The historical chronicle of Sri Lanka, the Mahavamsa, records that gemstones were among the gifts of Sri Lanka's king, Devanampiyatissa, to Emperor Ashoka of India. The Mahavamsa also records that the Buddha visited Sri Lanka to settle a dispute between the Naga King Mahodera and Prince Chulodera over a throne studded with gemstones. The Buddhist monk, Fa-Hien, reports on the mineral abundance of the land when he visits Sri Lanka.The Venetian traveller, Marco Polo, reaches the shores of Sri Lanka. He writes: "The island produces more beautiful and valuable rubies than are found in any other part of the world. Likewise sapphires, topazes, amethysts, garnets, and many other precious and costly stones. The king is supposed to possess one of the grandest rubies that ever was seen, being a span in length and the thickness of a man's arm, brilliant beyond description, and without a single flaw."
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Sri Lanka Waterfalls:
The island is blessed with 103 rivers and streams radiating from the central hills, rushing down rocky precipices forming a number of roaring waterfalls of various shapes and heights, all ending up loosing the momentum at the Indian Ocean. Here are some of the most picturesque waterfalls, out of which only a few can be viewed with ease, where as the others can only be seen by penetrating thick forests and tea plantations
Galboda Waterfall
On a bright and sunny day three of us boarded the Colombo-Badulla bound “Podimenike” train at the Nawalapitya Station on a trip to Galboda to see the beauty of the waterfall and the environment. | |
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 Passing Inguruoya station we experienced the natural beauty of the hill country. The train passed through several tunnels. In between tunnel no. 12 and 13 we saw a bridge over a stream. The valley below was beautiful surrounded by hills planted in Cyprus and Pinus trees. There were also jungle flowers, Orchids were also seen in bloom on the sides. Passing the 13th tunnel we reached Galboda Station. | |
 A fellow passenger in the train who became friendly with us voluntarily agreed to give us directions to reach the waterfall. The road was leading through a tea estate. On the way we sat on a terrace and watched the far distance, the beautiful trees hundreds of years old with huge trunks and branches giving shade over large areas. | |
 We walked along passing streams and we met two Tamil friends of school-going age who could converse a little in Sinhala. A little way along this road there was a steep cliff. The person who accompanied us told us that there is a shrine in the forest believed to have miraculous powers and that the path to the shrine is on a difficult track and people who have tried to climb to the summit have failed. He left us at this stage as he had to take a different road to his house. The two Tamil friends accompanied us. We were rather tired due to the rough track and the hot sun. There was a stream to cross and we were very careful as the stones were slippery. Passing the stream, we were stuck by the beauty and grandeur of the scene before us. We were there to observe the Galboda waterfall. One could stand for hours in a spirit of amazement wondering at this beautiful scenery which we all wish to preserve in its’ uniqueness for generations to come. | |
Rassa Ella - The mystic waterfall
There are many fascinating waterfalls of great scenic beauty while other cascades, as to where their roots are concerned, are shrouded in mystery.
On a tour around the Kandy-Matale-Wattegama mountain frontiers, I chanced to see a cascading yet boisterous waterfall roaring down into rock water pools. The rock pool, from the point of its source joining the other end of its rivulet, remains a mystery.
About six miles off Wattegama, along the Kandy-Katugastota-Wattegama highway on the road to Panvila, is this mystic waterfall called Rassa Ella. Its name describes it well - that it is as mystic in name and origin.
Rasa Ella is different from all other such miniature 'fountains of paradise' - as romantically described by certain poets. A veil of water cascades down in a loud roar into the abysmal, gurgling waters below. From these rock pools, the rolling waters do not fall and join from the other end as any other waterfalls do, as at the rock pool from where the waterfall arises, there is not a ripple to be seen or even a murmur.
Strangely, the water joins the other end without physically revealing where it actually meets. The people around that area say that it ends in a sub-way that was constructed during the time of the kings of the Kandyan kingdom, as an escape route. Others say that the source lies submerged in the subterranean depths.
While seated on the culvert over Rassa Ella by the roadside, I met a bearded patriarch in his seventies with silvery beard flowing down like a waterfall itself. He smiled at me and asked me if I was seeking the source of the waterfall. When I replied in the affirmative, he told me an interesting and amusing story about Raja Maha Viharaya called Kubiyagoda situated about eight miles away from Wattegama. He said that he lived in its vicinity.
According to him, when the British held sway in the region, a certain English government agent visited Kubiyagoda Rahamaha Viharaya with his wife. His haughty wife was no respector of the sanctity of this hallowed Buddhist temple and she sat boldly upon the arm of the statue of Buddha that was enshrined there.
This act of desecration was brought to the notice of the high priest there. His samanera used to memorise some manthrams but the incumbent priest had requested him to stop learning them. Due to the disrespect done to the statue of Buddha by the GA's wife, the priest asked the samanera to repeat the manthrams once again.
When the samanera began chanting them the GA's wife fell senseless to the floor much to the GA's alarm. The high priest then told the GA that this was due to his wife having being disrespectful. More manthrams were recited and the woman came to her senses. The GA then asked the high priest what he could give him in return. The priest replied that salt was hard to come by in that place and from then on the GA saw to it that a bushel of salt was sent to the temple each month and the temple was never short of this commodity from then onwards.
On a tour around the Kandy-Matale-Wattegama mountain frontiers, I chanced to see a cascading yet boisterous waterfall roaring down into rock water pools. The rock pool, from the point of its source joining the other end of its rivulet, remains a mystery.
About six miles off Wattegama, along the Kandy-Katugastota-Wattegama highway on the road to Panvila, is this mystic waterfall called Rassa Ella. Its name describes it well - that it is as mystic in name and origin.
Rasa Ella is different from all other such miniature 'fountains of paradise' - as romantically described by certain poets. A veil of water cascades down in a loud roar into the abysmal, gurgling waters below. From these rock pools, the rolling waters do not fall and join from the other end as any other waterfalls do, as at the rock pool from where the waterfall arises, there is not a ripple to be seen or even a murmur.
Strangely, the water joins the other end without physically revealing where it actually meets. The people around that area say that it ends in a sub-way that was constructed during the time of the kings of the Kandyan kingdom, as an escape route. Others say that the source lies submerged in the subterranean depths.
While seated on the culvert over Rassa Ella by the roadside, I met a bearded patriarch in his seventies with silvery beard flowing down like a waterfall itself. He smiled at me and asked me if I was seeking the source of the waterfall. When I replied in the affirmative, he told me an interesting and amusing story about Raja Maha Viharaya called Kubiyagoda situated about eight miles away from Wattegama. He said that he lived in its vicinity.
According to him, when the British held sway in the region, a certain English government agent visited Kubiyagoda Rahamaha Viharaya with his wife. His haughty wife was no respector of the sanctity of this hallowed Buddhist temple and she sat boldly upon the arm of the statue of Buddha that was enshrined there.
This act of desecration was brought to the notice of the high priest there. His samanera used to memorise some manthrams but the incumbent priest had requested him to stop learning them. Due to the disrespect done to the statue of Buddha by the GA's wife, the priest asked the samanera to repeat the manthrams once again.
When the samanera began chanting them the GA's wife fell senseless to the floor much to the GA's alarm. The high priest then told the GA that this was due to his wife having being disrespectful. More manthrams were recited and the woman came to her senses. The GA then asked the high priest what he could give him in return. The priest replied that salt was hard to come by in that place and from then on the GA saw to it that a bushel of salt was sent to the temple each month and the temple was never short of this commodity from then onwards.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Mahaweli River
The Mahaweli River (Sinhala: Mahaweli Ganga; literally: The Great Sandy River)[1] is a 335 km (208 mi) long river, currently ranking as the longest river in Sri Lanka. Its drainage basin is the largest in the country, and covers almost 1/5th of the total area of the island. The river reaches the Bay of Bengal at the north-east end of Trincomalee. It continues as a major submarine canyon, making Trincomalee one of the finest deep sea harbors in the world.[2] Due to the production of hydroelectricity, the river is heavily dammed at multiple locations. The river is also used for irrigation, which had resulted to almost 1,000 km2 (386 sq mi) of land irrigated.[3] One of the many sources of the river is the Kotmale Oya.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Haggala Botanical Garden
Haggala Botanical Garden
10 km on the Badulla Road.The Garden was first established in 1860 under the curatorship of three Britishers of the same name - William Nock, JK Nocl and JJ Nock. It lies under the Hakgala Peak, between 5000-6000 feet in elevation - the highest set Botanical Gardens in the world. It boasts 100 year old Monetary Cypress trees from California, Japanese Cedars, Himalayan Pines and English Oak.
The Botanical Garden is first as a cinchona plantation and then adapted to an experimental garden for the acclimatization of plants from temperate zones in the tropics. Here can be found all the flowers of an English cottage garden in spring and summer, and much else besides - such as the oldest tea-bush in the island, an ornamental pond and quaint summerhouse. Hakgala (Jaw Rock) rises a sheet 1500 ft/460 meters and offers one of the most stunning views ever. Legend says it was part of the Himalayas carried here by the Monkey God - Hanuman in his quest to help God-Rama rescue Goddess - Sita from the demon king - Ravana. Sita-Eliya, site of Sita's imprisonment, stands a mere mile away, with the 'Sita Amman Kovil' close by.
10 km on the Badulla Road.The Garden was first established in 1860 under the curatorship of three Britishers of the same name - William Nock, JK Nocl and JJ Nock. It lies under the Hakgala Peak, between 5000-6000 feet in elevation - the highest set Botanical Gardens in the world. It boasts 100 year old Monetary Cypress trees from California, Japanese Cedars, Himalayan Pines and English Oak.
The Botanical Garden is first as a cinchona plantation and then adapted to an experimental garden for the acclimatization of plants from temperate zones in the tropics. Here can be found all the flowers of an English cottage garden in spring and summer, and much else besides - such as the oldest tea-bush in the island, an ornamental pond and quaint summerhouse. Hakgala (Jaw Rock) rises a sheet 1500 ft/460 meters and offers one of the most stunning views ever. Legend says it was part of the Himalayas carried here by the Monkey God - Hanuman in his quest to help God-Rama rescue Goddess - Sita from the demon king - Ravana. Sita-Eliya, site of Sita's imprisonment, stands a mere mile away, with the 'Sita Amman Kovil' close by.
A short glance on the Nuwara Eliya City
A short glance on the City
Nuwara Eliya is a mountain station at 1,868 m (6,128 ft) of altitude, in a splendid landscape. The city pretends to be particularly well-kept and neat, and the always green grass gives to the locality an aspect of “colonial British style".
Nuwara Eliya was built entirely during the 19th century and its architecture mimics that of an English country town, with red-brick walls, country house like hill club and mock-Tudor half-timbering.
Blessed with salubrious climate, breathtaking views of valleys, meadows, mountains and greenery; it's hard to imagine that Nuwara Eliya is only 180 Km from the hot and humid Colombo. Temperatures are 14C-21C (Jan- April) 16C-18C (May-Aug) 15C- 18C (Sept-Dec).
Nuwara Eliya is a mountain station at 1,868 m (6,128 ft) of altitude, in a splendid landscape. The city pretends to be particularly well-kept and neat, and the always green grass gives to the locality an aspect of “colonial British style".
Nuwara Eliya was built entirely during the 19th century and its architecture mimics that of an English country town, with red-brick walls, country house like hill club and mock-Tudor half-timbering.
Blessed with salubrious climate, breathtaking views of valleys, meadows, mountains and greenery; it's hard to imagine that Nuwara Eliya is only 180 Km from the hot and humid Colombo. Temperatures are 14C-21C (Jan- April) 16C-18C (May-Aug) 15C- 18C (Sept-Dec).
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