When the Going Gets Tough – The Tough Gets Going – Kurullangala…

Someone asked one day what was I really liked to see. I had no hesitation answering that question. Waterfalls, I declared confidently. But, I added, I’m not that choosy when it comes to traveling. Almost everything from Waterfalls to Mountains to Archeology and Paintings is appealing to me. I’m very much a cosmopolitan traveler. When Ana said that he would be visiting Kurullangala, I readily agreed to join forces.

Kurullangala has been a very hot topic ever since it was discovered by the Swallows’ Nests Poachers. Afterwards one of the media group went and videoed the place rousing the curiosity of the nature lovers and environmentalists. As a result many people (well not as many as you think but a good number of them), including the archeological department, took the trouble to visit the place. If you still haven’t come across what Kurullangala is, lemme give you an overview.

—Kurullangala

Kurullangala is located about 16km from Wellawaya on Ella Road (A23). From the 16/2 Bokkuwa, you have to turn left when coming from Wellawaya. This area is known as Karandagolla. There’s a big Tourism Ministry signage at the turn off saying “Rakkiththakanda Ancient Temple – 2km”. Another sign says that this is the Access Road to TBM where one of the Uma Oya Project Sites located. Follow this road and after about 2km, you will see another signage to the left, this time a small one saying “Rakkiththakanda RMV (Cave Temple), Karandagolla”. The temple is another 500m or so from here. The trail to the Kurullangala starts about 100m before this turn off. This is a huge pile of quarter inch rocks so you can’t miss it.

There is very little chance you can make it to the top of the rock to your right without a guide. The best and probably the only person is Meththananda (072-6108392), a local who knows the area like the back of his hand. The importance of the place is the pre-historic looking cave paintings. They believe these paintings are about 5000 years old but no evidence such as carbon dating, has been found to confirm this theory. As usual Ravana the Great is also included in these beliefs. There are three prominent rocks in and around Ella which are Kurullangala, Diyapeellangala & Kinihira. The paintings are located at 1135m (about 3800 ft) above the mean sea level. The trail to the cave paintings is about 3km in length and lies along a treacherous path through the thick forest. Kurullangala has inherited its name due to a couple of mysterious birds stay at the top of the rock. According to the folklore, these birds can’t be seen but heard. They appeared to be making a sound similar to that of Black Eagles.

You can contact the Rakkiththakanda Temple (Rev. Karandagolle Sugatharansi Thero) on 072-8473285, 077-7845527 & 071-7544664.—

Day 1

Ok, now we know what we’re going to see, let’s get back to the story at hand. This time there were three new faces added to my little travel group. Ana picked me up at 4am (a little late for our usual schedule) on the 26th morning and I said hi to the three new members. Stefan, (one of Ana’s very long term friend), Shiyana (Ana’s daughter) and Gayani (Shiyana’s friend) made our happy little traveling crew. It was Stefan who had this unquenchable thirst for Kurullangala Paintings and we got lucky to have been able to tag along. We planned our journey based on Ashan’s report which was one of the few sources available on Kurullangala.

Tour Highlights: 

1. Rakkiththakanda Ancient Cave Temple, Karandagolla.
2. Kurullangala Cave Paintings, Karandagolla.

 We drove on while the sun was struggling to find his way up after a late night movie. We kept falling asleep while Ana concentrated on the road. Around 7.30am we reached Udawalawe and kept an eye out for Rambo the begging jumbo near the spill gates. He usually swims across the reservoir and stay all day long waiting for someone stupid enough to throw some delicacies on his way. If you have read my Udawalawe Report before, you must have seen how careless people are to try to feed a wild animal despite numerous warnings placed all along the dam. The road was all but isolated and Rambo wasn’t to be seen. However, as we neared the end of the dam, we happened to glance towards the tiny island in the reservoir. There in the middle of it was the culprit.

Rambo, apparently knowing that nobody was around yet, was feeding on the grass in the tiny island. It was a great sight to see an elephant on a tiny island amid the huge body of water. It looked as if Rambo used this as a transit camp in his long swim from the national park. We got down hurriedly while Ana went ahead to the parking lot. We were willing it to get into the water and start swimming coz it’d have been a super scene to photograph an elephant swim. Something I’m yet to experience with my own eyes. However, he didn’t give a toss about us and went on feeding his belly. Eventually sensing our prying eyes on him, he slowly went behind a tree and stayed partially hidden. Knowing he wouldn’t come out again anytime soon, we drove into a nearby hotel for some coffee. While we enjoy this morning cuppa coffee, you guys can see the pictures of Rambo on the Island.

Small island in the Udawalawe Reservoir

Who’s on it?

Rambo the Beggar

Any idea to swim?

Road is fully isolated

Gorgeous looking

Three musketeers

Look at the hair style

Very patient

Spill gates

Here they are

Info of Udawalawe Reservoir

The coffee tasted sweet and warmed up up chasing the sleepiness away. We resumed our journey and arrived at Wellawaya closer to 10am. Our hotel was Don Diego located 2km from Wellawaya along Ella Road. It’s a nice little homely place where you can stay in comfort and peace. The two cooks can cook like a dream but I didn’t take pictures of our meals as they’d distract you unnecessarily. As soon as we got there, I took the trouble of taking a few pictures including the doggy residing in the house called Sarah. She’s a darling with huge paws but sadly blind in her left eye. The owners Mr. and Mrs. Mervyns welcomed us warmly. While we indulge in some fresh passion fruit juice, you can see some of the pictures of the hotel.

Elephant Trail Hotel where we had tea

More than 4 decades of friendship

Solid furniture

Painting I loved in the hotel

Here’s Don Diogu Hotel

Sitting Room

One of the bedrooms

Bunch of them

Huge one in the garden

Close up

There’s Sarah

Not interested in her lunch

Stef and Shiyana having a chat with the Owners (Pic by: Ana)

After a bit of chit chat and a cold bath, we sat down for a delicious lunch followed by curd and treacle. Our initial plan was to do a recce on the temple and the trail head that day so that it’d be easy to find our way the following day. Feeling the weight of the lunch in our bellies, we decided to take a nap and then visit the temple in the evening. I’d already informed Meththa about our plans. Well I can feel two heavy lead blocks on my eye lids forcing them down. I’m gonna take a nap so you may follow suit if possible; otherwise just wait for me to get up. Ssshh, don’t make a noise, can’t you see I’m sleeping.

Rakkiththakanda Ancient Cave Temple

We got up around 3pm and after a cuppa tea drove to the Rakkiththakanda Ancient Cave Temple. It’s not difficult to find. We reached the temple and the chief monk was glad to see us. After telling us about the temple and its paintings, he took us over to the main image house where some beautiful paintings could be seen. They were from the Kandyan Era but apparently had a bit of English influence as well. There is a huge sleeping Buddha with a couple more Samadhi Buddha and Standing Buddha Statues. Additionally couple of statues of the gods can be found as well among the paintings.

Couple of examples is the British Court of Arms painted above the door frame as you enter the image house. There was another better looking one inside as well. Further, the paintings of the gods had crosses hanging from their necks. Interestingly there was a painting of an English Soldier on Horseback on the roof of the rocky cave. In addition to these, the paintings looked well preserved and in good condition. However, there was a painting with a date mentioned at the top saying “Year 1886”. Well, it might have been when these were painted or renovated. I guess those English influence must have been added to the paintings at that time. Unfortunately the paintings on outside wall are slowly fading away due to sun, rain and the winds.

The temple is a complex of many caves and apparently there is a tunnel too which connects to the Bogoda Temple in Hali Ela and the Dowa Templa in Bandarawela. You can see a small inscription above the entrance to this on the rock. This had been another of the many King Walagambha’s hiding places during his 14-year hidden preparations against the South Indian invaders. Well, he’s appeared to have been the most traveled king of all times (probably even more than Ravana the Great) in those 14 years.

The monk is trying to build a preaching hall for the temple so that the villagers can use it for the rituals such as Observing Sil, Poya Day Rituals, etc. He’d planned to obtain some support from the Uma Oya Project such as concrete and metal. However the Iranians sponsoring for the project are not in favor of helping Buddhist Temples thus leaving the construction of the hall stranded. After the protests of the villagers in and around Karandagolla, they had finally agreed, even though unwillingly, to give some of the materials needed for the temple. But it doesn’t quite fulfill the requirements so if you can, please help either with money or materials for the building. You can contact the chief monk on the numbers I’ve given above.

 However, just before we left the Chief Monk gave a short preach and we welcomed his ideas. Then he made a prediction that Ana and Stefan won’t get to the top of Kurullangala but Shiyana, Gayani and me. He said that there was a professor recently who had visited many places in Sri Lanka yet he couldn’t make it to the top. A valdi enough reason but little did he know about the determination and will of Ana and Stefan. I’m sure both of them decided to give it a better than their best shot just to prove this prediction was wrong. Let’s see if they can take on the challenge.

Well, I’ll leave you to take a look at the pictures while I call Meththa with the final instructions for tomorrow. It’s going to be a tough day so we have to get to the hotel soon and get a good night sleep.

The big signage I told you about

And the other

This is the turn off after 2km on that road

View towards Wellawaya

On a clear day, you should be able to see a lot more than this

Walking towards the image house… Note the formation of this rock

The roof of that rock with the drip ledges

Ana and Chief Monk going ahead

Gorgeous colors

The inscription and beyond this is the tunnel

Tiny bell

This is where the image house is

Let’s go up

Small Dagoba

He’s explaining about the temple and its paintings

The entrance

See the Court of Arms?

Either side of the door, they’re slowly peeling away

Some more

Large area

Inside and the main Buddha Statue covered with a glass wall

Took a close up

Old and huge

Samadhi posture

Standing statues

Chief monks in Buddha’s era

Solosmasthana in paintings

Some more and note the monk in blue is Mugalan Thero

Paintings of God Saman (left) and Kadawara

Slowly peeling away

These are statues of God Kataragama (left) and another. Note the crosses around their necks

Many more

Even the rocky ceiling is full of paintings

Some of the Solosmasthana Dagobas

Roof paintings, see anything different?

Here’s a close up… an English Soldier on horseback

Note the year on the top (Pic by: Ana)

Close up… Wonder if that 10 and 22 represent 22nd of Oct. (Pic by: Ana)

British Court of Arms in bright colors inside (Pic by: Ana)

Walking towards the caves

Here they are

A statue depicting Lord Buddha’s unyielding attempt to attain Nirvana

Time to go and come back tomorrow

We arrived at the hotel around 5.30pm and settled down for the night after a delicious dinner. Despite all the preparation and going through the available resources, we still had very little idea as to what to expect in this hike. Hopefully, it won’t turn out to be anything like Lakegala but little did we know about the hardships that laid ahead us. The dark gods smiled at each other as they already had planned the journey for us. Well, usually we do a small hike at least a walk before a major one but this time we didn’t have the time or the means. It’d also prove fatal within the next 18-24hrs. We’re going to hit the sack and will see you tomorrow. Be ready by 5am if you wanna join us.

Day 2

As usual Ana was the first up and his shuffling around woke me too. Mr. Mervyns said that there are elephants coming into the garden which is bordered by the Kirindi Oya in the back. They come and stay the night under a jack tree before leaving for their homes in the morning. I was wishing for them to come and make a roar but none arrived. We had our morning coffee and were ready to leave by 5.30am. We had sandwiches packed to be taken with us while Roti and boiled eggs were packed separately for lunch. I called Meththa asking him to meet us at the temple.

It was just before 6am when we got to the temple and woke the monks too. The sun was coming up but we couldn’t clearly see him due to the tree cover. However the temple is located at a higher elevation about 2200ft on a rocky slope with a view towards the Hambanthota area. According to the chief monk, on a clear day you could see right up to Hambanthota and Tissa but we weren’t that lucky. We could see the top of Kurullangala over the roof of the temple. We left the vehicle and started going towards the road to meet with Meththa. As we started walking towards the road, we saw the sunlight slowing bathing the Kurullangala rock. The golden brown rays made it glisten. Even then, we didn’t know exactly where the cave paintings were. However, I’ll point them out as now we know where they are exactly so that you’ll be able to figure out the scope of this. Some pictures till we get there.

Good morning!

Sun is rising slightly to the left

Hills in the morning

Our target over the roof

Still dark

Closer view

Now the sun is on the rock

Guess where the paintings are?

Near the Pines Trees to the left below the tip of the rock

Here’s a closer view of those Pine trees… The paintings are on the wall angling in beyond them

We arrived at the road and got ready for the journey. Still we were not fully aware of the full scope of the task ahead. So lemme give you a few tips now that we have learned a lesson in the hard way.

“Tips & Tricks

• Check the weather first and foremost. If there’s even a slight chance of rain, it’s advisable to wait till the dry weather. There’re plenty of streams you have to cross and it’s gonna be really tough if you attempt this in the rains. In addition to this, you have to climb up along rocky walls which will have water coming down making it deadly dangerous going up. Accuweather and Fallingrain are very good and reliable sites to check on the weather.
• Make your group as small as possible. Ideally 3-4 people.
• Do a short hike or a walk before this just to get your body stretched. Ideally the day before.
• Call Meththa and the Temple before the journey and talk to them about it.
• Always follow Meththa’s instructions to the letter.
• You’ll need climbing equipment such as ropes (at least two ropes, ideally knotted ones, with a minimum length of 30ft), karabiners, harnesses, gloves, hats, etc.
• Keep the weight of the things you carry to a minimum.
• Don’t carry large backpacks as they tend to wear you down very easily and strangle you among the bushes and branches.
• Carry water at least 2 liters per person. It’s better not to carry those aluminum or porcelain ones as they add extra to the weight.
• Take sandwiches or similar snack with you along. Better not to have a large breakfast before starting as it’ll drag you down. Keep eating in small quantities as you go along.
• Energy bars, some biscuits, chocolate or cheese will do nicely but be careful not to take more than you really need.
• Jeewani or similar Vitamin C supplements will be real handy.
• Cover yourself with long-sleeved t-shirts and flexible pants. Remember, you must be able to move your arms and legs freely without your clothing hampering them.
• Remember you’ll have to pull yourself up at many places with your arms which mean they’ll be stretched quite a lot. So make sure your arms can hold your body weight.
• A pair of shoes with a solid grip. You’ll have to decide whether to climb the rocks barefoot or with the shoes. As long as you’re comfortable with one way or another, that’s all. It’s your call.
• Carrying heavy lenses is not recommended but again it’s your call. Stefan carried a 100-400mm and 24-105mm lens with him with a greater difficulty.
• Keep your mobiles with you but don’t bother to answer when you’re concentrating on the climb. The phones became a real nuisance as they kept ringing at the most awkward moments during our journey.
• Most of all you’ve gotta be the judge of yourself. Ask yourself if you could do it or not and make the right call. Don’t let anyone decide it for you coz nobody else knows you better than yourself.
• Don’t feel ashamed or bad if you feel you can’t do it coz there are many things that we can do and can’t do. What’s really important is getting back safely to tell your story. So please don’t take unnecessary risks trying to do this. It’s not a competition and you won’t get anything if you did this or will lose anything if you didn’t do this.
• Keep a whole day for the journey and start as early as possible, preferably before 7am. We started at 6.30am and finished at 3.30pm after 9hrs of tedious walking and climbing.
• Prepare both in your body and mind for the journey.”

Kurullangala Paintings

We met Meththa at the trail head where there was a huge pile of ¼ inch rocks were. The group posed for a photograph in very high spirits and we entered the jungle which was dark and overgrown. The weather had been nice and dry over the last few days and Accuweather predicted a slight shower between 1pm and 2pm. Other than that things looked awesome. There were two pipelines carrying water from the hills for the use of villagers. We followed the path parallel to them. Meththa said that there are all kinds of animals and snakes in the forest which made us a bit uneasy. After about an hour the going became really tough as the path had been overgrown and covered with many millions of dead leaves.

You have to be very careful where you keep your foot as those leaves are very deceptive. One miss, you’ll end up with a sprained ankle. Also, the snakes are bound to be hiding among them so use a stick in front of you as a precautionary measure. The path became steeper as we ate up the distance. It was full of lose rocks which made it even more dangerous. The people who went in front had to be very careful not to disturb them otherwise they’d fall onto the people coming behind. Couple of times we escaped miraculously and once a rock went past Ana’s phone with only a few mm to spare.

Humidity was a great enemy as we kept sweating like pigs. We could see the top of Kurullangala through the thick tree cover once or twice. Uma Oya site was also visible where they tunnel to remove excess air is being built. According to the folklore, they’d found a golden bed in that cave and apparently been taken away by the powers-that-be after the site was cordoned off by the security forces. However, you have to take these stories with a pinch of salt and not get carried away by them. If you remember, similar controversial story was connected with the cave at Sadinnagala, another part of Uma Oya.

Shiyana and Gayani accompanied by Meththa and Stefan went ahead of me and Ana very enthusiastically. The journey was very joyful as we had many interesting stories and experiences to share among us. One of them was a story about Portuguese. Well, I can’t tell you the story but it kept us going throughout the journey. We finally arrived at the base of the rock where you have to either make it or break it. As I mentioned in the Tips & Tricks, don’t take unnecessary risk and jeopardize the whole journey.  You gotta think carefully and make the call whether to go ahead or stay behind. You can always come back if you fail once. You must have some climbing gear such as knotted ropes at least 30ft in length and harnesses, karabiners and gloves. We had two ropes (one knotted and one without) 30ft in length, two harnesses and necessary karabiners and two pairs of thick gloves (wish we had another couple of pairs at least).

There was a creeper going uphill along the 90-degree slope of the rocky surface and Ana very stubbornly decided to chuck the ropes and climb along that. We had a time trying to restrain him. Afterwards we took a break and contemplated our journey further. We also had a small portion of the sandwiches we carried here with water. Stefan very wisely suggested we eat every now and then but in small amounts. Foolishly, we had forgotten to take any chocolate, biscuits or cheese with us which was a real drawback. Ok guys, while we munch on the sandwiches, you can see the pictures up to this point.

Happy faces

At the trail head with Meththa in the middle

Initial stage

Ana crossing a dried up stream

Beautiful

More to go

Rare glimpse of the top

Can you see those clump of Pine trees just below the horn-shaped top? That’s where we have to go

Many obstacles

They kept up the pace with those smiles

Some flat terrain

“Lewke Mathindu Ada Thaniyama Wela Medde”

Uma Oya Project

Close up

Many trees covering the sun disturbing us

Have to go along the stream

There they go

The path we came up

Stefan waving for the pic

Meththa and Stefan taking a break

Deceptive track uphill

All the tricks in the book came into play

Oh gosh, we just came up from below

Now the exhaustion showing in their faces

It was a constant battle uphill

Ana using the back to turn around

We’re almost at the base of the rock

Getting along the gorge parallel to the rocky wall

Slowly and cautiously

See the creeper going up the rock?

Oh my god! Somebody stop him

Having a much-needed sandwich

Rock Climbing

We took a long break and stretched our legs. Already the exhaustion was setting in making further movement painful but we had made a vow not to turn back and give it our best shot but not at the expense of injury. Hope you remember the challenge threw at Ana and Stefan by the chief monk yesterday evening. He predicted that they won’t get beyond this point and looking at the 90-degree 20-foot climb with nothing to hold onto, I was wondering if any of us could go beyond this let alone Ana and Stefan.

This is where the meticulous planning of Stefan and Ana came into play. They’d foreseen the difficulties and had brought ropes, harnesses, karabiners and gloves and without them we would’ve had to turn back and come empty handed. Meththa expertly climbed to the top of the rock where there was a tree and rocky ledge enough for 2-3 to stay. He then tied the two ropes and sent them below. Gosh, this was like Lakegala Part II but we didn’t have that much to climb.

So I decided to have a go and holding onto the rope pushed myself up and was on the ledge with Meththa in no time for the joy of my team mates. Then Shiyana tried to come up but we let her climb without the help of the harness. Unfortunately after climbing about 1/3 of the journey, it proved a little too much for her arms and she managed to lower herself without a problem. That was a mistake made by us coz we shouldn’t have let her attempt without the harness. It kinda made her lose the confidence and panic resulting us having to leave her there with only a salamander to keep her company. A decision I regret so much even now it keeps nagging at me coz we’d never before left any of our crew behind. She nevertheless took it calmly and asked us to go on without her. I’m sure if we had helped her with the harness at first; she could’ve made it but didn’t wanna push it after she lost the first attempt.

The came Gayani’s chance and at least this time we didn’t make a blunder. She wore the harness and with the help of Meththa managed to hoist herself up to the rocky ledge where I was videoing everything below. Stefan followed suit and managed to get himself too leaving Ana to make up his mind. The rocky ledge was getting crowded so I climbed up to the tree and balanced myself among the branches. Ana had no second thoughts and with a short break in the middle, he too was up and smiling with us. We thought all our worries were over and from here it’ll be a footpath to follow but we were wrong by miles.

We then asked Shiyana to keep in touch with the phone and promising to get back as quickly as possible started the descent from there. We left the rope without knots tied to the tree and carried only the knotted one with us. Here we had to put the rope once again.  As usual Meththa kindly went ahead and tied the rope once again and this time Stefan, Gayani, Ana and I followed in that order. When that ordeal was over, we had to crawl ourselves along the rocky gorge full of lose rocks and overgrown bushes. By now we were bruised all over and the scratches were bleeding in places smarting when they came into contact with the pouring sweat. To make matters worse, at the slightest chance lose rocks came tumbling down making it deadly for the people laboring up behind.

Now our limbs were screaming and they felt as if they would come off the body at the next pull. However none of my team mates complained or were ready to back out. We all had one goal which was to get to the cave paintings. So we kept pushing us beyond the limits and finally arrived at a safe ground where we could sit and take a breath. We decided to eat 2 sandwiches each and have some water. While we get at them, you’d be best off looking at some of the pictures. Mind you, I was concentrating on taking videos more than the pictures so you wouldn’t find many pictures in the collections but be sure to check the video series.

Almost 90-degree

Selfie king

Stefan going up to where the rope is needed

Followed by Gayani

Meththa went on this way

I was following them (Pic by: Ana)

The rope is hanging and Meththa was up (no pictures as I was the first up and then was busy videoing)

Ana climbing from the second spot

What do you think?

We had to go up along the left flank

There he goes

Now the view getting clearer

Hills in the far

It was a walk in the park for Meththa

Gosh, that was tricky…

Let’s have some more

Final Assault

After a break and checking if Shiyana was ok we resumed the journey. This time we maneuvered along the gorge till we once again came up against a rocky boulder this time about 15ft and about 70-degree elevation. There were two vines coming from the top hugging the rock and I tested them to see if they’d hold my wait without waiting for Meththa to tie the rope. They did and I slowly dragged myself up the rocky surface adding more bruises into the existing ones. At the end I got stuck amid many bushes and branches and Meththa had to come to my rescue. We got the others up with the help of the rope.

Oh dear, there was still more to go and we could see the yellow and black rock towering above us. There was no path but green foliage covering the ground. We had to crash through the thorny bushes and kept a safe distance between each other so as not to get seriously injured from the lose rocks falling. This went on for about 100m which felt like 100km and again we were at a tricky point where the rocky surface to the left was not passable without a rope. There was a tree fallen hugging the rocky at a 45-degree angle. One has to balance like a ballerina or a gymnast to get to the top of the rock going along the tree trunk.

As usual Meththa went ahead and put the rope. This time Stefan took the challenge and climbed along the tree hugging the rocky wall. It was scary and one mistake you’d have ended up on those thorny bushes we just came up. I then followed him with Gayani and Ana closely behind. “Are we there?” I asked Meththa for the umpteenth time and got the same reply “Not yet”. Gosh, I wanted to cry and the muscles started protest in agony. The path now ran through a Mana patch with razor sharp blades cutting into our exposed flesh drawing blood mercilessly. However we soon came to another point and had to use the rope again.

This time Gayani went in front with Stefan and me behind and Ana bringing the rear. “We’re here” I heard the joyous shout from Gayani and I wanted to jump up and down like a maniac in joy. When I got up there, gosh, the mirror like rocky wall looked as if it was covered in blood but looking closer it was the paint used by whoever drew these paintings to color them. While we enjoy the scene and embrace each other in joy, you better check these photos.

Just started the next phase

Razor sharp

Couldn’t resist taking this

Oh my gosh, where’s the path?

We have to go along the left side to the top

One of the scary moments

Ready to go but waiting for the harness

Meththa was very helpful

Gosh, this was scary

The other rock we had to turn left from here

Gayani is getting ready

Leaning on the rocky wall is the best way

Hugging onto the tree for the dear life

Here comes Ana watched by Meththa

Target now close by

View

Yet another rope climbing

And this itchy and scratchy Mana bushes

The rock on the other side

Here we are… note the deep red to the bottom right

Paintings at Last

We all started panting and dancing at the same time feeling the excitement. We were both exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. Talking about the rocky wall with paintings, it has two plates separated horizontally. The total length is about 40ft and the height is about 25-30ft. Apparently there had been paintings all over the surface but now they’re only limited to the right hand corner with the size of about 10-20sqft. These are not drawn and then painted with colors. Instead they’d been straight away drawn along the outer lines with the reddish paint. Rocky wall looks really flat very much like a mirror but they hadn’t used any plaster over it to draw the paintings. If you have seen the paintings in those old temples they’d been done with a coat of plaster on the rocky surface and then drawn over it.

Now let’s talk about the images drawn by them. There were well quite a number of them but most of them had been drawn over each other. I wonder if they were trying to make them look like 3D or just drew over the ones which had been painted before. There are mainly birds which look like from Dinosaur Age and a couple of them looked like Crested Hawk Eagles. Other than that, there were reptiles in different shapes. Some of them had the bodies very much like those of Dinosaurs with saw-like zig-zag patterns. It’s really hard to judge what they look like.

So far no responsible organization or personnel has been able to give at least a clue as to how old these paintings are. Meththa said that the general belief was they were about 5000 years old but nothing to verify this claim. Amid all this Stefan confirmed that these paintings very much resemble the Aboriginal Paintings found in Australia which are something between 20,000-60,000 years old. There are some palm prints with the fingers very much like a human being’s but larger. There were 4 clear prints with possibly 2 more partial ones.

Talking about the surrounding, Meththa said Punagala was beyond this rock and I was wondering if it’d have been easier if we came from that side and started abseiling towards the paintings. It’s about 100-150ft drop to the cave where the paintings are. Well it’s not really a cave but the upper part of the rocky wall is leaned forward kind of making a shelter but you can’t stay here in the rains without getting wet. There were signs of water streaming along the wall rubbing the painting with them. Fortunately the paintings in the extreme right hand side still more or less intact but for how long is the million dollar question. Maybe we went there just in time and few of the lucky ones.

In terms of the surrounding, we could see the rocky boulder to the right and left of the paintings rising to the sky beyond which is Punagala. On the other side we could see the Wellawaya-Ella Road and the separate sites of Uma Oya Project. The rocky pile where we started the journey could also be seen. Further in the distance was the Wellawaya and other towns towards Hambanthota.

Well, while we take a break, how about you going through these pictures and make up your own mind.

Gayani doing the introduction

The mirror-like wall

The base of the painting wall with better preserved pics

It’s all a jumble of paintings drawn over one another but if you look closely can see the differences

This bit was above the main collection

To the left top of the main collection, note the water seeping marks along the wall

Just look at them

Looks like from Dinosaur age

Damaged by water

Can you see the palm prints?

One of the darker one and it was the biggest of all

Reminds me of Phoenix bird

Here a close up of it

Leg of the Crested-Hawk Eagle like bird

They were the highest located paintings

See the damage done by water? These are again Dinosaur like

Some more slightly above

Another

Faded

Hard to imagine what this is

Looks like a reptile

Here the Crested-Hawk Eagle like bird

Will have to do something before they’re fully gone

The rest of the wall but no more paintings

See the cave like angle of the upper part

There’s a reddish tinged mark on the rock below the trees on the rock

Here it is, hard to say what it is, looks like more painting

Surrounding scenery

Let’s take a close up

Uma Oya Project

Working areas

One of the piles of rocks, we started our trail somewhere similar to this

Meththa with the paintings

Me and my patented pose

Stef showing his gratitude to the man of the moment, Meththa

The team with all smiles

Here a groupie of all of us… I look as if giving first aid to Stef

Going Downhill

Ok, hopefully I managed to fulfil my promise and show you all the pictures as best as possible. Now we’ve gotta get down and my legs simply refuse to even think about it. However, we must hurry as Shiyana is waiting for us with a shy salamander. Thankfully there’s mobile reception so she could keep in touch with us and the rest of the world checking her Facebook account. As usual Meththa played the anchor role and this time our roles were reversed coz it was all about coming down.

Most of the time we just tested the friction of our bottoms by simply sliding down along the rocks. The clothes were dirty and torn along with our skin. We were like a bunch of junkies. However, our downhill journey was faster than the uphill. Gayani and I went in front keeping a fair distance between the rest of the group so as not to get killed by lose rocks. We managed to climb down most of the way without the help of a rope. Eventually we got to the place where Shiyana was anxiously waiting.

The journey was far from over coz we had to climb down on that rocky wall for about 20ft. I went down first and Shiyana said that we’d been gone for 3hrs. Finally the whole group came down safely without so much drama and we savored our success together with the last of our water. Still the thought of having to leave one member of our group kept nagging at me and I’m sure it’ll be there for a long time. However she took it calmly and had no problem of us leaving her behind.

The journey from there is supposed to be easier compared to what we went through but it proved more challenging as our legs kept playing all the instruments known to the human kind from Sitar to Violin. No matter how much you promised to give a good rubbing for the legs, they still protested probably knowing that it’d turn out to be yet another false promise. There was a lot of crashing on the way. Finally we saw the pipeline and knew it was very little to go. Around 3pm, we emerged out of the thorny bushes onto the carpeted road and I’d never been happier to see that charcoal grey surface before. We all sat down on the road and took a long breath. Golly, did it test our stamina? While we lick our wounds, you may see some of the pictures coming down. Here they are:

Stef playing the anchor man

Where we were a few minutes ago

We slid along the rock

We had to use the rope here and Shiyana was waiting for us

Others getting down

Here’s Gayani

Meththa, Stef and Ana just before the solid ground

Getting the things back together

You know what it is?

A mummified Giant Squirrel

Here’s the team with all smiles

Away they go to the vehicle

We then walked up to the temple along the road and even that proved challenging as we kept wobbling like injured horses. We’d been on the go since 6.30am till 3.30pm, a solid 9-hour back-breaking hike. Our meal of Roti and Lunumiris was still in the vehicle but not edible as they’d been waiting since 6am so we only had to satisfy with a boiled egg and a banana. The monk was really surprised to hear that Ana and Stefan climbed all the way. After giving a donation for the temple’s coming up Preaching Hall, we bid our farewell to him kindly declining his offer for some milk coffee.

We drove to the hotel feeling over the moon and after a scalding bath and a good rubbing down of the grime and thorns still sticking into our bodies only we felt half human. Even as I type now, I can still feel some of those tiny thorns still under the soft layer of my palms nagging like a granny. A good hearty meal was ready in no time and we ate like beggars. After wolfing down as much as we could, we settled for the night dreaming about creepers, bushes and lose rocks. The following morning, we left for Colombo and made it to our homes before lunch.

Well folks, that’s about it of our Kurullangala Fairy Tale. This had been a big dream of mine and thanks to Ana and Stefan; I managed to make it a reality. If you ever wanna do this, please go through all the details and plan it properly. I hope I’ve been able to give you a good comprehensive narration of the journey.

This is Sri signing off for now and will see you again…

Take care!