Heritage in and around Rustic Buddama

Orange the path | Blue = Buddama RMV | Black = Kukulamulla rock | Red = Raksha Kata and the waterfalls | Violet = Kadala Vehera | Nikalanda ruins = Green

Buddama was a place I have never heard before until I was posted there for few months, this rural area of Monaragala district boarders the southern boundaries of Gal Oya National park. Most of the population has the same surname called Dissanayake Mudiyanselage indicating that most of them had been related to the ancestors Wellassa rebellion that fled to the valleys of Gal Oya and they are farmers by occupation. These people are very humble and kind and will help someone without any hesitation. It was a privilege for me to work with these villages during my stay. While I was there I also did visit some uncommon unheard places which I decided to bring in front of you’ll.

My staff members once said to me that there was an Oya called Meeyan oya which plunges down the mountain ranges of Miyagala and ends up in Muthukandiya reservoir. This Meeyal oya has a special location called the “Raksha Kata” where the stream of water suddenly disappears beneath the rocks and appears out of nowhere trough a deep abyss. That was enough to motivate me for a hike.

So with two staff members I left from Buddama on a clear day towards Kukulamulla where we were greeted by Sudu Banda. He volunteered to take us to a rocky plain of Kukulamulla hela where we can enjoy a 180 degree panoramic view of the valley of Buddama. So we started climbing uphill from Kukulamulla and with no time we were on top of Kukulamlla rocky plain. It was at around 8am and the blue sky was yet to appear. Some important landmarks we saw were Muthukanduya Lake, degal Hela Mountain, Westminster range, Buddama hela, Nape range, Hawanwarawa Lake and Lenakiya Lake, Panamapanguwa, Iginiyagala and Nilgala range far away, parts of Gal Oya reservoir. After enjoying some fresh “Narang” straight from the trees, we decided to get down and walk along an abandoned road towards Meeyagala. Just before Miyagala we reached Galgekotuwa where there is a huge cave complex close by the foot path and there were many colorful butterflies in the vicinity making the location very special.

our weapon

Kukulumulla observation point

few more steps

Valley of Buddama

Panorama of the area

Degal hela

towards govinda hela

summit

Iginiyagala mountain seen far away

Nilgala mountains in the backdrop

parts of senanayake reservoir also could be seen

contrast

Muthukandiya reservoir

Hawanwarawa lake

getting down

the cave at Galgekotuwa

after so many tries it was photographed

and more of them

the path to Meeyagala

he was 80 odd years but still carrying a bunch of bananas to buddama by foot

We needed two more guides to take us towards “Raksha kata” so from here onwards “Sudda” and his farther decided to show us the way. We walked further towards Miyagala through an extremely rural area until we came to a place where we met the Meeyan Oya. We started to go downstream from this point onwards and the journey along the Rocky River was a wonderful experience but bit dangerous. For a moment I forgot that this was the dry zone because the environment was so cool and calm. After travelling downstream a bit we came across the first waterfall which was a big surprise for me. Not even 50 meters down the stream there was another tall waterfall. The second waterfall forms a unique display when it’s at full flow. It has three components; one is the part just thumbing down, second part drooling down a rocky slope and the 3rd one which falls like a curtain in front of a cave. We decided to explore the cave for about 50 meters and not beyond because we didn’t have a proper light source. Further traveling down the steep dried out river brought us to a place where the river vanished bellow the rocks and reappeared though a rock abyss few meters downstream and this place was called the “Punchi Raksha Kata”. We didn’t end our journey at this point though it was a tough descent and after about 10 minutes we arrived at the main “Raksha kata” of Meeyan oya. The water was emerging from a deeper abyss than before and the sound produced was bit terrifying too. A simple whistling sound brought about thousands of BAT’s out of the abyss out of nowhere. We didn’t want to go to the base of the abyss which was bit time consuming.

After hanging around a bit we returned upstream and had a nice bath from a virgin waterfall which washed away our tiredness. After getting to the village of Galgekotuwa we had a wonderful Sri lankan menu at a “Katu Mati Biththi house” of a villager. Seen an infants playing on the cool floor at that house was an amazing sighting which I will never forget. After saying good bye to them, we took a foot path which was descending though the mountains of Miyagala and ended up at Rithgahawatte temple.

Meeyan oya

the first waterfall of Meeyan oya

the second waterfall with the cave

inside the cave

second waterfall of Meeyan oya

starting point of the first raksha kata

through the abyss

outlet of the mini raksha kata

and the water vanishes below the rocks again

First glimpse of the raksha kata

and there were bats

the deep abyss of Maha raksha kata

කටු මැටි ගෙදර

still trying to lift up his head

yes i found you.

my crew without me

Ritigahawatte “Kadala vehera” is an ancient temple at the foothills of Miyagala Mountains and there were some fascinating archeology facts in this remote historical site like the “gal anda”, the stone pillars with interesting carvings. The Sthupa seemed to be partially excavated and restored and other sites were same as they were hundreds of years ago. After walking towards Alayaya side we came to a place called Nikalanda close to Kalugala where there were some ruins hidden in the bushes of a chena and not so far away was a fully grown furious Russels viper in a dugged up pit which reminded us the danger of walking about in the dry zone. We arrived at Buddama where we had a nice Magngnokka diet to end our day.

Kadala vehera at Ritigahawatte

steps

stone pillar with interesting carvings

and another one

note there is a korawak gala too

description about the carvings on the stone pillars – Click Image to Enlarge

the sthupa

the rock bed

shattered

and more ruins

wonder what this was

කඩල

products

govinda hela seen at the backdrop of a chena

a korawak gala at Nikalanda

spot me if you can

a moonstone at nikalanda hidden under some bushes

they said there was a treasure box in it

Furious and deadly

leave me alone otherwise i will make you pay

On a random day I decided to go and visit Buddama ancient temple which lies at the base of Buddama Hela. There was an ancient rocky image house which was vandalized by thieves, some caves and rock inscriptions, out of them all the ancient “Weli Pella” was the most eye-catching archeological structure. I was told only two of these structures exist in Sri Lanka. We also didn’t forget to have a chat with the head priest too.

Buddama Raja maha viharaya

newly built dhageba at Buddama temple

the caved image house

reconstructed statue of lord Budhdha

pots	belongs to kandy era

paintings on the rock

more paintings

වැලි පිල්ල one of its kind

a rock cave with a drip ledge

an inscription

Bujja veddas arrow at the temple piercing a rock indicating one of his boundary marks