Hike to Darmarajagala /ධර්මරාජගල (1900m+)

Year and Month	2019 April 12th
Number of Days	One
Crew	3-Chamara, Wikum and Myself
Accommodation	N/A
Transport	By bus, Hiking and Three wheeler
Activities	Hiking, Trekking and Photography
Weather	Morning sunny-afternoon misty-Evening rainy
Route	Colombo->Hatton->Nallathanniya->Sri Pada->Seetha Gangula at Rathnapura route->Darmarajagala->Back to Rathnapura route->Palabaddala->Kuruwita->Colombo
Tips, Notes and Special remark	Start the journey early. Follow rituals of Sri Pada as much as possible. Attitude gain of this hike is about 200m and we spent 3 hours to reach the peak. Follow Google maps. As it is situated in Peak Wilderness, it needs permission. We came across bit rocky part of the mountain which needs time to pass. Darmarajagala summit point is covered by the forest. There is a view point just beneath the summit, be careful when sits there. The journey is bit strenuous as there is no foot path or animal path and due to rocky part of the mountain. Better carry about 0.5-1l of drinking water till you reach the peak.
Author	Niroshan
Comments	Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread Hike to Darmarajagala /ධර්මරාජගල (1900m+)

Darmarajagala (ධර්මරාජගල) is situated in peak wilderness closer to Bana Samonala Gala (2010m) (බෑණ සමනල ගල). Some people name Bana Samonala Gala and Darmarajagala as two peaks of single mountain-Bana Samonala. British have identified these two peaks as false peaks (as it’s similarity to Sri Pada) and twin peaks (as they are almost identical). However I would like to identify them as two mountains-Bana Samonala Gala and Darmarajagala rather than two peaks of Bana Samonala Mountain.

Bana Samonala Gala and Darmarajagala. Some identify it as two peaks of Bana Samonala Mountain.

Darmarajagala (1900m+). This is the classic appearance from Sri Pada Uda Maluwa.

View of Darmarajagala from Kunu Diya Parwathaya. Darmarajagala is pointed.

Bana Samonala Gala and Darmarajagala in Google map. Our approximate path is marked by black line.

Though hikers visit at Bana Samonala Gala, they give less attention to Darmarajagala. I thought of finish this hike within this Sri Pada season.
As usual we have started the hike from Nallathanniya-Hatton. We were able to reach Uda Maluwa (උඩ මළුව) via Hatton route by two and half hours, probably my best timing for Sri Pada hike. Sacred foot print was closed for morning Poojawa. We started to step down along Rathnapura route.

Morning captures: Triangular view of shade of Sri Pada and Kunu Diya Parwathaya.

Companions for the trip: Chamara and Vikum

Darmarajagala, shade of Sri Pada (middle) and Kunu Diya Parwathaya.

Adiyamalathenna Ambalama (red roof) and Adiyamalathenna Cooperative shop is in front of it.

Adiyamalathenna Ambalama (ආඩියා මළතැන්න අම්බලම).

Sri Pada from Adiyamalathenna.

Passing Adiyamalathenna

Vikum and Chamara

Our starting point of Darmarajagala was same as Bana Samonala Gala-Seetha Gangula at Rathnapura route. But we didn’t follow the main water stream and straight away got into the forest. After about 100m hike we came across a small water stream and it ended up at rock face of Darmarajagala. Here onwards we had to spend much time for rock climbing with aid of small bushes attached to rocks. So middle part of the hike is bit tough and time consuming. As weather was clear in morning hours we were able to identify Sri Pada and some land marks of Rathnapura route. After hike through rock face of Darmarajagala we have entered the forest with Nelu and Bamboo under growth. It was a continuous hike through this forest area and reached the summit of Darmarajagala which is having a forest. One significant thing is finding large number of flies on bushes of Darmarajagala. They were really disturbing. We were searching for the rock surface shown at Google map just beneath the summit assuming it might be a view point.

View of Darmarajagala closer to trail head.

Came to an open area after initial hike.

Perfect weather in morning hours. This was turned to misty with time and rain started in evening.

Passing initial forest area.

Haramitipana Ambalama (හැරමිටිපාන අම්බලම) and Cooperative shop.

View of Sri Pada on our way to Darmarajagala.

Sri Pada with Rathnapura route.

Reaching rocky area of Darmarajagala

Filling water

Had to climb this.

Side bushes were helpful in rock climbing

Top of Darmarajagala is covered with Nelu bushes and Bamboo.

Supposed to be the highest point of Darmarajagala. It is covered with forest.

On top of Darmarajagala.

There was a sloping rock facing to Bana Samonala Gala side. This is a good view point towards Bana Samonala Gala, but bit risky due to sheer drop. As surrounding was misty we were waiting there till it gets clear. Then we have moved to the other side hoping to get a clear view towards Kunu Diya Parwathaya and surrounding. But it didn’t happen due to thick mist.

When we were at view point of Darmarajagala

Acute drop at view point.

View of Bana Samonala Gala from Darmarajagala.

View of Bana Samonala Gala.

Top of Bana Samonala is covered by mist.

Forest line of the edge of Bana Samonala Gala.

Connection of Darmarajagala and Bana Samonala Gala.

Towards Sri Pada area. Here we didn’t have a view towards Sri Pada due to mist and forest cover.

Forest cover on Bana Samonala slope…

We didn’t come across a trace of any foot pathway or animal path in this journey. And there was no trace that anybody has visited the peak before. In return journey we straight away got down through the forest rather than follow our initial pathway. Here we had to get some risky steps in getting down, because we had to rush as rain was around the corner. We were able to reach trail head in 2hours time and luckily rain starts once we reached Rathnapura trail.