Saturday, January 31, 2015

Udawalawe National Park

On the border of the Rathnapura and Moneragala districts, is the Udawalawe national park some 165km from the capital. The 30,820-hectare expanse of the park provides refuge to a considerable population of elephants., for which it is mainly noted. There are also panther, deer, buffalo, wild boar and bears frequenting the park. It is also famous for its bird especially peacock and butterfly population. With camping facilities available, like at the Yala park, udawalawe provides a wonderful elephant watching experience to any traveler keen on observing the gentlegiants in their most natural of habits in the country. In closer proximity to some of country’s most picturesque mountain ranges of bambaragala, ulgala and kalthota the park is also home to the radiant Diyawinna falls, providing quite rich package of ecology to the visitor. The park is also home to some rare medicinal and other valuable plants species. The temperature too is very similar to yala










Friday, January 30, 2015

Tissamaharama Temple

Thissamaharamaya is located in Southern province of Sri Lanka. It used to be the capital of the Sinhalese Kingdom of Ruhuna on 3rd century B.C. Only few buildings from that period can still be seen today. The large artificial Tissa Wewa lake, which was a part of a sophisticated irrigation system, also dates from that time.

Today , the town mainly serves as a starting point of visits to Yala National park and Katharagama.

Tissamaharama Raja Maha Vihara is a Buddhist temple in Tissamaharama, Sri Lanka. It was built in the 2nd century BC by King Kavan Tissa of Ruhuna (Southern Sri Lanka). The site was consecrated by Lord Buddha himself, who spent some time in meditation there with 500 arhats (individuals who have reached enlightenment). The Tissamaharama Dagoba which is situated in the premises of Tissamaharama Raja Maha Vihara is one of the largest stupas in Sri Lanka. A stupa is a Buddhist dome-shaped religious monument found largely on the Indian subcontinent and also called a dagoba in Sri Lanka.












Thursday, January 29, 2015

Situlpawwa Temple kataragama

Situated in Kirinda in Hambanthota District, Sithulpawwa Rajamaha Viharaya has also being called Chiththala Pabbatha in the ancient texts. Stone Inscriptions has identified this location as “Chithala Paawatha Vehera”. This temple complex is attributed to King Kavanthissa who ruled southern area of the country.
Sithulpawwa is known as a location where thousands of Arhaths lived at one time. According to folklore it is said that a novice monk called Thissa who has reached the state of Arhath lived here and later a stupa was built encasing his remains thus this also has been known as Tissa Thera Chetiya.
Sithulpawwa Rajamaha Viharaya contains large number of stupas, cave temples, Buddha statues a stupa house and image houses spread among a large land area. Among these there is a cave temple with ancient paintings thought to be belonging to the 3rd century BC. These drawings have been done on a thin layer of plaster on the rock surface and primarily used red – yellow colours.The main stupa has been built by flattening the top of a rocky mountain. There are two approaches to the stupa. Stone steps have been cut from the south and the north. The boundary walls of the maluwa area have been built using large rocks. Remains of many buildings can be seen on the Northern side of the stupa.



Sri Padaya  , adam's peak

Adam's Peak (also Sri Pada; Sinhalese Samanalakanda - "butterfly mountain", and also "Sri Paadaya"; Tamil Sivanolipatha Malai), is a 2,243 m (7,359 ft) tall conical mountain located in central Sri Lanka. It is well known for the Sri Pada, "sacred foot print”, Muslims Adam rock formation near the summit, which in Buddhist tradition is held to be the footprint of the Buddha, in Hindu tradition that of Shiva and in Islamic and Christian tradition that of Adam.
It is an important pilgrimage site, especially for Buddhists. Pilgrims walk up the mountain, following a variety of difficult routes up thousands of steps. The journey takes several hours at least. The peak pilgrimage season is from December to May, and the goal is to be on top of the mountain at sunrise, when the distinctive shape of the mountain casts a triangular shadow on the surrounding plain and can be seen to move quickly downward as the sun rises.Climbing at night can be a remarkable experience, with the lights of the path leading up and into the stars overhead. There are rest stops along the way.
Access to the mountain is possible by 6 trails: Ratnapura-Palabaddala, Hatton-Nallathanni, Kuruwita-Erathna, Murraywatte, Mookuwatte & Malimboda. The Nallathanni & Palabaddala routes are most favored by those undertaking the climb, while the Kuruwita-Erathna trail is used less often; these trails are linked to major cities or town by bus, accounting for their popular use. The Murraywatte, Mookuwatte & Malimboda routes are hardly used, but do intersect with the Palabaddala road midway through the ascent. The usual route taken by most pilgrims is ascent via Hatton and descent via Ratnapura; although the Hatton trail is the steepest, it is also shorter than any of the other trails by approximately five kilometers.