Charm of the dawn

Sri Lanka is famous for its exotic natural beauty in whatever the province she secures. The hill country is the middle of the island where anyone could assume the world’s best scenic pictorial beauty and the most venerable area, which carries the Tooth Relic of the Buddha in Kandy and the sacred blotch of the foot of the Buddha placed on the highest elevation of the mountain which called the Sri Pada. It is a holy rock where the four major rivers, Kalu, Kelani, Mahaweli and Walawe commence flowing down from a holy sprout with the blessings of the Buddha’s foot covering north, east, south and west. Sri Lanka does not have to speak a day of a heavy drought. The lush greenery is printed as a picture from the very mountain top, bouncing with different attire of nature according to climatic condition in flora and fauna up to the end skirt of the bluish sea surrounding the island.

Adam’s Peak is the tallest area of the mountain range. It is also famous as Butterfly Rock based on the belief that butterflies fly towards this and knock their heads against this holy rock where they breathe their last with the blessings of the Buddha. Ancient history speaks of Samantha Kuta, Saman Gira and Sri Pada. Yet Christians do believe that this holy footprint belongs to Adam who was created as the first man by the Lord with his wife Eve and this land is the Garden of Eden. Hence the British named it as Adam’s Peak. There goes another rumour that this print on top of 2243 miles high from sea level, belongs to St Thomas or even Lord Shiva.

Whichever legend one should care to believe this place has even a pilgrimage centre for over 1000 years. The kings of ancient years provided resting places to shelter the weary pilgrims up to the summit.

The pilgrim season is on from December and runs until Vesak festival. The Tourists and locals make the climb up the countless steps to the top. From the summit to the foot of the mountain it is illuminated in season by a string of lights which look very pretty as they snake up the mountainside. Out of season you can still do the walk, but must have a torch. It is a seven-hour climb.

You must also witness the first rays of dawn light up the holy mountain. The fine view of the hill country rises to the east, while to the west the land slopes away to the sea. The shadow of the conic shape of the peak is visible to the west. A very rare holy shadow of the nature you will never see anywhere in the world. John Stills in Jungle Tide describes the peak as a vast and revered cathedral of the human race.

As this seven-mile climb goes up, the climate becomes very chilly where one should carry warm clothes. There are approx. 5200 uphill man made steps to climb with many resting places and restaurants. One should start the climb at 8 pm to witness the charms in the dawn.

You are not allowed to carry litter, alcohol, cigarettes, meat and recorded music as a respect to the atmosphere.

For many people, the hardest part is backtrekking. The endless steps can shake the strongest knees and if your shoes don’t fit well then toe-jam starts to hunt too. When coming down, a hat is required as the morning sun rays are quite scorching.

The mini Adam’s Peak is located in Ella in Badulla. You can also visit Ravana Ella cave, falls, temple Bambaragama falls, Ravana wild sanctuary etc.