Nuwaragala ..The KIngdom of King Saddhatissa

Nuwaragala was one place that became popular over the last few months and was one of the places that I wanted to visit for a long time I missed many events several times but finally when Kasun from Barefoots said let’s go, I took the opportunity to join them and fulfill my desire finally.

I became acquainted with Barefoots only recently but within a short time I became closer to them, Kasun, Namal, Nadeeshan and Supun who have the same craze as me to travel, adventure and explore.  They were planning this even for some time but because of the unavailability of the dates and people finally a date was fixed for 6^th and 7^th of April and putting away all my other duties, I kept the dates reserved for this expedition.

Like other events, a chat group was created, and we had around 12 that were ready and interested to go. But as usually as the date became nearer, some stated their inability to participate for the journey and finally we ended up with 11 in gang, 2 girls and 9 guys. All logistics were arranged, and the crowd was a mix with some familiar and new faces. It was indeed a long journey from Colombo, and luckily, I decided to join from Kandy which reduced few hours of the journey.

The journey started around 10:45 p.m. on Friday where the van left Colombo. Mahesh who was new to me came to Kandy and stayed with me till the van came from Colombo. We were planning to join the rest of the gang by about 2 but by the time they reached Polgolla it was around 3:30 a.m. So, me and Mahesh joined the rest and we started the journey to Mahaoya.

The journey was a long one through the Kandy Mahiyanaga road, through the bends we moved. It was almost dawn and the sun was about to rise. The sky was becoming a mixture of orange, yellow and red. Namal wanted to take some pics and we stopped the van and went to take some photos. It was indeed a very beautiful morning. The sun was rising through the clouds and we saw it as a fire ball rising through the clouds. After spending nearly an hour there with some drone captures of Mahesh we resumed the journey.

From Mahiyangana to Maha Oya was not a very good road, some of us were sleeping. When we finally reached Maha Oya it was almost 9. We all were hungry. Sri Lal was already there when we came. So, we stopped and had our breakfast, rice, bread with curries. After a heavy meal and using washrooms we started the journey to Rambukan Oya where we were to meet Gune Banda Mama and Wikum ayya who were waiting for us with Sri Lal. It was almost noon and the sun was scorching. We quickly changed into long clothes, packed our stuff and started the journey.

It way ran through the paddy fields and a small stream that lead us to a bigger stream that we had to cross before we entered the forest. Except for few patched of forest areas, most of the way was along a plane without any tree covers, through Mana lands. The place has been cleared to plant teak and as a result most of the forest cover has been lost. It was a harsh sun and the dry weather made us tired right from the beginning. We were all advised to carry as much as water possible. But half of the way we almost finished all water that we carried. Most of us were exhausted. Those who were wearing shorts and short sleeves had to get scratched from the Mana and other thorny leaves that we had to creep through and from the heavy solar rays.

Luckily on half way we had a small stream from which we could get our bottles refilled. This was before we had to make an ascend to the top. The dry Mana was making the path slippery. Lack of shade made the journey less enduring. The group was split into several sub groups depending on the speed that they took to make the journey. Finally, after several small stops Me, Kasun and Kalana were able to reach the top below which we had the cave where we were planning to camp for the night.

The view from the top indeed was beautiful. Although it was sunny a great portion of the surrounding areas were visible from the top. The path was about 9km from the starting point. It was not a hard climb except for the climate that we faced. After spending few minutes, we descended to the cave.

This was s huge cave. There were some Kataram engraved on the rock. This could comfortable house around 100 people. 

Nuwaragala is Believed to be the hideout of Prince Saddatissa during his time of rancor with his brother the great King of Sri Lanka King Dutugamunu, Nuwaragala according to prominent archeologist Ellawala Medhananda Thera was a monastery built by King Lajja Thissa, who ruled the country 119-109 BC. The cave has been partitioned with brick walls and had had a plastered and decorated interior, but the walls and the inner plaster is in ruins today. According to the archeologists the cave and the pathway would have been built for a celebrated monk of the time as in the case of the cave and pathway found in Arankalle, which had been built for Arhant Maliyadeva. We could see some holes bored into the rock above and below, which must have been used to fix stone pillars.

The rest of the crew came slowly but they regained their energy once they settled in the cave. As everyone was hungry, we took our lunch packets and had our lunch. After many just laid down and closed their eyes. Had it not for the hot sun rays, we would have comfortably slept for a few hours. But the heat did not allow us to sleep much longer.

While we were resting, Gune banda mama was making a chicken BBQ. He has pierced chick with some sticks and placed that on a mesh of fire. We were covered with sweat and burning with heat. All of us wanted to have a dip in a water. Luckily there was a pond that was built on the top.

The pond, an eternal water source to the creatures of the wild today but would have been initially built to cater hundreds of Arahant monks, who whiled away in meditation. It was not very deep but the top was filled with mud. The water was not of the best quality, but everyone was eagerly waiting to get some water into the bodies. The sun was about to set, and this was clearly visible from the place where we had the bath. Having a soothing experience both for the body and the eyes, we descended back to the cave ready to prepare ourselves for the night that awaited.

By the time we came, Sri Lal with the rest, had already started to prepare dinner. The BBQ was ready. We took some eggs, and 7 out of the 10 remained intact by the time we opened the box on the top. We had a good meal and a relaxing time with some music. Strawberries added an additional taste to the taste buds.

We were listening to the stories of Gune Banda mama who was a descendant from Vedda population from Danigala. He gave us an account of the legends associated with Nuwaragala and entertained us with some tribal songs. Although we wanted to go and see the elephants, we suppressed the desire as it was midnight and was not a good time to make such a journey. Although we expected some cold, the climate was not that cold. We slept on the floor and almost had a good sleep had it not for the snoring of some of our crew members which made broke the silence of the dark night.

We all woke early than we expected, guess it was the climate on the day and the tiredness. Namal and Mahesh went to capture the sunrise early in the morning while the rest of us were idling on the cave enjoying the freedom and the view below. We had plain tea with jaggery and biscuits. Some went into the jungle to take a poop while the others just brushed their teeth, washed the faced and changed to climb down.

The breakfast was already prepared, roti, Sini sambal and we also had some dhal and salmon left from previous night. It was a good meal. Then the time for photoshoots. Mahesh was able to get some good drone shots and Namal got some good gopro and other shots. Around 10 we started descending.

The pace was relatively fast as the backpacks were light and we were going down. We took a different route to the one day before as we wanted to go to Rambakan Oya tank and have a bath. The sun was still shining brightly, and this was not a path that was taken frequently. So, we had the go through Mana bushes, through many thorny trees and bushes. This was slightly longer than the previous path too. The sun made everyone weary. The group was again split into several small groups. Namal lost his lens cap so he had to go back few meters to pick that. Sandeepa and Milinda was entertaining the crew the drum beat and cartoon songs some of which I have never heard of before.

Finally, me, Sri Lal and Mahesh was able to come out of the forest and reach the Rambakan Oya reservoir. It was past two. All of us had scratches on our bodies, we were also very thirsty and hungry. Everyone wanted to have a bath. So, we walked about another kilometer and reach the Ramabakn oya tank where we had a good bath.

We finally said good bye to Sri Lal, gune banda mama and Wikum. It was wonderful 2 days that 11 of us spent at Nuwaragala. Though the heat made the journey a bit tiresome, it was indeed 2 well spent days in the forest of Mahaoya which a place of kings and monks was once. I’m sure that if we go deep and explore more, we would have been able to discover many legends and ruins associated with the mountain.

Completing another place that I wanted to visit we came back, took our late lunch and headed homes with a bundle of memories that we would talk of at least till our next expedition. Mahesh and I got down from Kandy where Mahesh drove back to his home in Kurunegala and the rest continued the journey to Colombo.

What is important I guess is that we always have a set of friends that take whatever time that they can spare to get away from our ordinary lives to experience the extraordinary. These memories that we create thus would elevate our loves above the levels of the ordinary people. These expeditions are indeed an investment that we make to enrich our souls and to make us complete human beings.

Make sure that we do not put our values down and try to destroy such archaeological

sites by making such graffiti.

Thank you for reading and leave your comments….Until we meet again on another adventure chao.