The Village way of experiencing Vesak around Maduru oya

map of maduru oya – Click to enlarge

The coming weekend was Vesak holidays and there would be plenty of free food everywhere waiting for me to have a taste. So I decided to hang around Maha oya and experience the village style of celebrating Vesak though my main objective was visiting few archaeology sites. I got together with my batch mate Chanaka and arrived at Maha oya leisurely at around 9am and after having some breakfast we wanted to visit one of the Mega irrigation projects which was underway. It was a 19Km drive along Rathmalgaha ela dusty road to reach Rambaken oya reservoir and on the way we also noted roughly about 4 or 5 new lakes been completely restored and the canal system connecting each other was reconstructed in parallel with Rambaken oya reservoir project. I have never seen a huge project like this in Sri Lanka, so I recommend you guys to go and see this newly built reservoir which is located at a beautiful location on the outskirts of Gal oya national park. Though the reservoir is not fully done there is some water staged up with weeds. The most fascinating finding is the ancient canal system running away from the ancient dam located at the same location signifying that this reservoir was once a fully functional one. To get to this canal system (also called watawala kandiya) one needs to take a left turn just before the newly built dam where a rock symbol can be found. It is indeed an engineering miracle. I wonder how the huge rocky plates were fitted together. The lock system was so simple and successful that it still holds on. We did experience how the local villages came in tractors to see the reservoir while visiting other lesser known temples in the region. This is something totally different from the “Vesak” rounds people do in urban areas and this seems to be the correct way of spending Vesak day other than religious activities. To our surprise each and every archaeology site we visited had loads of local visitors who traveled by tractors.

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Rambakan oya
Once dammed and tamed by the great Kings of Sri Lanka like King Saddatissa and Parakramabahu the great Rambakan Oya is a tributary of Mundeni Aru, which flaws though Borders of Moneragala and Ampara.Today after being cold stored for nearly three decades due to the war, Rambakan Oya irrigation project is back on track with a mega dam being built in Pollebadda, a village occupied by the Vedda, the Indigenous community of Lanka.
Rambakan Oya would be the biggest irrigation project in the Eastern province and is expected to cost Rs. 2.5 billion rupees. The project provides clean accessible drinking water to over 2,500 families in the area who now walk miles for drinkable water, in these semi-arid provinces.The dam will be over one kilometre long and 25 meters tall sustaining 130 square kilometres of water. The dam would have three sluice gates including a separate gate for the supply of drinking water.From the dam a 6.7 kilometer long Anicut is being constructed to feed the water to six other smaller reservoirs, which are also under construction. These six reservoirs would provide water to irrigate over 12,000 acres while a 12 kilometer underground canal carrying drinking water would be constructed connecting to a new reservoir named in Nilabe.Nearly 3000 families, who were exiled from their land due to raging war, would be resettled under the new irrigation scheme bringing hope to lives ravaged by a three decade long war.

Rambaken oya reservoir

full of weeds

Danigala range as seen from rambaken oya

what a view

under construction

gates of the reservoir

ancient canal system spreading 100 meters at rambaken oya

inscription on the waterway

meaning

two canals

the lock system

On the way back to Maha oya we saw a black board saying Hingure mada, where we had to take a left turn and again after traveling 1km another turn to the left. The road was totally washed away at one point and we had to leave back the vehicle and walk about 2Km to get to the temple which was surrounded by the lake on three sides. On our way we met a Vedda villager of Pollebedda and asked the distance to the temple and he answered “Tawa Damwel hatharaka dura tiyenawa mahaththayo” and after hearing that we were perplexed for few seconds and continued wondering what was the length of a “dam wala”. At the temple premises one can find the ancient sthupa few ruins of building complexes, etc. For me the best thing was the stunning view of the surrounding lake. While returning back we did come across a “beema dansala” and a “Bath dansala” which full filled our requirements for the day.

Hingure mada pagoda

korawak stone and a moonstone at Hingure mada

more pillars at Hingure mada

beauty

lake at Hingure mada

Next stop was Henannegala Cave temple which is 10km away on Aralaganvila road. This giant cobra hood like rock is located right on the side of the road and within five minutes one can get to the base of it via the foot path. This was once said to be an Hermitage which harbored 500 monks and this is a must visit place for a traveler. The chief monk is very helpful and he would give a nice description about every inch of it also don’t forget to enjoy the view from the vandalized sthupa. Actually this was a brisk visit and we couldn’t explore the area properly. So if you are going there take some time to visit the ancient kuti, vedda drawings, to see the pre historic weapons, and climb the rock if time permits. Just like Rambaken oya Henannegala also was filled with visitors who came to worship the place.

Henannegala cave temple

its vesak

what to see

wow

the pond

omanugala as seen from the base of the rock

vandalized

paintings

plenty of kuti

villages visiting historical sites during vesak

After a quick chat with the monk we hurried towards the Maduru oya reservoir to enjoy a spectacular sun set. The ancient “sorouwa’ which was found during the initial constructions of Maduru oya reservoir project can be seen on the southern end of the dam and the archaeology department information board has lot of details about the history of it. The spectacular sun set made our day but the full moon over Omanugala plus jumbos of Maduru oya made it a memorable one.

Omanugala changing its shape

on guard

ancient sorouwa of maduru oya

bit of history – Click to enlarge

sun set at maduru oya

towards ulhitiya

towards narakamulla and barons cap

splendid scenery

the process of vanishing off

here she goes

a huge pack

Day two one of my colleagues (Sanjaya) from Monaragala did join with me and both of us together decided to ride around the Maduru oya reservoir. And at around 8am we took off towards Dambana where we first visited Mawaragala hermitage which was right on the side of the road. This is a huge hermitage which extends uphill, we did come across a closed drip ledge image house at the “bo maluwa” and not so far away from that a large “bawana gala” can be found. At that particular time a person was meditating so we didn’t make any disturbing sounds while enjoying the surrounding. There is a foot path that leads to the summit but it is overgrown and difficult to tackle so we had to abandon that idea. After reaching the entrance point we entered the area with plenty of drip ledge caves where meditating monks reside. Some drip ledge caves had inscriptions too; this is a very well maintained and functioning hermitage with many monks. The four guard stones’ resembling the ones found in Anuradhapura was a fascinating find in such a location.

mawaragala hermitage dambana

piece of art

drip ledge cave at mawaragala hermitage

image house

in deep meditation

modern day sculptures

ruins at mawaragala hermitage

wow the guard stones – Click to enlarge

a superb korawak stone

modernized kuti

some had inscriptions

one of those caves

the bitter truth

learning process

From Mawaragala we continued about 1km towards Mahiyangana and at 52 mile post junction we took the road towards Ulhitiya which was in bad shape all the way to Henanigala. On the way we did have some stops at the dams of Ulhitiya and Rathkinda to enjoy some stunning scenery. One can simply enjoy the whole of knuckles range without much of a fuss. Next we reached Henanigala tank. At a point from the dam of Henanigala we took a left turn and reached Panchawasa temple with uttermost difficulty due to bad road conditions.

view from ulhitiya bund

view towards towards kokagala

view towards knuckles range

mini worlds end madolsima as seen from ulhitiya

a shikra

reflection at Rathkinda

one leg up and one hand up

Rathkinda reservoir panorama

This is again one of those must visit temples with plenty to see. There is an ancient Buddha statue at the entrance and not so far away there is a huge rock fortress and a small pond with a cobra carved on a rock. Inside the temple complex one can find a pagoda, image house, bo maluwa and few other building in ruins completing the requirement for a Panchawasa temple. And I would love to re visit this place someday specially because of the scenic rock on the opposite side of the temple complex.

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Henanigala Panchawasa Raja Maha Viharaya

Believed to be one of the sixty four temples built by King Kawanthissa, Senanigala shot to fame when his son, great King Dutugamunu, chose the rock monastery to gather his forces against King Elara, a Tamil king who usurped the throne of Anuradhapura. 

Identified to be one of the two ‘panchavasa’ temples remaining in the country Senanigala holds a stupa, a shrine room, a bodhigara or house around the Bodhi tree, a gathering hall and a preaching hall essential to qualify as a ‘panchavasa’ temple. 

Scattered around the main temple on the rocky plateau are a compound laid with stone slabs anda ninety five feet long drip-ledged cave, which housed the meditating monks of the eras gone by. Among the broken statues are a five feet tall Buddha image and a six feet statue believed to be of King Datugemunu.  A moonstone adorned only with figures of elephants, stairway stones and stone pillars of intricate beauty adores the entrance to the shrine room. The stairway stone or Korawakgal are over five feet tall and are believed to be the tallest found in the country while the shrine room has a two entrance structure unique to Senanigala. A bodhigara or a stone housing built around the Bo tree found near the pond lay in ruins although the stone slabs laid around the Bo tree still remain intact. But the stupa had been completely vandalised by treasure hunters its body carved out and its top taken apart and thrown away. 

Nothing but a road paved with stones wide enough for two horse chariots to pass abreast still remain at the foot of the mountain as witness to the bustling army organisation that was present in and around Senanigala nearly 2100 years ago. 

Turn left onto Mahiyangane-Dimbulagala-Dalukkane Hwy –Diyawiddagama – Nawa Medagama (22 Km From Mahiyanganaya) – Turn to Henanigala road (5 Km) (225 Km 4 Hours 25 Min)

fortress at henanigala

budhdha statue at henanigala panchawasa temple

at the entrance at henanigala panchawasa temple – Click to enlarge

beauties

the cobra carving

an inscription

bodhi maluwa

sannipatha shalawa

plenty of visitors

budu geya

cracked moon stone

bahiwaraya

part of a punkalasa

the pagoda

panoramic view of knuckles from the temple rock

Next we headed along the canal system again and somehow managed to find Kuda gala Punchi Seegiriya. Actually the term is misleading, may be this place is called Seegiriya because it had murals (now not to be found) similar to the ones found in Seegiriya and Gonagolla. There is a rock just like Seegiriya very close to this said site which resembles the shape of Seegiriya rock which adds up to the confusion. The Kudagala complex is an ancient hermitage where one can find a cave which had murals in the center of the rock and there are few drip ledge kuti in the area too. There is a foot path to the summit but we were not in an adventurous mood on that particular day. So after having a look around and enjoying some “dawal dane” we headed towards Dehiaththakandiya road.

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Kuda gala punchi seegiriya

Known as the Kuda-sigiriya for its drip ledged caves adorned with murals Kudagala had been a monastery for the last two thousand years. Situated few miles away from Dehiattakandiya Kudagala is a three hundred meter tall mountain in a range that governs the horizon on the Weheragala road.  

Although most of the caves had been designed as abodes for the meditating monks and had been sponsored by a group of merchants, in the area, according to a rock inscription found on a rock table, one cave carries the remnants of murals drawn on a specially laid plaster inside a cave designed to be a shrine room. The murals drawn with natural colors mainly illustrate red, orange, green and brown and have been polished over with a natural wax to safeguard then from rain and glare. 

The design created with lotus flowers and vines is the only remaining part of a mural, which had once covered the whole ceiling of the cave. A new plaster had been laid over some parts of the mural while some parts, alleged to be comprising a picture of a bodhisattva had been covered with a white paint, done by the ignorant at the beginning of the last century.

The entrance to the cave faces a steep slope and has a natural rock terrace which affords a view of the Mahaweli River and the Hunnasgiriya mountain range. The small holes on floor of the cave would have been made to support the wooden roof, which would have sheltered the cave entrance and the Buddha statue, which lay in ruins today. 

Remnants of a stupa, which would have been once visible to the whole valley below, stands on the top of the mountain, pillaged by treasure hunters while it’s top and bricks lay strewn around. 

Colombo – Kandy – Mahiyanganaya – Giradurukotte Road – Sadungama – Dehiatthakandiya – Aralaganvila Road (6 KM) – Iluk kade Juntion – Kumaragala Mahaweli Village (5Km) – Kudagala(243 KM, 4 hours 31 Min)

seegiriya like rock near kuda gala (image from SLTDA)

kuda seegiriya rock

the cave as seen from the road

a kutiya

a statue

steps towards the cave

a place to meditate

few more steps to tackle

cave with murals

the gap

plaster with faded flower patterns

scenery from the cave – click to enlarge

From Dehiaththakandiya we took off to Aralaganvila and just before entering the Maduru oya national park we came across an archaeology board which forced us to have a look. At the boarder of the national park of Maduru oya Kandegama archaeological reserve can be found. This is a huge complex with 70 drip ledge caves and out of those we did visit only about four or five, there is a newly built pagoda and an image house at one of those huge caves with a drip ledge. The most significant finding was the inscription been on a side rather than on the top of the cave. There is ruined image house also which seems to be partly restored in the premises. According to the chief monk there is plenty more to see around including the reclined vandalized Buddha statue at a summit level cave. Here is a link to an interesting article on Kandegama reserve which has loads of information. After a brief visit we headed back via Maduru oya to Maha oya where we enjoyed a sun set over a paddy field to end our Vesak adventure.

Kandegama mountain

the sthupa

newly built image house

the kutiya with the karaduwa

an image house – click to enlarge

little monk showing us few caves out of 70

steps

where they meditate

another cave

the drip ledge inscription

exploring around

passing by shot of omanugala (may be on another day)

sun set over a paddy field

have a nice sleep traveler

Thanks for reading!