 Ancient Dagoba Polonnoruwa |   Around the sacred Bodhi tree |  Boy Praying at Aukana Buddha |
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Vesak Poya Vesak Poya is the most important of the Poya days because it commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha. It is a 2 day holiday but because it was tagged on to the weekend, we had the 4 days off together so we hit the Ancient Cities. Over the Vesak period there are paper and bamboo lanterns and fairy lights hung up everywhere and it is really pretty. Poya days are also "dry" days and it is generally not possible to buy alcohol, although some of the touristy guesthouses and hotels will discretely sell you a beer if there aren't many SL's around. The Ancient Cities The Ancient Cities are a bit of a trek from Tangalle so really we needed a long weekend to do them justice. They are North of the hill country in one of the driest parts of the country and were the original centre of Sri Lankan civilisation. This area is often known as the cultural triangle with the main 3 triangle points being Kandy, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura. Dambulla Cave Temples The Dambulla caves date back to the 1st century BC as a place of worship and are known to be where King Valagamba took refuge. They are also referred to as the Royal Rock Temple. And there are 5 separate caves which contain about 150 Buddha images. At the bottom of the hill there is a huge golden Buddha and monster looking thing which is known as the Golden Temple. In the largest and most impressive of the caves there is a vessel which collects water that constantly drips from the ceiling of the cave and is used for sacred rituals. Polonnaruwa Polonnaruwa is a former Royal capital city and is nearly 1000 years old which is a lot younger than Anuradhapura. The ruins are therefore in much better condition and because they are closer in proximity a lot easier to explore. We rented out bicycles because it is the best way to get around the paths and maximise our time in each place. We cycled for a couple of hours early morning before breakfast to try and beat the heat, so we didn't have time to go round them all but we did the main ones - the Royal Palace Group and the Quadrangle which was pretty spectacular. After breakfast we went to the archaeological Museum which was interesting because it had scale models of what the ruined buildings would have looked like. We then got Lesley our driver to drive us to the sites that we didn't make it to on the bikes and the most impressive of these was Gal Vihara which is 4 Buddha images carved out of one long slab of granite and it is huge - the standing Buddha is 7m tall and the reclining one is 14m long and there are also 2 smaller seated Buddha's. The grain of the stone through the images is really pretty, but unfortunately you can't fit them in to one photograph because of the size.
Sigiriya Sigiriya is probably one of the most well-known tourist attractions in Sri Lanka. It is one of the typical brochure shots and is really quite spectacular because it a 200m outcrop of rock (the inner plug of an ancient volvcano which is made of tougher rock than the outer part which long eroded away) in the middle of a flat dry plain. There are pretty water gardens on the lead up to the base of the rock and on the top there is the ruins of an old palace which was used by a rebelling royal Kassapa who heard that his brother was heir to the throne due to their different mothers connections and moved here as a refuge. The climb of the rock and a little look around then descent took around 1.5 hours. It is quite a steep climb and would certainly not be good if you suffered from a fear of heights because in some sections you are literally stepping up tiny mental steps that seem to be welded somehow to the side of the cliff face. Some of these steps have little holes in them and are quite worn and I don't really know how they know that they are still safe (SL health and safety is quite different - not sure they have a standard!) There is a section that takes along a mirror wall (very polished shiny granite wall) and up a spiral staircase to the cave with the Sigiriya damsels paintings which are quite iconic paintings in Sri Lanka. They are quite unusual because wherever you go there are references and paintings of religious nature so to have young, busty ladies is considered quite something and funnily enough people seem to dwell on it! About half way up is the lion platform, Sigiriya is often referred to as Lion Rock. On the lion platform are 2 massive lion paws at either side of the staircase making the way to the summit. The paws are all that remains of a massive statue. Lions were a very important emblem of Sinhalese Royalty The view from the top is really amazing because it is the highest point for miles in each direction. We went down a slightly different route through some caves and by Cobra Hood rock. Anuradhapura Anuradhapura was the most important of the Sri Lankan Royal capitals and the country was ruled from here for over 1000 years. However, because it was so long ago (it became capital in 380 BC), the ruins are a lot more "ruined" than Polonnaruwa which is much younger in the ancient stakes. We visited Polonnaruwa first, so in comparison it just doesn't seem as impressive to the novice eye, but I'm sure to the archaelogical experts among us there would be a lot more value and appreciation of Anuradhapura's smaller scale ruins. Everything is a lot more spread out as well and I was surprised at how the new parts of the city are quite built up around the ruins, so it was actually harder to find them. At Polonnaruwa they are more clustered together and quite seperate from the new parts of town. We hired out bikes again, although this time they were a bit more rickety, with no gears and little shopping baskets on the front. I think we had been quite spoilt before with our quite modern mountain bikes with jazzy gears. Luckily, both places are pretty much on the flat anyhow so didn't pose too much trauma. We were on the bikes here for about 6 hours on and off throughout the day and of course it was an extremely hot day so from that point of view - it was tough going. Cycling in the midday sun really wears you out. We were Aduradhapura on Poya Day so there were crowds of people there and the majority congregate at the Sri Maha Bodhi (Sacred Bodhi Tree) This tree was grown by a cutting brought from India by Princess Sangamitta who is the sister of Mahinda and it was Mahinda who introduced Buddha's teachings to Sri Lanka. It is said to be the oldest historically authenticated tree in the world and has been tended uninterrupted by guardians for over 2000 years. I didn't think it looked to be a very old tree, but I am no tree expert! There are many Dagobas in Anuradhapura and they are huge. A lot of people spend the whole Poya day praying at the Sri Maha Bodhi or beside one of the big Dagobas, dressed in white and they take little picnics with them and stay till the sun goes down. Aukana BuddhaOn the way back to Colombo, we visited the Aukana Buddha, which is a lovely 12m high rock scuplted Buddha. It was made in the same period as the Gal Vihara in Pollonaruwa and is a really beautiful statue. Unlike the majority of statues on the island which are carved in "Abhaya Mudra" (Have no fear), the Aukana statue is in the "Asisa Mudra", the blessing position, with the right hand turned sideways. The best time to see it is at sunrise and we did have the intention momentarily, but it is a considerable drive of a couple of hours from where we were staying so really would have meant a 4am departure - looked just fine mid morning. It was a really great way to spend the holiday weekend and although a very long trek home for me in the South - (took me 13 hrs), was definately well worth it. I have definately had much temple and Buddha exposure this wkend - you can never see enough Buddha's though!
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