Rathnapura-Wewalwaththa-Balangoda road is 43km in distance and you can enjoy 13+ waterfalls in one day. This is my experience of waterfall hunting along this road. Enjoy it.

You can view following waterfalls along this road (order from Rathnapura to Balangoda)

1. Anda Ella falls
2. Goxin Falls
3. Pareyyian Falls
4. Katukithul Falls
5. Hal Ella Falls
6. Dehena Ella
7. Madanagiri Falls
8. Pandi Oya Ella Falls
9. Wewal Falls
10. Alupola Ella
11. Beruwaththa Ella
12. Unnamed waterfall
13. Madde Kanda Falls
14. Polwaththa Amuna Ella

We started the journey around 8.30am from Rathnapura and our first visit was Anda Ella falls.

Anda Ella Falls ආදා ඇල්ල

This 15m tall waterfall will come across at Galabada area. Waterfall is barely visible to the main road. You can get the foot pathway immediately before the bridge and walk up along the stream to reach it.

Direction towards the waterfall

Anda Ella Falls

Anda Ella Falls

Anda Ella Falls

Our next target was Goksin falls and Pareyyian falls at Halakanda area.

Goxin Falls ගොක්සිo ඇල්ල

Rathganga River makes this 50m tall waterfall at Halakanda (හැලකද) village. The British planter-Goxin was used to have aquatic sports at this waterfall to give this English name to the waterfall. It flows into a deep pool and it’s depth is not known. There were number of deaths happened here by falling down from the waterfall. Therefore villagers are scared to roam around the waterfall.

We turned from Nugepola (නුගේපොල) to get Dehenakanda (දෙහෙනකන්ද) road (this is the road to go to Sri Pada from Mukkuwaththa ) and got the turn at Kambiadiya (කම්බිඅඩිය) to reach Halakanda village. (There is a board mentioning Halakanda Vidyalaya at this turning point). After travel about 3km along this gravel road you will come across a bridge. Goxin falls is just below the bridge.

There is a foot pathway in it’s right hand side to reach the base. Fortunately there were two villagers to show us this foot pathway.

The bridge over Rathganga-රත්ගග

On top of Goxin Falls

Goxin falls and it’s base pool

Goxin Falls

Pareyyian Falls-පරෙයියන් ඇල්ල

Rathganga makes this beautiful waterfall after about 50m following Goxin falls. We continued the road through Halakanda village and got left hand turn to the village temple. After meeting chief priest of the temple we headed towards Pareyyian Falls.

There is a cement foot steps towards Rathganga there. They have built a nice “Kutiya-කුටිය” closer to the waterfall.

According to the chief priest there is a huge natural cave closer to the waterfall which can accommodate around 1500 people once. Then he mentioned about a drawing of a pigeon at the wall of the cave.

We didn’t attempt to reach the cave due to slippery rocks following rain.

Pareyyian Falls is about 20m tall.

Pareyyian Falls –For me it is like a pigeon

Pareyyian falls and it’s base pool

Pareyyian Falls

Pareyyian Falls and it’s natural cave

“Kutiya” facing Rathganga

According to the villager who showed the foot pathway to get down to Goxin falls, there is another waterfall about 1km above Goxin falls. It is called Uthurupath Ella. (උතුරුපත් ඇල්ල) But we didn’t try to go there.

We spent a lot of time on Goxin and Pareyyian falls and rushed back to Wewalwaththa road. Next three cascades were road side: Katu Kithul Ella, Hal Ella and Dehena Ella.

Katu Kithul Ella-කටුකිතුල් ඇල්ල

This 15m tall road side cascade will come across at Amunathanna (අමුණතැන්න) area. We have noticed thorny Palmyra trees around the upper part of the fall.

Two in 1. Katu Kithul Ella and Hal Ella

Katu Kithul Ella

Hal Ella Falls-හල් ඇල්ල

This 7m tall 12m wide road side cascade is found at Amunathanna area immediately next to Katu Kithul Falls. According to literature, there are some Hal trees at upper part of the waterfall to give this name.

Just before Katu Kithul Ella, there is a water stream flows towards the road. This is actually not a waterfall.

Hal Ella

Hal Ella

Hal Ella

Water stream can be misunderstood as waterfall

Dehena Falls-දෙහෙන ඇල්ල

After few turns from Kate Kithul Falls and Hal Falls we came across this tall beauty at 25^th km post. Dehena Falls is another road side cascade. Dehena Dola (දෙහෙන දොල) forms this 73m tall beautiful fall. During rainy season it will drizzle towards the vehicles on the road.

Distance view of Dehena Falls

Dehena Falls

Dehena Falls-closer view

Dehena Falls

Madanagiri and Pandi Oya Ella falls (මදනගිරි ඇල්ල හා පාඩි ඔය ඇල්ල)

Madanagiri and Pandi Oya Ella falls are situated close to each other and formed by Pandi Oya.

It is difficult to reach these waterfalls as you have to go up along Pandi Oya (පාඩි ඔය).

Both waterfalls can be seen from main road after you pass Pandi Oya.

Madanagiri Ella has 68m height and Pandi Oya Falls 45m is tall.

People are bathing at Pandi Oya

Madanagiri Falls (left hand side) and Pandi Oya Falls (right hand side)

Madanagiri Falls

Pandi Oya Falls

After passing these two cascades we got right hand turn at Diya Bibila (දිය බිබිල) junction to view Wewal Ella falls.

Wewal Ella Falls-වේවැල් ඇල්ල

This 15m tall and 24m wide waterfall is formed by Wewal Dola (වේවැල් දොළ). As there were ample of Wewal trees around the waterfall in those days, it was called Wewal Falls.

We drove along Batewela (බටේවෙල) road and asked about the waterfall from villagers at Waligoda (වැලිගොඩ) junction. They didn’t know a waterfall of that kind of name but directed us to a waterfall just below a bathing place at Wewal Dola. We drove back and reached that bathing place. But that small waterfall didn’t tally with our description.

A boy who was there told us about another waterfall at upstream of Wewal Dola. We crossed Wewal Dola and walked about 500m towards upstream through thick Mana bushes to reach the waterfall, might be correct Wewal Ella Falls.

It had low water level and it flowed under a bridge.

Crossing the stream to follow the foot pathway

Wewal Ella Falls

Wewal Ella Falls

Wewal Ella Falls

Wewal Ella Falls-Upper part

Wewal Ella Falls with it’s base pool

Wewal Ella Falls and it’s base pool

It was around 2pm and we came back to main road and drove towards Wewalwaththa junction. On our way we inquired about Bambarabotuwa waterfall (බඹරබොටුව ඇල්ල) which is situated behind Bambarabotuwa church. Nobody knew such a waterfall. But there might be a waterfall as we noticed few water streams drooling from the mountain which is situated behind the church.

Note the water streams drooling from the rock.

After having late lunch from Wewalwaththa junction (though it was a small town, had lunch at 2.30pm) we turned towards Alupola Estate road to reach famous Alupola Ella.

Alupola Ella-අලුපොල ඇල්ල

This 68m tall waterfall is situated at Alupola estate. Alupola Falls is formed by the water stream driven from Bathurugala (බතුරුගල) Mountain.

Alupola Falls.

Alupola Falls

Alupola Ella –Upper part

Alupola Ella-Upper part

Alupola Ella with it’s all parts

After climbing most lower part of Alupola Falls

Our next target was another famous waterfall called Beruwaththa Falls. You can continue along the road following Alupola waterfall or can come back to Wewalwaththa to reach Beruwaththa Falls. Either ways you have to join with Wewalwaththa-Balangoda road and driver further. But there are no board indicating the foot pathway to Beruwaththa Falls. It is in between 1km-2km posts. (Kilometer posts now starting from Wewalwaththa Town towards Balangoda).

View of Beruwaththa Falls from Alupola Estate. This can be view from several places.

Beruwaththa Falls-බේරුවත්ත ඇල්ල

Beruwaththa Falls is 50m in height and is formed by water streams origin from Rakshagala (රාක්ෂගල) Mountain. The water from Beruwaththa Falls later joined with Alupola Dola (අලුපොල දොල) and Ravula Dola (රැවුල දොල). Finally it joins with the longest River of Sri Lanka-Mahaweli River.

This is the land mark to get the turn to Beruwaththa Falls. There is a foot pathway immediate next to this house.

Heading to Beruwaththa Falls

The Beauty

Beruwaththa falls with it’s base pool

Beruwaththa Falls

Companions of the journey

We continued along Balangoda road and came across another beautiful waterfall after 3-4kms following Beruwaththa falls. It was about 15m tall and we could notice another one just above it. We stopped there for snapping and Dethanagala (දෙතනගල) was clearly visible from there.

Road winds around the waterfall

She is the beauty. Don’t know the name.

It seems to be a bathing place

Closer view

Dethanagala

It was time around 6pm and there were two waterfalls to be completed my list. We rushed towards Balangoda and stopped at Meddekanda junction. Meddekanda Falls is clearly visible at Meddekanda Junction.

Meddekanda Falls (මැද්දේකන්ද ඇල්ල)

There was a road in front of the school lane at Meddekanda junction. We drove along that and turned to first left hand side road. Then turned to first right hand side road and went till road ends. From there we followed the foot pathway parallel to the water canal and reached the base of the waterfall through mana bushes. It was a beautiful waterfall but we didn’t have much time to enjoy it as it was almost 7pm.

Meddekanda waterfall is 18m tall and earlier was used to bath elephants, called Ali Wala Ella (අලි වල ඇල්ල).

View of Meddekanda Falls from Meddekanda junction.

Meddekanda Falls

Meddekanda falls with it’s base pool

Meddekanda Falls-photographs are not much clear as surrounding was dark

Closer view of Meddekanda Falls

As it was not a good time to visit waterfalls we abounded our next plan and headed towards Balangoda. Our next day was allocated to Balangoda-Hatton road. At the end of that day we again came along Balangoda-Wewalwaththa road to finish our previous day targets. Last one was Polwaththa Amuna Ella.

Polwaththa Amuna Ella (පොල්වත්ත අමුණ ඇල්ල)

I got to know about this waterfall by amazing Lanka. This is situated at Bulathgama (බුලත්ගම) area in Balangoda-Wewalwaththa road (about 4-5kms from Balangoda town). Then we drove along the Vidyala Mawatha about 1km till we come across an area of paddy fields. We stopped there and got the help of a villager to reach this waterfall.

We had to go across the paddy fields (on “Niyara- නියර”) to reach this waterfall. But we only could grab the fainted view of waterfall as there was further walking through a tea patch to reach the waterfall. As my friend was hurry to go home I gave up that idea.

As it is situated in Polwaththa Amuna, it is called Polwaththa Amuna Ella. Not Amuran Ella. For my view, it is about 20m tall waterfall.

The way on paddy fields…Dethanagala is in back drop.

Somewhere down the main waterfall. This is kind of a bathing place

Distance view of Polwaththa Amuna Ella

Fainted view of Polwaththa Amuna Ella

Motor bike for the journey

Have a safe journey

Map around Dumpandurawa – click to enlarge

Map around Gal kotte – Click to elarge

Two years back I worked at Inginiyagala hospital and one day I came across a retired DWC officer who is well known because of the newspaper articles he wrote about Gal oya national park. Somehow we became friends and one day he mentioned about a special cave close to Mulgama where Vedda paintings could be found. With my hectic schedule and days passing by I totally forgot about it until few months back. Three months back I went to Himidurawa and on that day I got down at Dumpandurawa and inquired about the cave, the input I got was a very positive one. So I was determined to go there in near future. Few weeks back I decided to give it a go so I got Akalanka to join me on this venture.

We left early morning and reached Dumpandurawa at 6.30am. My god we were too early and the locals were still a sleep. Somehow an old man got up and welcomed us (at the last house of Dumpandurawa) and we were offered a tea cup too. He then went house to house trying to find someone to guide us there and finally we found Sugath. The walk towards the cave was a 1.5km hike from Bibila – Inginiyagala road and the initial stretch was through a short forest patch which ended at a huge chena area. The whole Chena was bordering a branch of Namal oya which was dried out due to the drought and it was the Provincial border as well. From the Chena we trekked further for about 500m’s through the dry zone forest until we reached a rock where the cave could be found.

branch of namal oya dried out

burnt for cultivation’s

entering the forest

the forest path

The first cave we came across was a small one and I didn’t see anything interesting there but few meters away there was a huge cave almost close to 200ft and the sight of it simply took me into a state of hypnotism. I knew there were cave paintings here but not so many. The whole 200ft length was covered with paintings and we didn’t know how to and where to start from. At the edge of the cave there is a view point towards Namal oya valley which flows below and the river is surrounded by mountains. This point would have been a good vantage point for them and aided them to hunt effortlessly. The size of the cave the length of it plus the valley below must had aided them to establish a settlement here for many years. To have so many cave drawings they must have stayed there for many years. The drip ledge suggests that this might have been inhibited by monks in the latter periods too. I think this place has cave art even more than the amount found at Wettumbegala (siyambalanduwa). This location needs archeological preservation as same as Wettumbegala. After having some “kavupee” we returned back to the main road and thanked Sugath for his guidance.

first cave we came across

200ft cave

view from the cave.. good vantage point for cave man

rest of the cave

plenty

hunter on top of an elephant

an elephant with a caveman on its back, the lower one looks like a smiley

and more

painted on dark background

wow

pre historic saliya asokamala :-)

may be a couple

more	have 6 fingers just like Neeththawas

hundreds

at a water hole… there is one guy on a bull

elephant and a porcupine

and more

a water hole?

An ele at a water hole

view towards the valley from the cave

කරඹ

returning back

a nearby lake at Nelliyadda

with her grandfather

Nelumbo nucifera

From here we left towards Pitakumbura side and at Maladanamabe we started walking towards Pammadilla oya. There is a hermitage which was done by King Budhdhadasa right across the river bordering the nearby mountain. After crossing Pammadilla oya via the suspension bridge we continued walking for 1Km through the typical Nilgala forest canopy. The hermitage has 3 well-built caves and two monks could be found meditating here. We did not forget to have a long chat with the monk before exploring the area. There were many Drip ledged caves in the vicinity but the most fascinating one was the one found with an entrance and an exit. There were broken brick walls showing off the glory of the past years too. This hermitage is actually located in the buffer zone and some locals are displeased with it because they cannot engage in illegal activities in the area. After a short stay we retuned back via the same path and headed towards Gal oya to have a bath and end our day

crossing pammedilla oya

pammadilla oya

where dane is offered

the foot path towards the hermitage

cave at Gal kotte

and another

another cave

more caves

abandoned

ah the best one

through the cave

remains

entrance

view towards the forest

place to meditate

returning back

mushrooms

aralu

“Who’s been to the Dalada Maligawa or Tooth Temple?”

I know it’s one of the silliest of questions I could’ve asked you but I had to ask it to enter my fairy tale. I’m sure most of the Sri Lankans regardless of their religion have visited this magical place on earth where the Left Canine Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha that was retrieved from the sandalwood funeral pyre of Kushinagar is kept. This is also visited by many foreigners and as the statistics reveal it is the second place visited mostly after the Elephant Orphanage at Pinnawala. At an estimate about 80-90% of all the tourists pay a visit to Dalada Maligawa.

“Ok now how many of you have been fortunate enough to see the Tooth Relic Dagoba?”

Now the numbers starting to diminish, don’t they? There are hundreds and thousands and millions of people who go many miles just to get a peek at this beautiful and holy Dagoba when it’s unveiled for the public during the rituals and special occasions. Now you might want to confront me asking what they carry on the elephant back during the Esela Perahera. Isn’t it the same Tooth Relic Dagoba? Well I don’t know for sure and I don’t think it is either. It will be a huge security risk for the sacred relic to take it on elephant back through those streets. I’m assuming it probably is a mock-up of the original holy Dagoba.

“Now how many of you have been that extra fortunate to have seen the Tooth Relic Dagoba at close quarters in its own residence?”

Well, I doubt if the numbers are anywhere near a respectable amount. It’s so difficult to get such an opportunity. It’s not only that but also you must be very lucky to be able to get that closer to the holy Dagoba. You can get this opportunity if you manage to obtain an almsgiving to the Dalada Maligawa but trust me, it’s like once in a blue moon you get that lucky. The other is that you need to have a contact of the guardians of the Tooth Relic which might (I repeat might) pave the way for a close viewing.

Ok, we got the chance from the latter and were extremely lucky to have witnessed this Holy Relic Dagoba at almost touching distance. Ok, let’s get to the story at hand now that I’ve done my boasting.

Tour Highlights:

1. Gadaladeniya Temple.
2. Lankathilaka Temple.
3. Embekke Kataragama Devalaya.
4. Dalada Maligawa.

We left for Kandy around 8.30am (so much late for my liking) on a bright sunny day. It felt very awkward to travel with 10 members in a crammed van with very little space to move about. There was hardly any talk of the usual topics and we by and large remained quiet. After a lot of delays and traffic jams (travelling along A1 is a true nightmare regardless of the day and time now) we arrived at Pilimathalawa around 1.30pm and decided to go see the three main attractions closer to the main road.

Gadaladeniya Temple

Gadaladeniya RMV was built by the King Buvanekabahu IV in 1344 according to an inscription found on site. This beautiful temple is located on a flat rocky hill in a village called Diggala. It’s believed that the chief architect was a South Indian named Ganeshvarachari thus giving it South Indian architectural design. Kandyan-era King Sri Veeraparakrama Narendrasinghe handed the guardianship of this temple to Ven. Welivita Sri Saranankara Thero sometime in 1707-1739. During the King Parakrambahu VI (1412-1467), this temple was renovated and whitewashed.

The image house of the complex is the oldest building. There are similar architectural designs identified between this temple and Natha Devalaya, Kandy and Nalanda Gedige, Matale.

There’s a bit of confusion when it comes to the real name of the temple. An inscription has indicated this temple as “Dharma Kirthi Viharaya” which is believed to be the name of the founding Buddhist Monk who initiated the work. The “Nikaya Sangrahaya” however differs from it and identifies this temple as “Saddharmathilake”. To make things more interesting “Saddharmalankaraya” identifies this as “Gadaladeniya Viharaya” probably after the village it is located.

For more details, refer to this link.

The history

Entering

Let’s go in and see

Tiny image house, there are four on the four sides

Most of it faded

Even the wooden door is full of paintings which is common in Kandyan-era

Inner walls

The elephant carvings of granite were a common sight too

Another of the four entrances

Interior

Inner walls as usual full of fading paintings

Ok, let’s move on

Some more elephant carvings

The main image house still under renovation

Tiny pond in the courtyard

Just a single flower

Just look at that

Going to the image house

Artistic steps

Guard stones

Tiny elephant carved of solid granite

Along the steps

The granite frame at the entrance

Pillars carved from granite

Lions’ carvings

Solid three-legged wooden bench

Found inside

The main statue

One of the two paneled door

Safe and secure

See the artwork?

Paintings on the door

Some more

Huge Buddha Statue

Side angle

Monumental Relic Casket

An old metallic statue

Relics all around

Interior of it

Side by statues

Another

Can see a good Makara Thorana overhead

Moonstone at the hall adjoining the hall

Damaged at places

Some more subtly carved ones

Another

Well time to go

Final look up the top

Lankathilaka Temple

Lankathilaka RMV which was built during the Gampola Kingdom was built at the crest of a large rock named “Panhalgala” overlooking the Hantana Mountain Range in the Hiripitiya village off Gadaladeniya. This too was built during Gampola-era under King Buvanekabahu IV. Senadhilankara, he king’s chief minister, had taken the initiative to build this temple and given the task to another South Indian architect named Spathirayar.

According to the legendary archeologist Dr. Senarath Paranavithana this had been used as both a Buddhist Temple as well as a Hindu Kovil for worshipping. He further states that there are similarities found in the Nagayon Temple in Pagan built in the 11^th Century. This proves that there’s a mixture of Indo-China architectural designs used in this.

Another very interesting thing is the statues of Gods Vishnu and Saman depicted with their wives. According to the archaeological officer on site, this is something not found or depicted anywhere else. You can see these above (on either side) of the Buddha Statue in the main image house. If you visit on a Wed or a Sat, you should be able to see them in the respective Devalaya too.

For more details, refer to this link.

History

Entering

Muddy ground

This is one of the entrances to a Devalaya

This one was off the main complex

If I’m not mistaken, this is God Aluth Nuwara Dedimunda

Time to explore

Two different drums for the festivals

Dagoba

Clear blue sky is missing

This was at the base of Dagoba on the rocky surface

Going to the front

In the distance, you can see the Hanthana

Main image house is through this

Wanna go

Saw a similar one at Gadaladeniya

The pavilion in front of the entrance to the image house

Locked doors

Ok, let’s go

The moonstone like place

Makara Thorana

Guard stones

Just by the door to the interior

Looks ancient but not sure how old

Looking down at the pavilion

Just before the door side by side

Not sure what this represents though

The door that leads to the inner sanctum

Top of it

The main image house with a huge statue

Portrait

Makara Thorana but note the two gods either side with their queens

Other statues

God Vishnu with his wife

And God Saman with his wife

The roof still in good condition protecting the statues

Wall paintings in good quality

Some more

Zoomed

Ceiling

Hansa Puttuwa, the significance is that there are 4 swans whereas the typical one has only 2

The original statue that King Buvanekabahu worshipped

Time to move on

Long hall

Brief description of what it is

The entrance to the temple

The roof

Before we left

Embekke Kataragama Devalaya

Embekke Devalaya was built in 14-15^th Century was initially used as the Audience Hall (Magul Maduwa) by the Gampola-era kings. It was later converted and dedicated to the Sinhalese War-God Kartikeya or popularly known as God Kataragama.

According to archaic documents and the epic Embekke Varnanawa composed by Delgahagoda Mudiyanse, it was built during the Gampola period of King Wickrema Bahu II (1371 AD). One of his consorts named Henakanda Biso Bandara, in association with a drummer named Rangama, as told in a miraculous dream, is supposed to have built this Devalaya and dedicated it to God Kataragama in a superb three-storied building which is now no more.

In the Drumming Hall (Dig-ge), are to be found sculptured in the medial panels of the wooden pillars on the beams conventional Sinhalese designs of the Swans, the Double-headed Eagle, the Woman growing out of the Vine, Bacchanalian Figures in Characteristic Pose, a Wrestling Pair, Dancers and Soldiers, Men and Women in fluent and graceful movement. These unique carvings display the skills of the ancient masters and bear testimony to the craftsmanship of the school of wood sculptor of the period.

The roof of the Embekke Devalaya bears some ingenuous revelations of classic carpentry masterpieces in fixing the rafters. The ‘Madol Kurupuwa’ is one of the finest examples of medieval carpentry excellence. It is a wooden pin (Madol Kurupuwa) which holds together 26 rafters at the hipped end of the roof of the Dig-ge of Embekke Devalaya.

Some people mistakenly call this as the “Keni Madala” which is not true. The Keni Madala refers to a full circle of rafters joined together by one wooden pin but here at Embekke Devalaya, it’s only a half circle of rafters are joined together and is called Madol Kurupawa.

In terms of the wood carvings, there are 125 series of Decorations, 256 Liyawel, 64 Lotus Designs in Pekada, 30 decorative patterns on timber, roof members, making a total of 514 such exquisite carvings. The UNESCO has identified this as a unique set of wooden carvings which is not found anywhere else in the world.

For more details, refer to this link.

The legend

Entering

Main hall

Closer

Typical Makara Thorana

Lion depicted either side

This is inside; remember a similar statue was at Lankathilaka?

Ancient bells

Look at those locks

This is somewhat common

To the right of the main complex

This is where the weapons are stored

Tiny image house next to that

Wall paintings too

Still in good condition

Some more

Ceiling

Gods depicted either side of the Makara Thorana

Left

Another artistic lock

The door too is painted

Another angle of the lock

Go and see the famous wood carvings

First this

See the Madol Kurupawa

Count and see if there are 26 rafters. If there were rafters all around, then it becomes a Keni Madala

Wrestlers

Images

Images

All around

Images

Images

Images

Images

This is known as Kiwisum Muna

Images

Lion attacking a tusker

Images

Images

Images

Images

Images

The rafters along the roof are too carved beautifully

Look at this

Another part of the complex

The Kitchen and the Storage of Grains

Main complex

Time to go

Temple of Tooth – Dalada Maligawa

As I’ve done a short introduction of our journey, we’ll go straight to the pictures. Mainly, I simply have no words to express the feeling of seeing the Sacred Dagoba at close quarters. It’s something one would get at a very rare opportunity. Please be warned that you can’t take pictures at such close proximity to the Dagoba but when it’s opened briefly, you might get lucky to take a long-range shot at it providing you’re in a steady position among the many who push and pull to take a peek with your camera ready at the right time.

By the way, it is not a secret that the barbaric terrorists attacked this sacred place in 1998 which caused a lot of damage but miraculously saved the holy chamber where the tooth relic is stored. Ultimately, those brutal terrorists were wiped out and it’s no secret that the attack on this holy site was the reason for the downfall for them. Archaeological experts from both Sri Lanka and overseas did a remarkable job of getting this back to what it was after the attack.

For more details, refer to this link.

Gloomy sky

Bogambara Tank, many call it Nuwara Wewa which is in fact in Anuradhapura

Common sight along the lake bank

Looks as if he’s got some kind of a disease

Sleeping

Funny way to sleep

Entering the main complex

Anagarika Dharmapala Statue

There it is with the moat

Most sacred place for the Buddhists

Paththirippuwa

Moat in the front

Paththirippuwa another angle

Going in

Colorful ceiling

Ground chamber of the Weda Sitina Geya or where the relic is kept

Gold plated fence protecting it from intrusions

Back entrance

From the image house next door

The upper chamber where the rituals are conducted

Main image house

Closer

Those white statues are mainly given by the countries like Thailand, Burma, etc.

Golden Buddha

Up close

The ceiling is very beautiful too

Many things to look at and worship

One of those statues

And another with a different posture

Another one

Oh, a tusker

See the carvings on it

How about now?

Roof

Buddha statues line all along the hall

Artistic work along the ceiling as well

The statues that line the wall

There were paintings too above the statues depicting special occasions of the Buddha’s life

Here is the evening rituals

Getting ready

Lower chamber

Flags hung along the corridors

Granite work

Here’s at the Paththirippuwa

Statues

Where people can freely go and worship

Another donation from one of the Buddhist countries

Another like the above

They kept it going

Been wanting to stay at the premises till dark

Beautifully lit

Like heaven

It only needed a full moon overhead

Ok folks, I hope you liked the pictures. I just wanted to keep you up-to-date with the latest set of pictures. Hope you like them and will get a chance to see the Representation of the Living Buddha with your own eyes. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday gift. So tomorrow (it’ll be too late by the time you read this) I’m gonna have the best birthday.

This is Sri signing off for now and will see you with another story later.

Take care and keep travelling!

After hectic 3 months of studies and few “ordinary relaxing trips with family” I finally had little precious time to do some explorations. But as most us well aware that next difficult thing in planning a hike is finding partners. As I was free only on week days I decided to hike all alone. Then I needed to find a suitable place to hike as a lone trekker. I remembered Adara Kanda and contacted Ashan ayya, and got to know that the trail is well cleared and can do by myself. With bits of back ground work I departed from Colombo around 4am. I kept a close eye on weather at fallingrain site and knew there was low cloud cover throughout the day which could be resulted in rain if I was unlucky and accuweather even predicted 51% chance of light rain around 11am in the morning.

I went to my old familiar Ratnapura by my vehicle and upto Pambahinna by bus. I was able to get down at Pambahinna junction aroung 7am and walked forward along the Badulla main road until 161/4 bridge. At this bridge road takes an elbow bend. I was looking for a gravel road but was surprised to find a paved road. I walked along happily but after 50 meters it was a steep ascend and the paved part was over. After walking about 1 km along the road; suddenly road turned to a footpath. But after 25 meters it again turned to a proper road only to turn again to a footpath after another few hundred meters.

I continued to walk along the footpath which lies by the side of a small stream. I truly appreciated the beauty of this part of the trial only on return journey. People who have done this trail know what I meant. I wish British left us with few more rain & mountain forests rather than useless pine plots.

Footpath ends at a cave monastery. The real trail head lies at the end of the footpath. Trail head lies on the other side of the stream which I crossed just behind the toilet of the monastery.

The monastery

Tiny window…..

So many living things than a pines plot….

This is what I need to conquer….

At the beginning, I walked through the pines patch. Sooner it turned out to be a steep climbing. But as there was recent a sign of rain, the path was bit cleared without pines pins. In some areas the climb was not so steep and some areas it was steep. Same with the pines patch with on and off open areas.

Early morning rays….

The climb……

Finally off the pines plot

First sight of the target…. As emerged from Pines plot….

After the pines plot path is very very clear. Along the path in the middle section loosened white rock pieces are to be found which distinct the path. I’ll let the pictures talk until the Paraviyangala and the 1^st peak…..

Flat terrain along the way….

Now for the burning sunlight…..

Myself falling in love with the nature….note the brownish footpath…..

Hawagala….

What a view…..

Wow and wow………

Samanala wewa……

Wow…..

Warning signs… clouds are building……

Hawagala… more pics…

Udawalawe tank… far away….

Sabaragamuwa university………

Getting closer…. More to go…..

Getting close to Paraviyangala….

As I was steadily approaching Paraviyangala, I was able to visualize the Non-pariel side as well…. But Worlds end was covered in mist. And to my dismay considerable cloud was developing over me…. That didn’t stop me from stepping to Paraviyangala and proximal 2 peaks of the Adara Kanda range before turning back for the descend.

Paraviyangala……

Paraviyangala, seen from 1st peak…..

Nagrak road……..

Tea factory and the fall….. with winding road…

Worlds end covered in mist……

Peaks of Adara Kanda… see Dark clouds are building…….

Southern slopes of Gonmolliya and Balathuduwa range….

As previous reports have suggested, it was pure nightmare to climb down. I was lucky with fewer amounts of pine pines due to rain, but loose stones were pure nightmare. I was not sure whether there was single stone which was not loose.

The trail in white in distance and brown in proximity… But all are loose stones….

But after considerable difficulty, was able to reach the monastery around 2pm and returned Colombo with great satisfaction.

This was my back to back waterfall hunt in Rathnapura district. For my hard luck water levels were low in most waterfalls. Following waterfalls were visited.

1. Balangoda Ranmudu Fall
2. Ulugala Kaluwala Falls 1 and 2
3. Gurumati Falls
4. Garandi Rikili Ella
5. Three basins and Thini Oya Falls
6. Demali Falls

Balangoda Ranmudu Falls (බලoගොඩ රන්මුදු ඇල්ල)

This 18m tall and 3m wide waterfall is situated at Pidaligannawela (පිඩළිගන්නාවල) village-Balangoda. When you travel along Balangoda-Hatton road, get the right hand turn (Nelliwala Road) at Keselkotuwa (කෙසෙල්කොටුව) junction. Travel along this road towards Pidaligannawela village and ask about the waterfall. As it is a famous fall in this area everybody will direct you to the waterfall. But this is only the top of the fall where a bridge is situated.
We passed the bridge and got first right hand turn and went down to reach the base of the fall through some vegetable crops.
Balangoda Ranmudu Falls flows in few steps and this water will join to Samanala Wewa reservoir (සමනළ වැව ජලාශය) ultimately.
There are different stories for the name-“Ranmudu” -රන්මුදු and everything based on a golden ring.
Earlier it was called Rathpini Ella (රත්පිනි ඇල්ල) or Thinioya Falls (තිනි ඔය ඇල්ල).

Nirosh is showing the direction once we passed the bridge.

Go to right hand side again through some vegetable plots to reach the base of the fall.

Balangoda Ranmudu Falls flows in different steps.

Balangoda Ranmudu Falls

Middle part of Balangoda Ranmudu Falls.

Upper part of Balangoda Ranmudu Falls. The bridge and road are situated above this.

Balangoda Ranmudu Falls

After Balangoda Ranmudu Falls, next waterfall was Ulugala Kaluwala Falls.

Ulugala Kaluwala Falls 1 and 2 (උළුගල කළුවල ඇල්ල).
You have to pass the bridge over Ranmudu Falls and go along the road till it ends (About 1km). Once the gravel road ends, small pathway lies through paddy fields and then it again connects to a gravel road. We went down along that road and it meets the water stream where you can view the waterfall with it’s shallow base pool. According to villagers this is named as Kaluwala falls.
But we have noted another drop following this water stream and wanted to seek next step of the waterfall.
Then we continued the foot pathway beyond the water stream and went down through the forest patch which was in our right hand side.
It brought us to the second step of Kaluwala Falls.
I would like to name the first waterfall as Ulugala Kaluwala Falls-1 and this as Ulugala Kaluwala Falls-2.

Here road ends and get the left hand side foot pathway.

Through paddy fields

Restarting of gravel road and turn to right.

There was an acute drop in the road

Ulugala Kaluwala Falls-1
Thini Oya creates this 38m tall waterfall at Ulugala village. Due to the black pool at the base of the waterfall gives the name Kaluwala Falls.

Ulugala Kaluwala Falls-1 with it’s black pool.

Ulugala Kaluwala Falls-1.

Ulugala Kaluwala Falls-1 with it’s closer view.

Ulugala Kaluwala Falls-1.

Acute drop following Ulugala Kaluwala falls-1 to make Ulugala Kaluwala Falls-2.

Ulugala Kaluwala Falls-2
Thini Oya creates Ulugala Kaluwala Falls-2 soon after first fall. This waterfall has about 20-30m height. It flows as three parallel streams. Like first waterfall it doesn’t have a base pool. It’s accessibility is difficult and you have to go down through a forest patch to reach there.

Ulugala Kaluwala Falls-2 with it’s parallel three streams.

Ulugala Kaluwala Falls-2 with it’s parallel streams.

One of the parts of the water fall.

One of the parts of the water fall

One of the parts of the water fall

Top of the waterfall

Our next target was Gurumati Falls (ගුරුමැටි ඇල්ල) which is not in the waterfall index. We drove back till we pass the bridge over Ranmudu Oya top and selected right hand side road (left hand side one is back to Keselkotuwa junction). At one place we could visualize the waterfall. Once road becomes a foot pathway we stopped the bike and started to walk in the back ground of paddy fields. We got the directions from villagers to walk up along the concrete road. Then we had to walk along the foot pathway in right hand side of the concrete road till we find Gurumati Oya.
Next part was to climb up parallel to Gurumati Oya through bushes to reach the base. But it was unsuccessful and we had to satisfy from the distance view of the waterfall at the end.

Walking on “Niyara”-නියර

Walking on Niyara

Get the direction showed by the arrow to reach the base of the waterfall.

Water stream from the water fall-Gurumati Oya.

Gurumati Ella Falls
Gurumati Ella Falls has about 20m height and it is formed by Gurumati Oya (ගුරුමැටි ඔය). It is difficult to reach the base of the waterfall.

Gurumati Ella Falls

Gurumati Ella Falls through bushes.

Gurumati Ella Falls.

Gurumati Ella Falls.

Gurumati Ella Falls

It was fine to cover three waterfalls in close proximity and we came back to Keselkotuwa junction. Then further drive along Bogawanthalawa (බගවන්තලාව) and our way up saw Garandi Rikili Ella (ගැරඩි රිකිළි ඇල්ල) at the base of Dethanagala Mountain.

Dethanagala Mountain and Garandi Rikili Falls is circled.

Garandi Rikili Falls and failed attempt to reach it’s base
This 15m tall (Documented height) waterfall is formed by Bolthumbe Oya (බොල්තුඹේ ඔය) which starts from the southern slope of Dethanagala Mountain. Waterfall can be seen from the main road soon after Budukatuwa junction. I wanted to explore this falls.
Second day I got down (travelled by bus) at the junction just below Marathanna and walked down the road. Then we located the waterfall at the slope of Dethanagala Mountain and walked towards that.
It was a 1-2 hours journey through tea bushes and end up at the forest patch which continues till Dethanagala forest range (Peak wildness sanctuary). After a hectic hike through the forest we have reached the vicinity of the waterfall. But we were unable to reach the base of the waterfall due to acute steepness. Though it is documented as 15m tall, correct height might be about 100m.

Garandi Rikili Falls-Distance view from main road

Garandi Rikili Falls-Distance view from main road

Garandi Rikili Falls-Distance view from last tea patch

Garandi Rikili Falls-Distance view from last tea patch

View towards Samanala Wewa reservoir, Hagala Mountain and Adarakanda.

Garandi Rikili Falls –closer view

Maximum closer view we could capture

Upper part of Garandi Rikili Falls

Upper part of Garandi Rikili Falls

After failed attempt to Garandi Rikili falls we came back to tea estate and descend through the tea patch. Later we realized it is easy to reach the last tea patch via that foot pathway rather than going through tea estate. Some villagers told me they have reached the base of the waterfall by going upwards through water stream.

This road will come across after 16/5 bokkuwa. It becomes a foot pathway and reaches the closer tea patch to Garandi Rikili Falls. Then you can get down to the water stream of the waterfall and go up to reach the base.

Thini Oya Falls and three basins (තිනි ඔය ඇල්ල සහ බේසම් තුන)
Thini Oya Falls and it’s three basins can be reached after 20th kilometer post in Balangoda-Bogawanthalawa road. Thini Oya fall is 45m tall and it is formed by Thini Oya. Before it flows as the waterfall, it forms three basins on top of the waterfall. As water is diverted for vegetable crops we were able to see fairly dry waterfall.

After passing 20th Km post take right hand side foot pathway closer to bus stop.

Get the direction to three basins

Three basins at top of Thini Oya Falls

First Basin

Three basins

After visiting three basins we came down to reach the base of the waterfall in it’s left hand side.

The bridge crossing Thini Oya

Thini Oya Falls

Thini Oya Falls

Thini Oya Falls

Thini Oya Falls

On our way back to Balangoda, we have noticed a board mentioning about a tall standing Buddha statue situated closer to Pinnawala town. Though it is mentioned about 0.25km from the road it was about 1km. Apart from newly built Buddha statue it provides good panoramic view.

Standing Buddha statue

Demali Falls and reaching it’s base
Demali Falls is situated closer to Balangoda-Passaramulla (පස්සරමුල්ල) road. This road connects to Nelliwala (නෙල්ලිවල) road (where Gurumati, Ranmudu and Kaluwala falls situated) as well.
We came to Aluthnuwara (අලුත්නුවර) after passing Balangoda town and went along Passaramulla road. After about 2km walk along Passaramulla road, we were able to view Demali Falls in our right hand side. For my bad luck it was fairly dry waterfall in these days.
There was a foot pathway just before the first view point of Demali Falls. Next attempt was to reach the base of the waterfall. It is essential to clarify your way along this foot pathway as you have to cross number of things.
After about 3km walk we reached a pepper estate which seems abounded. Then this foot pathway crosses the main water stream and luckily we met a villager. According to him we are at the top of the main fall now, but not able to reach the base of the main fall in this way. Again we went back and got into the water stream by crossing one of pepper estates and went up along the stream to reach the base of the falls.
It was a shame for me to show this dry waterfall to my friend.

Demali Falls (දෙමළි ඇල්ල)
This 105m tall waterfall is considered as the 12th highest waterfall in Sri Lanka. Water stream origins from Hagala (හාගල) Mountain and flows as Demali Falls and joins to Deni Oya.
There are number of folks to explain the name of the waterfall. Some of them go back to King Rawana era and some related to King Walagamba (වළගම්බා). As it flows in two steps it was called as “Demala”-දෙමාල falls. Later became Demali Falls.

Distance view of Demali Falls at the bend.

Distance view of Demali Falls

Crossing of the water stream at top of the waterfall.

Demali Falls

Demali Falls….flows in two steps

Upper part of Demali Falls

Where these waterfalls situated:

When you are passing Balangoda town, you may notice a Buddha statue situated on the rock at the center of the town. We wanted to visit there at the end of the journey. This temple is called Shailathalaramaya. There are two ways to reach there. The mortable road begins from Balangoda-Badulla road. We followed the foot pathway behind the bus stand.

On top of Shailathalaramaya you can view Pettigala, Dethanagala and peaks of Belihuloya side.

Shailathalaramaya temple

View of Balangoda town

Pettigala

Dethanagala

Mountains at Belihuloya: Red star-Hagala kanda, Black star-Adarakanda, red arrow-Balathuduwa and Gommolliya.

Thanks for reading

The route we took – click to enlarge

This was going to be my last journey while I was at Monaragala. Our main target was a hot spring in Maduru Oya Park but unfortunately we had to turn towards plan B. We took off towards Henanigala entrance and to reach it we took the road bordering Ulhitiya – Rathkinda reservoirs starting from Mahiyangana – Maha oya road. The monsoons had started early this year so we were bit worried about the road conditions but fortunately it was not a big issue.

At around 9.30am we entered the park through Henanigala entrance. We took the overgrown route through the “mana” savanna to reach a 3 way junction from where we took the right turn and headed towards the “Kudawila” School which was abandoned in 1983. Kudawila School was located at a 3 way junction. And the two roads which diverge from this point ends at the two ends of a 5km long canal which was dwelled through rock to connect Rathkinda and Maduru oya reservoirs. This is indeed an irrigation wonder where one reservoir feeds the other (Maduru oya) through a 5Km long underground canal. We opted out visiting the Inlet and reached the outlet where the water meets the Maduru oya reservoir.

Unakiri gala of Ulhitiya

Henanigala entrance of Maduru oya park

tamed

Henanigala tank

time for a snack

here we go

abandoned school

last functioned in 1983

Exit point of the tunnel diverting water from Rathkinda reservoir

end of the 5km long tunnel

supplying maduru oya reservoir

Green bee eater

From the canal we took off towards the main entrance of the park which is on Aralaganvila side. On the way we decided to take the route along the border of the reservoir. Once we got in to the grassy plains of the reservoir we were welcomed with some stunning scenery. The gloomy skies on one side and sunny sky on the other side produced some exquisite landscape scenery. We drove along the plains tackling mini streams and mud holes and having frequent stops to capture bird life plus Packs of deer. Some deer packs were more than 200 and I haven’t seen larger packs anywhere else. We reached the Wild life bungalow and headed towards the entrance where the museum could be found.

ඉලුක් පතන

අලි පනාව

close up

paradise

gloomy skies make wonders

more scenery

a pano

better than any tar mac

plenty of pelicans

close up

wow

team pic

dung mushrooms

endless

couldnt stop clicking

ටොපාගල

what a drive

heaven on earth

kokagala seen far away

crested hawk eagle

ready to fly away

huge pack

wondering

note the pattern

greenery

they were not happy seen us

mothers love

more to go

the two mountains which was used fro the dam

the bund

huge herds

not used seen vehicles

We did not forget to stop a bit at the museum to go through the skeletons of the elephants and other animals. It was sad to see that many of these giants were shot to dead rather than demised from natural causes. From here we drove towards the dam and returned back to the bungalow to have a lunch.

at the museum

cause of death

a croc

dead pythons

these could be seen everywhere

mini hydro project

fishing time

lonely jumbo

the spill

and it flows

the dam

ancient sluice gate

the dam

view from the dam

on a stump

this one could be seen near the bungalow

Up to now we had only seen a hand full of elephants and we were bit disappointed, so we again took the road along the plains of the reservoir and this was a very long drive because we had to follow the shape of the reservoir plus tackle the muddy pits. There were plenty of deer but no sight of elephants but suddenly we noted about 5 – 6 elephants far away and decided to have a closer look. We headed further tackling some difficult streams and reached the pack of elephants where we halted at a safe distance. They were not very happy about our presence so they gathered together and they started marching towards us with the guidance of an Alpha male who emerged out of nowhere. My blood started to boil and I decided to retreat while others were enjoying the moment. They slowly marched into the forest and we proceeded further passing the point where the pack went into the forest because there was no turning back for us. Few minutes of driving after that encounter bought us to a point where there was an abandoned road which connected to the main but it was all overgrown. I had to drive over tall “mana” bushes on a muddy path until we reached the main track which was a huge relief. From here it was a 30 minute ride to the exit at Henanigala. We really enjoyed this unplanned adventure and this was bit of a scary ride for me but yet I would cherish with these memories because this was my last trip while I was at Monaragala.

posing

grey headed fish eagle

there were more than 200 in this herd

and they ran

there were fights too

like ducks but not ducks

poser

he was protecting his pack

lonely elephant

closed in

ah a small one too

not so friendly

they did charge us

we decided to retreat

heading away

note the alpha

went in to the forest

lonely runner

wondering where to go

fisherman at henanigala tank at the exit

After hectic 3 months of studies and few “ordinary relaxing trips with family” I finally had little precious time to do some explorations. But as most us well aware that next difficult thing in planning a hike is finding partners. As I was free only on week days I decided to hike all alone. Then I needed to find a suitable place to hike as a lone trekker. I remembered Adara Kanda and contacted Ashan ayya, and got to know that the trail is well cleared and can do by myself. With bits of back ground work I departed from Colombo around 4am. I kept a close eye on weather at fallingrain site and knew there was low cloud cover throughout the day which could be resulted in rain if I was unlucky and accuweather even predicted 51% chance of light rain around 11am in the morning.

I went to my old familiar Ratnapura by my vehicle and upto Pambahinna by bus. I was able to get down at Pambahinna junction aroung 7am and walked forward along the Badulla main road until 161/4 bridge. At this bridge road takes an elbow bend. I was looking for a gravel road but was surprised to find a paved road. I walked along happily but after 50 meters it was a steep ascend and the paved part was over. After walking about 1 km along the road; suddenly road turned to a footpath. But after 25 meters it again turned to a proper road only to turn again to a footpath after another few hundred meters.

I continued to walk along the footpath which lies by the side of a small stream. I truly appreciated the beauty of this part of the trial only on return journey. People who have done this trail know what I meant. I wish British left us with few more rain & mountain forests rather than useless pine plots.

Footpath ends at a cave monastery. The real trail head lies at the end of the footpath. Trail head lies on the other side of the stream which I crossed just behind the toilet of the monastery.

The monastery

Tiny window…..

So many living things than a pines plot….

This is what I need to conquer….

At the beginning, I walked through the pines patch. Sooner it turned out to be a steep climbing. But as there was recent a sign of rain, the path was bit cleared without pines pins. In some areas the climb was not so steep and some areas it was steep. Same with the pines patch with on and off open areas.

Early morning rays….

The climb……

Finally off the pines plot

First sight of the target…. As emerged from Pines plot….

After the pines plot path is very very clear. Along the path in the middle section loosened white rock pieces are to be found which distinct the path. I’ll let the pictures talk until the Paraviyangala and the 1^st peak…..

Flat terrain along the way….

Now for the burning sunlight…..

Myself falling in love with the nature….note the brownish footpath…..

Hawagala….

What a view…..

Wow and wow………

Samanala wewa……

Wow…..

Warning signs… clouds are building……

Hawagala… more pics…

Udawalawe tank… far away….

Sabaragamuwa university………

Getting closer…. More to go…..

Getting close to Paraviyangala….

As I was steadily approaching Paraviyangala, I was able to visualize the Non-pariel side as well…. But Worlds end was covered in mist. And to my dismay considerable cloud was developing over me…. That didn’t stop me from stepping to Paraviyangala and proximal 2 peaks of the Adara Kanda range before turning back for the descend.

Paraviyangala……

Paraviyangala, seen from 1st peak…..

Nagrak road……..

Tea factory and the fall….. with winding road…

Worlds end covered in mist……

Peaks of Adara Kanda… see Dark clouds are building…….

Southern slopes of Gonmolliya and Balathuduwa range….

As previous reports have suggested, it was pure nightmare to climb down. I was lucky with fewer amounts of pine pines due to rain, but loose stones were pure nightmare. I was not sure whether there was single stone which was not loose.

The trail in white in distance and brown in proximity… But all are loose stones….

But after considerable difficulty, was able to reach the monastery around 2pm and returned Colombo with great satisfaction.

We catch the Night mail from Pettah on Saturday and it took 8 hours to arrive Idalgashinna railway station. Then the time is around 4.00am. So, we slept on the rest room over there, since the climate is so cold. Even we couldn’t find a rail track also.

Sunday we start our journey around 6.30am after having a good tea from the only retail shop near the railway station. But we couldn’t have our breakfast since there are no bread yet. The bread will come from the Badulu Kumari around 7.45am every day.

So, we start our journey without having our breakfast. First up all we should walk from the top of the tea estate behind the railway station. It is about 250m from ths retail shop. Then we have to downward from the area to the forest. The forest (Hela) is fulfill with trees and rocks. We have to go down by catching the branches. Sometimes you might get fallen due to the ground instability. We went around 150m and found a rocky plain like an entrance to the cave. But that is not the exact place of the cave. It is the top of the cave and we can’t go in since it was covered with heavy rocks.

At Idalgashinna station around 4.00am

Early Morning around Haldummulla and Beragala area

Idalgashinna at morning sunshine

We started our journey

Down the Pallam

Lissana sulu hele bahina eka dangerous

Down the pallam

Gal thalawe harahata yamin

Gal udata nega pena pena yamin

So we went down again and it was little bit dangerous. Because there is no anything to catch and get down. By the way we put our fingers to the soil and came to the original place. OMG! It a amazing place, there is a small entrance and we sat down infront of it. There is no any path from the front of the cave since it is a Hela.

We get in to the cave and captured many pics, but we faced to a big trouble from the naughty bats. There are plenty of bats inside of this cave since it was their home. Nobody come to this cave since last 5 years due to a death of a guy around this place. He died in case of finding this place. This is really hidden from village. Any one can’t see this cave from the downward or upward. Since you come from a helicopter, you could not find this cave. Because there is a huge tree covered this cave from the front.

We spent 2 hours inside of the cave and walked along it. We jumped over the big rocks in side of the cave. We had a wonderful bath from the bats since there are plenty of their dirt. You have to touch rocks, but the all rocks are fulfill with their dirt. There is a small bad smell but you will fell it as a normal thing in few minutes. There are three ways in side of the cave so we explored every where and finally came back to the railway station to catch the train to Colombo at 12:45pm.

Uman kata

Ginimelayak gasa athule inna dangerous sattu elawima

Punchi ginimale

Uman katin pahalata basima

Umaga athule

Umaga athule

Umaga athule

Umaga athule

Umaga athule

Umaga athule

Api	Gal debokkawa

We captured a bat while it running away

Umaga thula newi gal kulu mathin yanawita

Gal kulu medin

Hard working

Peya 3ka research eka awasan karamin

Umaga athule api

Umaga idiripita ihala kotasa

Umaga idiripita ihala kotasa

Umaga idiripita

Newatha hela nagimin

Lassana mal

Meeduma wasagath hela

Meeduma wasagath hela

Idalgashinna at misty

We at there

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These fishes are scattered over Lake Bank. Fishermen throw them away as it is useless.

Minneriya Lake

Getting prepared

In order

Fishing at Minneriya Lake

Fishing at Minneriya Lake

Brahminy Kite

White Bellied Sea Eagle

White Bellied Sea Eagle

My friend in the boat

Surrounding mountains of Minneriya Lake

Awaiting at lake edge

Awaiting at lake edge

Waiting for elephants at Koggala Bokka

A safari jeep at Minneriya Lake pitch….this area is called Koggala Bokka

Nagalakanda where King Mahasen viewed constructions of Minneriya Lake.

At Koggala Bokka

Good place for bird watching

Minneriya NP

Great Egret

Grey Heron

Good place for bird watching

A jumbo at lake pitch…..

A jumbo at lake pitch…..

A jumbo at lake pitch…..

A jumbo at lake pitch…..

A jumbo at lake pitch…..

Flocks of Black Headed Ibis

Alone….

Flocks of Black Headed Ibis

Flocks of Black Headed Ibis

Flocks of Black Headed Ibis

A feeding canal of Minneriya Lake

Other team…..

In his action……

Brahmin Kite

Brahmin Kite

Fishing boats at Lake pitch

View of our vehicle at river bank

Woolly-necked Stork

After death of King Mahasen he was considered as a local god by villagers of Minneriya. At the moment two Dewalaya can be seen for “Minneriya Dewiyo” -(මින්නේරි දෙවියෝ) -God Minneriya. One is old Minneriya Dewalaya and other one is famous Wawe Dewalaya (වැවේ දේවාලය). Wawe Dewalaya is situated over Lake Bunt where you can have nice view of Minneriya Lake and sun set between two mountains.
I have visited Wawe Dewalaya on a Wednesday for a Pujawa (පූජාව). Usually Dewalaya is opened on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Minneriya Wawe Dewalaya (මින්නේරිය වැවේ දේවාලය)

Minneriya Wawe Dewalaya

Minneriya Wawe Dewalaya

Minneriya Wawe Dewalaya

For Minneriya Dewiyo

Getting blessings…..

Jayanthi Sorowwa (ජයන්ති සොරොව්ව) at Minneriya Lake- It was named to commemorate 2500th Buddha Years.

Bird parade

Sun set over Minneriya Lake

Sun set over Minneriya Lake

Sun set over Minneriya Lake

Sun set over Minneriya Lake

Sun set over Minneriya Lake

Sun set over Minneriya Lake

Elephant visiting at Minneriya NP in usual way
Though I have been at Polonnaruwa for three and half years I have never been at Minneriya NP for Elephant watching. One evening I had a chance to do routine safari at Minneriya NP. This is adding of pictures of it.

Along jeep trek

Sudu Ela (සුදු ඇල)-Feeding lake of Minneriya

Gathering to watch elephants

Elephant Gathering

Elephant Gathering

Protection for baby elephant

Tusker

It is the season

Elephant Gathering

Elephant Gathering

It’s the play time

It’s the play time

It’s the play time

It’s the play time

It’s the play time

In different actions

Hurry to go

Two baby elephants

At lake pitch

Not good to shout there

Our shadow

Going for a bath

Mother and baby

Good bye Minneriya Park

Thanks for reading

The map – click to enlarge

Ok all started when someone teased me up with an image of a mountain top and he mentioned that this was shown on a TV program. I was tempted so I went through that video and decided that I need to visit this place. I was running through Google maps plus 1:50000 maps and I suddenly remembered that I saw this plain in 2009 while I was at Ihala Pelampitiya. I was told by a local at that time that this was Amanawala region though I was interested in climbing at that time, the interest faded away from me with years passing by. I was waiting till the monsoons to give a little break and soon as the weather settled during X-mas holidays I decided to give it a try.

Kasun joined me almost after one year and Amila was as always ready for the mission. This was a special trip for me because this was the first trip I went on without my camera (I forgot to bring it) since 2011. So I was dependent on Kasun & Amila. While both of us (Me & my better half) were enjoying the scenery the official photographers were doing their job. We left Maharagama at around 5am and reached Yatiyanthota around 8am. From Yatiyanthota we took the road through See forth which went parallel to Wee oya. Though this was the rainy season it had not rained in 5 days and to our surprise most of the waterfalls were dried out. On our way we did stop to have a glimpse of Malapola fall, Wee Oya falls, Kithul falls, Punugala falls and finally Olu falls. Please refer this report to get more information about those waterfalls. The Dombepola Mountain is clearly seen from Olu Ella and vice versa.

The tempting image sent to me by a friend

our destination

morning rays as seen by kasun

as seen by amila

the leafless

We Oya Falls no 1 (වී ඔය ඇල්ල 1)

malalpola falls

kithul falls

Punugala falls

Olu Ella – top part

Olu ella cascade near the bridge

After a small break at Olu falls we headed further towards Sri Sidda pattini devalaya of Amanawala. At the devalaya we were told that there is an easy way to the top via Pera gas handiya which we had already passed. The Television program crew had taken this route but we decided to go against it. Passing the devalaya there was a 3 way junction where we took the road towards the left and reached Wee oya causeway. Once we crossed the causeway we took the gravel road (4wd road) to right and proceeded towards a small village shop where we halted the vehicle. There is a stairway which leads uphill through the tea estate close to this boutique. Actually it is difficult to explain the directions but it’s advisable to get proper directions from the shop owner and on the way we met many people who guided us properly. Initially we went through a tea patch and then a forest patch before we reached another tea patch. From this tea patch it was a steep climb and finally we reached a concrete road (which one could take from Waharaka area of Bulathkohupitiya – Dedugala road). This concrete road heads towards the summit region of 52 acre rock / Dombepola rock (wawulagala). There are few houses close to the summit and there is a foot path which runs along a tea estate towards Dombepola plains. It’s advisable to get clear directions from locals at this point. As we heard the Dombepola side path is less confusing so try taking that route. It took us almost 1 ½ hours to climb up this hill from where we parked our vehicle and it was a mixture of steep climbs and flat stretches. We were actually lucky to get away from Leech attacks thanks to “Alum” and the dry weather.

through the bushes

jungle patch

a rest

we came across many houses even close to the summit

out of the jungle, into the estate roads

last tea patch

Princess

at the last house

these chaps were so friendly

a path almost covered

Once we got to the summit we were so relieved because this was a hike after along break. Though Amila and Kasun were continuously mocking me during this hike I really enjoyed their company and my wife was also happy because she got a chance to join us. It was a huge plain on top of the mountain but if it rained the plain would have converted in to a mini swamp. We saw many potential camp sites and I think this would be a perfect place to camp because you could get water from nearby houses if needed (before the last bit of climbing). We wondered all over the plains and for change I had two photographers clicking our poses continuously. On one side we could see the Kabaragala peak and the whole of Dolosbage range, one side was covered by Wewelthalawa range, Olu ella and its uppermost cascade was seen plunging down from Wewelthalawa plateau. The upper part seemed taller than Bambarakanda for me. Wee oya valley and the See forth road running parallel to it was seen close to the abyss. If it was an evening the setting sun would have provided a better view towards Colombo too. After having a snack and endless amount of photographs we decided to head back.

few more meters to go

he was so elated

lovely

lonely tree

a mini forest patch on the top

time to explore

the plains

looking for landmarks

the valley

towards Dedugala, Ihala pelampitiya & Dolosbage

his famous pose for the day

Photographer no 1

Photographer no 2

ITN tower of Wewelthalawa

lovely camp site

dolosbage range seen over the plains

towards yatiyanthota

at the edge

Olu ella was also seen

wee oya valley

wee oya

Dombepola temple at the base

clicking

and clicking

ah both of us

again the lonely tree

overgrown

52 acres to walk

more scenery

towards the west

kabaragala seen far to the right & the pointed peak is raxagala

lovely place to be

a pano

a water source

frog life

the plateau

the dried out swamp

heading back

the team

time to get back

wild orchid

another beauty

where we were

After reaching the base we took off towards Halgolla tea factory and took the Wewelthalawa road. Unfortunately now they do not allow anyone to proceed uphill without special permission. So we had to turn back and head towards Colombo. So if you want to visit Wewelthalawa please obtain permission prior to your visit. After reaching Colombo I had to drive to Chilaw because my wife had a night shift. Though I had a relaxing sleep that day she had to work the whole night but yet this was one memorable journey to us.

Black start shows Waulagala. Black box shows the bridge at Olu Falls. Our approximate pathway is shown by black arrows.

Waulagala

Waulagala

Zoomed view of top of the rock

Getting blessings from Dewalaya

Directions following Dewalaya

Road goes parallel with this

Starting the journey

Foot pathway

Happy faces of the journey….Indeewara and Anupama……

Directions when we come to the estate road. Red arrow shows where we came from. Black arrow shows the direction from Dedugala road. Green is the way you have to follow.

Next turn

Coffee

Tea

Waulagala is close now

Reaching the destination

The surface of Waulagala is covered with short shrubs, grass and Mana bushes. It was hardly seen tall trees. We have noticed a marshy area at the center of Waulagala. Waulagala seems a good place for camping but a good water source was not seen. According to our guide, usually wind flows fast on top of Waulagala but not seen on that day.
We walked towards other end where Wee Oya valley (වී ඔය නිම්නය), Olu Ella, Wewalthalawa (වේවැල්තලාව) with it’s towers were visible. This end was called as Dombepola Mini World’s end (දොඹේපල කුඩා ලෝකාන්තය). It was amazing to see Olu Falls as a cascade from here and fairly large another fall above Olu Falls-Upper Olu Falls. Further away we were able to view range of Dolosbage.
We spent about an hour there and came down straight way through the tea estate rather than following the foot pathway we came up. At the end we refreshed with a cool dip from Wee Oya.

On top of Waulagala….

?? Pre historical evidences……..

Marshy land at center

On top of Waulagala

Unusual colors

Olu Falls-Circled and famous bridge is shown by arrow

Upper Olu cascade

Wewalthalawa with it’s towers

A dam built crossing Wee oya and diversion of water for power generation

Appearing of sun over gloomy weather

Dolosbage range

The only tree I noticed there

Unlimited snaps

The team except Anupama at view point of Mini World’s end.

Getting down

Cascade captured on our way back…

Thank you

Trip Highlights

1. Balumgala Hike
2. Balana Fort
3. Dekinda Falls

It was my long waited dream to visit Balumgala. It was planned in a short time and we started at 11:30 from Mawanella.

Balumgala

This is the Rock located at the Kadugannawa Gap. The Rock is clearly visible from the Pahala Kadugannawa General viewing point.

We completed difficult & memorable trip with lot of happy memories.

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We can view entire Kadugannwa valley From Balumgala rock and it gives a unforgettable experience.

The Route to the rock is very simple. You have to travel along the Kadugannawa – Gampola road about 1 Km and there is a road to right which ends at Telcom Towers. Access to Balumgala from Telecom presmises is restricted. Therefore we must take the footpath from the tea estate just before the telecom presmises.

The path is given in the below map;

The path is given in Green

There is another small rock in this road as shown in the map above. Most people are misguided and visit this place believing this as Balumgala.

Small Rock just before Balumgala

The view from the rock- The Balumgala is in the Left

Kadugannawa railway Tunnel

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There is a private road at the place where this rock is located. To reach the Balumgala, we have to take this road (100 M) at the end of the road there is a tea estate. You can find a footpath through this estate which will lead you to the Balumgala.

Path	Mount Alagalla

Balumgala- First look

We achieved it

The Plains

Pahala Kadugannawa-General Viewing point

The opposite side- Dawson Tower is visble

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Kabaragala Zoomed

Uthuwankanda

Rainco Kadugannawa Factory

Can you see a straight line? – May be a road in the old times?

Travellers

Dewanagala with Bathalegala

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Full view

The First rock – View from the Balumgala

We spent around nearly 1 hour in the Balumgala rock and decided to go to our next destination which is the Balana Fort.

Balana Fort

Balana fort was used as a observing point of enemy movements during the Kandyan Kingdom. The details of the location given in the Name board as below;

.	The History – Click to enlarge

To reach this place we must travel around 6 km in the Kadugannawa – Poththapitiya road and Balana Road. the sign name boards will guide you in the correct route.

at one point you’ll see above boards at a Tea plantation estate.

Balana Fort – First look

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Dekinda Falls

I was unable to visit Dekinda falls during my trip to Algalla. Therefore I had an eager to visit this waterfall.

Dekinda falls is located in near the Poththapitiya. There is a cement road to the left at poththapitiya town (near the Bo Tree). if you travel 2 Km on this road you can reach the waterfall.

Waterfall from the top

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Full view

Dekinda Falls

There is a forest path to reach the bottom part of the falls.

Lower part

Details of this waterfall is given in in the link.

We completed the trip at around 3:30 pm and reached home at 4:30 pm

On 16th December I went to Athimale to find details about poor family in Athimale. I took Athimale bus from Pettah Bus Stand at 10.10 p.m. It reached Monaragala at 4.30 a.m. Again it leaves Monaragala to Athimale at 5.00 a.m. It reached Athimale at 6.15 a.m. After that I took three wheel to went to see that family. After get all information from that family I left Athimale from 9.30 a.m. I came to Monaragala at 10.45 a.m. After that I took Wellawaya bus to go Buttala. I got down at Kubukkana Junction & took three wheel to go Maligawila Temple , Dematamal Viharaya , Yudagana Viharaya & Chulangani Viharaya. After visiting all above places I came to Buttala town & got Colombo Bus at 2.30 p.m. At 9.00 p.m I came to home after completing another memorable trip.

Colombo – Athimale Bus

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Athimale Temple

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Paddy Fields

Wattarama Wewa

.	Maligawila Temple

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