on the beach, the fisher folk stay in tents on the beach and other pilgrims in tents around the gardens of the shrine.   Even as we walked around and explored we saw plans of a lot more development scheduled in the area to accommodate the pilgrims who visit from all across the island.   There are little bits of historic remnants of the colonial period around the peninsular as well, like this little Dutch church we ran across.
We also visited the village of Kalpitiya on this peninsular famous as the gateway to see dolphins.  Unfortunately, we have arrived at the wrong season and the seas are too choppy for us to take a boat ride out to the ocean.  We look around the harbour.  Deep sea fisherman are getting ready for their two week journey out to sea.  Some of them were mending their nets and others cleaning out some of the dried fish they had brought back with them. I had always wondered what this peninsula was like.  Now I know.  It would be lovely to have leisurely explored it further on a bike and I wondered if there was a cooler season when I could revisit!
We set off for Colombo the next day.  We make a few stops along the way and the first is to visit the Muneswaran Hindu Temple near a town called Chilaw on the west coast.  Another famous temple, this time for Hindu devotees, it is quite stunning inside.  We are taken around by one of the temple residents and I am amazed at his excellent command of Sinhalese, given he is Tamil.  He gives us a great tour and I am allowed to take photos as memories of this sacred place.

Its time for our lunch stop.  We are planning on visiting my uncle (my dad’s brother) who lives on the coast here so we say goodbye to the temple and head south.

 I dislike feeling at home when I am abroad.  ~George Bernard Shaw

An Audience with the Veddahs

We have arrived in a place called Mahiyangana in anticipation of an audience with the Veddah chief.  Unfortunately, he has gone walkabout and we are only able to visit with his son and others of this tribe. 

The Veddah’s are the last descendents of the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka.  The chronicle of Sri Lankan history, the Mahavansa records that Prince Vijaya, the founding father of the Sinhalese married Kuveni a woman of the Yakkha clan from whom we are all descendent.    Can u spot a resemblance?

Veddahs were once hunters and gatherers but they also  practiced slash and burn agriculture.  Today, like most aboriginal populations, their way of life is at threat because Sri Lankan law prohibits hunting in National Parks.  This issue is still being debated and the official position on this may soften in the future.

They have preserved their own language but many today speak Sinhalese as well.  During our visit, most of the Veddahs we met only spoke in their own language and we were only able to communicate through a translator.  I think this is partly to preserve a bit of the mystery even today.

They gave us a demonstration of how they might stalk and hunt their prey and also sang a Veddah lullaby and performed a dance for us.

It was certainly an interesting visit and enabled us to get a better understanding of their way of life and how modernisation is threatening their lifestyle. 

 The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.  Mitch Albom

The Road to Batticoloa & Passekudah

I had always wondered what the north eastern coastal town of Batti was like.  As kids, we had grown up hearing stories about the singing fish this town was renowned for.  So when the sign heralding us into the city read, ‘Welcome to the City of Singing Fish’, my hopes of finally hearing them rose.  However, not one current resident we stopped to talk to seemed to have an inkling of what we were on about.  It appears the singing fish have long since disappeared and people gave us strange looks when we asked where was the best place to listen to the fish!

The phrase, ‘It is the journey not the destination that matters’, is very true of Batti.  There isn’t much to do here in the way of activities once you do get here, but I loved the trip up the east coast and through the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. 

The population density around these parts is low and now that the war is over the land on either side of the road is once again being cultivated with paddy and a sea of green is a welcome sight in the midst of the harshness of this arid land.It became obvious to me that most people only spoke Tamil around these parts and we were grateful our guide Naufer was multilingual.  We barely pass another car on the road and the only times we get held up is when we encounter a water buffalo crossing! People are also quite religious here and there is a disproportionate amount of Hindu temples, mosques and churches in comparison to the population.  It is also interesting to note that unlike in the South of the country there isn’t a single Buddhist temple in sight! 

The Muslim community in these parts are conservatively dressed and many of the women are often fully covered.    There was a Hindu ceremony in progress as we passed this temple and the kids came out to the fence to greet me. There is a Methodist Church at every corner and occasionally the much larger Catholic churches can also be found.  What struck me was that they were all brightly painted in various colours unlike their more ‘sober’ counterparts in Colombo. The beach at Batti was also full of life and I enjoyed watching the fisherman help each other push their boats out to sea.  These were not deep sea fisherman but rather going that night for the “Catch of the Day”!  They sang as they pushed each others boats out to sea and I loved the camaraderie between them.As I stood watching the fishermen, 3 local youth approach me rather diffidently. I smile and they feel a little reassured and strike up a conversation.  Their Sinhalese skills are minimal but their English skills are non existent so we make do with Sinhalese.  They look about 14 to me but they are 18 and work locally as masons.  They want to be friends and ask for my number.  I give them my “I don’t think so” smile but agree to have my picture taken on one of their phones.  They smile back happily and walk away, glad to have made the acquaintance of the one ‘foreigner’, on the beach!

The beach is also the family hang out place around here.  Kids fly kites and families sit around on blankets in their Sunday best!    We also make the drive to Passekudah, a name familiar to me growing up but a place I had never visited previously.  The area is dominated by talipot palm trees.  The palm leaf serves as the local fencing material and the trees are used to make the local toddy.

I was a bit disappointed by the beach when I got there.  It was crowded and rather dirty and not nearly as nice as the beach at Batti.   The women bath fully clothed here and even my shorts and T shirt seems a bit immodest!  I guess it was good I left my cossie at home :)!  Pieces of rigifoam serve as floaties for this local lady!Unlike in South East Asia where the motor bike is used to transport all sorts of goods, here in this eastern coastal town, the bicycle seems to be the preferred mode of transportation.  Most people cook with firewood and vendors transport everything from firewood to fruit on the common push bike.  

And that is my experience of Batti.  The place we have checked into is very basic, even by my standards!  Unfortunately, there is not much here in the way of traveller accommodation but hopefully things will improve as more people visit the area.

 One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” - Henry Miller

Water Harvesting in the Dry Zone

The Eastern Province of Sri Lanka suffers from a lack of water.  You only need to drive through this area to notice the dry expanse of land that stretches for miles before your eyes.  Hence it is not unusual that many of the new housing schemes built with foreign aid have been constructed with some form of harvesting scheme, even though they can only be operational for 3-6 months of the year due to the scarcity of rainfall. 

While Sri Lanka has 2 main rainfall periods, the South West and North East monsoons, this part of the country only benefits from the NE Monsoon.  The average annual rainfall varies between 1200-1900 mm and while it is not unlike Sydney in terms of total rainfall, this rainfall is not uniformly spread throughout the year.  The rain is concentrated to the time of the NE monsoon, which is between December and March. 

We have stopped at Sengamuwa, a Muslim settlement of Tsunami affected families who once lived on the coast.  They are all mostly fisher folk.  My guide introduces me as a reporter from Australia (I am reporting for Travel Bug after all) and the family is more than happy to share their story.  They only speak one language here, Tamil, of which I only know the obligatory 2 words, so Naufer translates for me. 

The house costs approximately AUD $6,000 to build and we are told the tank holds a capacity of 2000 gallons.  When the water runs out these families walk or bike anywhere from 1-4 KM each day to fetch water from communal wells. 

This tank comes with a water filter.  A simple bucket with a plastic filter that takes out the organics.  The water is then used directly for drinking with no other form of filtration or treatment.  The water used for washing up is fetched everyday from lakes or wells in the area.

I ask to take a photo with the women folk of the house who are initially very shy and very modestly dressed (thankfully I was not in shorts today).  They eventually relent and we share a few laughs before we shoot a few pictures and say goodbye.  Life in the dry zone is certainly a challenge.

Our next stop is Pottuvil, where the Dutch have built a village of dome houses for a community of Tamil speaking people, also affected by the Tsunami and forced to relocate. 

The home owner is very welcoming and again invites us in to have a look.  This is the first time I have seen such construction in Sri Lanka.  The owners explain that each house cost approximately AUD $7,000 and the high roofs enable these houses to be self cooling.  Simple partitions inside separate the 2 bedrooms from the kitchen and a larger area at the front serves as both the dining and lounge.  There is a room reserved for worship and the dunny is always outside.  The lack of water in the area means an indoor dunny is out of the question! There are 54 brightly coloured houses in this scheme and they are all for the one community of Tamil speaking people.  From what we can glean the schemes do not seem to mix communities and I think the communities prefer it that way.

Our next stop is a place called Komari where another Tamil community has been resettled after the Tsunami.  The women here are not shy at all and are more than happy to pose with me for a few photos and to invite us in for tea.   My mum remarks I look like the Pied Piper with all of the village folk following me around! (I do stand out a just a little in these remote Sri Lankan villages :)  )

We don’t have time for tea, but we have a look inside their house and peer down the well.  The well is empty and stays that way for about 4 months of the year, even though it is about 30 feet deep.Not everyone however can afford their own private well and there are a number of tube wells and round wells around the village for common use.  A well costs about AUD $100 to drill, a lot of money in these parts.  A tube well can service about 10 houses but they often run dry.  The well has to be drilled to a depth of about 40’ underground and even then there are not always guarantees!So we say goodbye to these cheerful village folk who are happy to share their story and the hardships they face each day to access the most basic of human rights.  People in Sydney grumble about water restrictions but for these people getting their daily quota of water means a lot of  hard work on a daily basis. 

I don’t think we truly appreciate how lucky we are to have access to clean water on tap!

 Thousands have lived without love, but none without water.”  W. H. Auden