| Year and Month | 14 Jan, 2014 |
| Number of Days | 1 |
| Crew | Tony and Me |
| Accommodation | N/A |
| Transport | By Bike |
| Activities | Archaeology, Photography, etc… |
| Weather | Excellent |
| Route | Wattala->Ragama->Radawana Road off Kandy Road->Koskandawala Temple->Nellugahamulla->Turning left towards Warana Ancient Temple->Back to Nellugahamulla->Dikkanda->Left towards Galboda->Pettagankanda->Urapola->Attanagalla->Alawala Pre-Historic Caves->Back to Attanagalla->Haggala Junction->Algama and back to Haggala->Pasyala->Back to Colombo along Kandy Road. |
| Tips, Notes and Special remark |
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| Author | Sri Abeywickrema |
| Comments | Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread |
After our (Tony and Me) first run through the Siyane Korale, which was a grand tour, we decided to continue from where we stopped covering the remaining archaeologically important places in Gampaha District. 14 January looked like a perfect choice coz we both were free, unfortunately we missed Hari’s hike to the Sacred Sri Pada via scenic Maray Watta and Sandagala Thenna route as we both had to work the following day despite it being a Poya Day. This made Hari as mad as a lone Elephant in Maduru Oya.
We called it a day at Maligathenna the other day after a marathon run of exploration of Siyane Korale, Tony vowed to come back to do the rest of it and that’s exactly what we did at the end.
Tour Highlights:
- Koskandawala Temple, Koskandawala (Yakkala-Radawana Road)
- Warana Cave Temple, Warana Temple Road off Nelligahamulla
- Pettagankanda, Galboda off Dikkanada Junction
- Alawala Pre-Historic Cave, Alawala, Attanagalla off Attanagalla-Galapitamada Road
- Uduwaka Falls, Algama off Haggalla-Algama Road
Koskandawala Temple
Take the Yakkala-Radawana Road and after about 2km you’ll see the temple onto your right facing the road itself.
 The entrance is just by the road |
 The cave image house and the solid rock on the background |
 Entering into the image house |
 The newly built structure replacing the ancient mud walls have destroyed part of the paintings on the rocky ceiling |
 The rocky flower stand and an apparently a water container located above it to get water |
 Locked? |
 Gigantic brass key |
 Got in after all |
 The rocky ceiling full of colorful paintings and art |
 The archaeology dept. has done their bit of cleaning the place getting it to former glory |
 Thousands of years old yet still in mint condition |
 The creative base of the stupa is different from one another |
 Peeling off at times but a chemical has been used to stop further erosion |
 The blackish square represent the state the whole paintings were before the cleaning |
 More paintings of Stupa |
 Done very smoothly |
 A plane has just gone by |
 The stupa and around it we got to the back looking if we could climb that rock |
 Seen places like these at Alu Viharaya, Matale |
 No clue what these are |
 Soaring high |
 They’ve found shelter in one of the caves |
 Resting place |
 There had been a forest of many trees but now completely cut them off and making it like a desert |
Warana Cave Temple
Go further along towards Radawana take the left Warana Temple Road at Nelligahamulla Junction.
 Just around the corner of Warana Temple |
 Zoomed in |
 Don’t get fooled by the distance. It’s 0.3km (300m) but the dot in the middle is no longer visible or not put there at all |
 At the entrance |
 Not ripe yet |
 More than 2000 years old? |
 The legend (Click image to enlarge) |
 Huge rock with drip edges. Who would’ve carved them so high? |
 Main complex |
 The history of it |
 Going to the Second Stage |
 The rock pillars still standing |
 The stupa |
 Resting after a heavy climb |
 Curtained to protect the statue |
 Still in mint condition after so many years |
 Endless paintings in the cave |
 Huge inside |
 Many statues too |
 After the cleaning |
 More paintings |
 Reminds me of Sigiriya |
 All of them were 100% identical in size. |
 Faded paintings revealing colorful plaster underneath |
 Wondering what we are up to |
 Imagine the size of the rock |
 Goint to the 3rd Level |
 The path goes uphill |
 More to climb |
 Similar one was at Pilikuththuwa |
 Another stupa up there |
 Another image house but it was locked maybe due to restoration by the archaeological department |
 Lovely shades |
 Closed but managed to get a pic |
 More paintings on rocky ceiling, like Dambulla |
 Serene looking Buddha |
 The ceiling is made of wood with more paintings |
 Cracking at places |
 Towards the back |
 Idiotic travelers are doing this everywhere |
 Through the branches of Bo Tree |
 They are getting ready to fix a stall for the next day Poya |
 Look at the greenery to the horizon |
 Very small monk going towards the image house |
 Another look at the giant rock and the structure underneath |
 These paintings are obscured by the building you saw in the above pic |
 This roof covers a lot of painting on the rock |
 Going towards the rocky inscription |
 There it is |
 Very few letters |
 Fish tale bird |
 Look at the paddy in the middle with its strange layout of paths in between |
Pettagankanda
Get back to Nelligamulla and go further towards Radawana till you come to Dikkanda Junction and turn left towards Galboda. Ask the directions from the villagers.
Note: The rock where they called the Pettagankanda has been a victim for quarry workers. They had broken the face of it nearly in half endangering the Temple and the Meditating Monks who live there. The constant noise must’ve been a great burden for those monks. They simply ask us to put it so that someone will take notice the damage done to this place. When we visited, there was a lorry and someone was breaking the stones. The ground was a big hole full of rain water and the surrounding area must surely be full of mosquitoes as a result. It’s really surprise the PHIs or the Police don’t take any action against these people who are doing this damaged with the greedy politicians’ blessing in the area. I hope someone will take notice and take some action.
Dikkanda Walawwa:
I’ve posted a pic of this seen from Maligathenna and apparently this is a huge bungalow with 80 rooms according to the folklore. The villagers claim that the owner of this place was to marry an ex-president but it didn’t happen. This bungalow was built in the hope of living here after the marriage. The area belonging to this place is said to be roughly 3000 acres. The bungalow itself is located on top of a hill giving it a panoramic view of the surrounding areas. The owner is supposedly remaining single to date.
 Saw one of these along Pilikuththuwa road but missed picturing it. Very rare sighting |
 Near the entrance |
 Do read this and behave accordingly |
 The Quarry below |
 10X zoomed |
 20X zoomed. They keep digging at it |
 The path is nearly at the edge to the temple |
 The whole area is damaged severely |
 Here’s the Pettagan Gala |
 Closer |
 The surrounding, just to the left of the golden stupa is Warana and beyond that Koskandawala |
 The Maligathenna in the middle and to the left is Dikkanda Bungalow and under that the farm |
 Maligathenna zoomed. Sweet memories |
 Along the shady path |
 Got nearer |
 The stupa |
 This is what it’s called |
 Maligathenna to the right |
 There’s a similar gold painted rock in Thailand |
 Just barely touching the rock underneath |
 See the small surface area of the two rocks attached with no firm support visible |
 They kept going here and there |
 Extreme left is Koskandawla, middle Warana and to the right is some rock with a quarry |
 Towards the cave in the middle of the rock and the path is going dangerously close to the edge of the quarry |
 They were sitting in the middle and zoomed in to the max. |
 Down we go |
 Old man on this back sliding down |
 Not an easy task for the old bones |
 Tony picturing inside the cave |
 They’ve left statues |
 The interior is too low for comfort |
 Managed to squeeze in and take the pic. Maligathenna and Dikkanda clearly visible |
 The pagoda from the cave |
 Sitting close to each other |
Alawala Pre-Historic Cave
From Galboda take the same road towards Urapola. Take left of Veyangoda-Ruwanwella Road until you reach Attanagalla. From Attanagalla, take the right Pasyala-Attanagalla Road and just about 100m along there’s a turn to the right with a sign board for Alawala Cave. Follow it for 8km along Galapitamada Road and you’ll see another similar sign onto your left after Alawala Junction. Along that road about 500-600m away is a temple and ask the directions from there. There are very helpful young boys playing around and they’ll happily show you the way.
 Just at the turning in Attanagalla |
 After 8km turn left from here |
 This huge notice board is hard to miss |
 Tooth of a Shark and a bone of the extinct SL tiger also found |
 Many more stones and bones |
 The story (Click image to enlarge) |
 Have to climb up to the rocky ledge |
 Our friend Sanju who met us at the temple leading the way |
 Many of these available |
 Just at the mouth of the cave |
 Sanju in the middle and the dugout seen |
 Signs of work done |
 The cavity where they found all those things |
 The cave is very lengthy |
 Signs of excavation |
 Tony and Sanju with Tony’s sweaty hat |
 Goes a long way |
 From the cave |
 When you come along the road, you have to park your vehicles near the hut at the bottom and walk up |
 He was merrily drinking |
 Can’t leave these sweet hearts |
 Another cave temple but now it’s turned into a Devalaya where they use all these Mantra to curse people |
 The Suniyam Devalaya |
 Don’t understand the logic doing all those bad ghtings for people hiding behind Lord Buddha, even Sanju being a kid wouldn’t come to this place coz he said these people are bad |
Uduwaka Falls
Back to Attanagalla and continue towards Pasyala till you come to Haggalla Junction. (Don’t get confused with the Nuwara Eliya Haggala). Take the right along Algama Road till you get to Algama where the famous bathing place of Algama Falls is located. Unfortunately when we visited it was swarming with drunks in different stages of getting drunk. The waterfall is not so high and the water levels were too low so we decided not to push upwards along the stream zig-zaging the drunkards. We went further along towards Uduwaka Falls. It was no better as a huge pile of garbage was near the waterfall and again full of drunkards. However we managed to shoot a few pics and do check the reckless behavior of those stupid travelers here. Wails of Uduwaka Falls
 Almost dried out Uduwaka Falls |
 To the right |
 And the left |
 The middle |
 Purple beauty saying good bye |
Check the Panos here:
 Pano 1 – Tony outside picturing the surrounding |
 Pano 2 – Full width of the Pettagankanda Cave |
 The Pano of the whole sorrouning area. From Left: Dikkanda Bungalow, Maligathenna, Koskandawala and Warana |
 Tony and Sanju at Alawala Cave |