Ritigala the Dreadful Mountain (Ariṭṭha Pabbata) 766m

The map – click to enlarge

Ritigala the giant of ancient capital Anuradhapura stands tall with an altitude of 766m and is the best view point of north central Sri Lanka. Ritigala is an important asset to us in terms of history, folklore and bio diversity. It is the birth place of Malwatu oya and during the North – East monsoons it receives heavy showers more than any other place in the region. Most of the time there is a veil of mist covering its summit. There are 7 peaks and Kodigala kanda is the highest of them (others are Palathuru kanda, Una kanda, Amarapathi kanda, Oushada kanda, Andiya kanda & Na ulpath kanda).

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One of mysterious aspect is the belief of powerful medicinal herbs found near the crest. A herb called “Sansevi” is believed to have the power of conferring long life and curing all human pain. According to legend, all vegetation on Ritigala is protected by Yakkas, the guardian spirits of the mountain. The venerable Prof. Walpola Sri Rahula Maha Thera (1907–1997), a Professor of History and Religions at Northwestern University, a Buddhist monk scholar, in his “History of Buddhism in Ceylon, says “the term “Yaksa” denotes superhuman beings worthy of respect. It is possible that it was applied, by an extension of meaning, also to some pre-Buddhistic tribe of human beings, aboriginal to Ceylon”.

The legend has it that Prince Pandukhabaya (3rd century BC) was assisted by Yakkas during his battles against his eight uncles at the foot of Ritigala. Another legend refers to a duel of two giants, most possibly Yakkas, named Soma and Jayasena. Soma being killed in the duel, Jayasena became a legend.

According to popular belief, non-human Lord Hanuman of supernatural powers, traveled over Ritigala, and, by accident, dropped a chunk off a mountain of the Himalaya range he was carrying from India to Lanka for its medicinal herbs. Lord Rama’s brother, Prince Lakshmana was mortally wounded in battle and only a rare herb in the Himalaya could save his life. The pocket of vegetation of healing herbs and plants at the strange mini-plateau at the summit of Ritigala, which is distinct from the dry-zone flora of the lower slopes and surrounding plains at Ritigala, could thus be accounted for.

The ruins of Ritigala monastery are located on the eastern side of the mountain at the foot of the gorge which separates the main peak from the northern ridge of the range. The ruins cover an area of 24 hectares (59 acres). The monastery precinct begins at the office of the on-site branch of Department of Archeology of Sri Lanka close to the foot of the reservoir named Banda Pokuna. The ancient man-made reservoir is a feat of engineering with a bund of polygonal plan completing a circumference of 366 meters. The construction of the reservoir is credited to King Pandukabhaya (437 -367 BC). The reservoir possibly served a ritual bathing purpose, with visitors bathing there before entering the monastery.

The order of ritual bathing tank, ruins of entrance complex and a pedestrian path seem to indicate devotees in large numbers visiting the monastery. The procession is similar to that of Kataragama where pilgrims begins with a cleansing bath at Kataragama Manik river and end with an offering to the God Skanda, the benevolent Hindu deity of Kataragama at the main shrine.

The edge of the reservoir is followed in a clockwise direction to arrive at the other bank, and cross the bed of the stream feeding the reservoir. The steep steps here onwards lead up to a beautifully constructed pavement, a stone path 1.5 meters wide that meander upwards through the forest, linking the major buildings of the monastery. The stone cut path is laid with interlocking four-sided slabs of hewn stone. Three large circular platforms at intervals along the pavement allow for rest.

Ritigala summit covered with mist

Ritigala range as seen from kiriyagas wewa

The adventure of Ritigala began from Habarana onwards. Three of us met up at Habarana at around 2am where we had no other option other than spending the night at a bus halt. Early morning even before the morning rays decided to shine on our backs we stepped on to the road and went towards a hotel to restock our empty stomachs. We also bought some food stuff needed for the journey. At around 6.30am we got the first bus towards Kekirawa and got off at Ritigala junction. Seen this huge colossal covered with mist gave us some jitters. From Ritigala junction we took a trishaw towards Kiriyagaswewa where we met our companion for the day! We had to take a trishaw from the small junction with few houses to the Archaeology office which was more than 3Km’s away. The road was through the forest reserve and one should always be cautious about elephants.

At the beginning of the trail we came across one of the largest ponds in SL and the sight of it simply amazed us, after passing it we were greeted by a magical foot path laid with rocky slabs through the forest reserve. Since this was the first time I visited Ritigala I was mystified with what I witnessed. After proceeding uphill passing the remains of some buildings we took a left turn in to the jungle to reach the watch post where one can view the far horizon. Passing the watch post we went further uphill passing many more ruins which showed off the glory of this monastery until the SNR board was reached.

Ritigala as seen from Pidurangala

what a ride

educational center (DWC)

our target

plenty of boards

Banda Pokuna. The ancient man-made reservoir is a feat of engineering with a bund of polygonal plan completing a circumference of 366m

what a path

serene

a palace?

Ambarum gal

Beheth gala

kurahan gala

beheth pokuna

guard watch post

the view from the watch post

rock bed

From the board onwards it was a nonstop uphill climb parallel to a dried out stream requiring plenty of stops. After about 2hours we reached the base of the final rock where we had to rotate clockwise to reach onto it. The last part of it had huge steps created centuries ago signifying that there might be some building built on Kodigala peak too. After getting on to the rock we had to follow a foot path for about 20 minutes until the summit was reached. This small forest patch located on the top resembled a mountain cloud forest on most aspects and all of those ferns, Lykens justified our assumptions. Just before the summit there was a rock wall resembling a base of a building which stood tall once on Kodigala, other than that we came across a communication tower and a building used by DWC for their signal transmissions.

the lonely path

huge tall trees

the path we took

while climbing the steps

ancient steps

walking along the range

more ruins at the summit

last climb

The summit was a bear area enough to accommodate 20 to 30. It was one of the best panoramic points I have ever been to. The slight breeze kept the extreme heat away and allowed us to stay on top for more than 30minutes. We had no words to describe what we saw. I felt like an ancient king of Rajarata gazing towards and beyond my kingdom. This view was totally alien for me because I haven’t climbed many peaks around this region but I did manage to spot Kala wewa, Hurulu wewa, Sigiriya, Pidurangala, Mihinthale and its pagoda, plenty of lakes of “weuw bandi rajaya” , Minneriya, Kandalama, etc

wow	splendid views (kiriyagas wewa lake also could be seen)

could you spot mihinthale?

towards sigiriya and pidurangala(faintly seen)

a pano towards hurulu wewa

what panoromic point

hurulu wewa

beauty

plenty of shadows

minneriya tank

summit of rajarata

the drop

the tank where we had a bath later

last shots before saying goodbye

resting and capturing

btw this is in dry zone

After enjoying taking many breathtaking Panoramas we decided to get down as quickly as possible because our water store was slowly depleting. The steep descend was tackled safely with the aid of the tall tree trunks. First thing we did is get to a pond where we saw water been collected for the usage of the archeology office. We refreshed our thirsty souls and had some food stuff we brought before getting back on to the foot path.

resembles mountain forest

the summit is 100% green

the snail

getting down

endemic to ritigala called wana mee

checking out the tree

merged

diya labu

the angle

part of history

Though we were exhausted we decided to visit the rest of the ruins which were further uphill and we came across many Padanagara’s plus a nice resting point on the way. We did have some problems with local monkeys who were following us to grab what we had in our hands but we got back soon as possible towards the Archaeology office to get away from them. From here onwards we took our trishaw and headed towards Kiriyagaswewa lake which was just like a hot water Jacuzzi at that time. Nevertheless we enjoyed the bath before been treated with one of the best village type rice plate with some “weuw malu”. We had to say goodbye to the dreadful mountain and head back towards Colombo with some wonderful memories which will cherish in our minds forever.

back to the path and the resting place

padanagara

a toilet

sakman maluwa

more ruins

crossing the pond to return back

ritigala kodigala kanda at the backdrop while we were having a dip

sharing the tube

floating session

plenty of them

Thanks for reading!