Ancient Paradise – Mahiyanganaya

Actually this was an official journey to Mahiyanganaya but we planned it out to perfection. We took the 11.45pm bus to Mahiyanganya (the bus was packed @10.45pm) and the journey was a long one and we never regretted the night journey because the road trough Hunnasgiriya was heavily under construction these days. After the bus tackled the 17 hair pin bends, it was time for us to get down at Gurulupotha. The time was 5.30a.m so we decided to have breakfast at a nearby Tea shop and started our journey towards the Seetha Kotuwa ruins at Gurulupotha (the path starts near to the Rest house). Only one sector was excavated by the department of Archeology (under the influence of India) out of the whole 16hectare area. Seetha kotuwa is one of the places where King Rawana has kept Seetha under captivity for many years and believe me it was an ideal place for that, we understood it only when we got down to Gurulupotha Oya which was a like a landscaped water paradise/garden. There is another place with ruins related to the Rawana legend near Hasalaka called Weragantota.

Quote: Weraganthota Lanka pura (Capital city of King Ravana)
Weragantota, means ‘a place of aircraft landing’ in Sinhala language, is believed to be the first place where Sitadevi was brought into Lanka in King Ravana’s Vimana. These jungles are the place where the city of Lankapura once stood .The city had a beautiful palace for queen Mandothari surrounded by waterfalls, streams and varieties of flora and fauna.

Seetha kotuwa — Sitadevi was kept in queen Mandothari’s palace until she was moved to Sita Kotua and then on to Ashoka Vatika. The remains that are found are the remnants of later civilizations. This place is now called Sita Kotuwa which means ‘Sita’s Fort’ and got its name because of Sitadevi’s stay here.

Gurulupotha Seetha Kotuwa

Gurulupotha - Seetha Kotuwa as seen from below

We decided to travel up stream in search of some beautiful waterfalls and we were amazed with what we saw….it was truly a paradise for us. In seconds we were clicking our cameras nonstop. These cascades were different in the sense that they looked like artificially created by someone, all because the rock formation which was plated or mixed with “Calcium salts”. We climbed further and came across few other waterfalls until we ended up at the rest house near the main road.

Cascades of Gurulupotha oya near - Seetha Kotuwa	First glimpse of the waterfalls
Waterfall number 1	Waterfall number 2
A different view of Waterfall number 2	Side view of the Waterfalls
Waterfall number 4	At the top of the fall
Waterfall number 3	Waterfall number 5

From Gurulupotha we took a three-wheeler to Hasalaka and refilled our resources and we left to “Ratna Ella wasama”. At the village we kept our bags at the local Weda mahaththayas house and took the path along the Small waterway which supplied the paddy fields. After a 3Km walk we came to the bunt which was across Hasalaka oya. From here there was a foot path (just before the bunt on the right hand side) which took us to Ratna Ella and our first words were wow!! After resting a bit we got bit closer to enjoy the majesty of the waterfall! I must say it is not safe to bathe at all close to this waterfall which has taken many lives!

Quote: Ratna Ella
The 101m fall is the highest in the Kandy region and the stream that serves it irrigates the paddy fields of the surrounding villages.
Superstitious villagers say that there were seven vessels filled with precious stones hidden close to the fall, but that five have now been found. However, anyone attempting to find the final two will meet an untimely death at the bottom of the fall.
The route to the fall winds through villages between the Hunasgiriya mountain range and dense jungle. From Hasalaka, travel on the Kandy – Mahiyangana highway towards Wasgamuwa National Park to the Eke Ela Agri-Colony. From here, turn left onto a side road and continue until the footpath which leads to the fall after 4km.

Knuckles mountain range	Rathna ella wasama
A cascade just before Rathna Ella	Hasalaka oya
Rathna Ella	Rathna Ella and the base pool
Rathna Ella close up	Lower base pool of Rathna Ella

On the way back on the path we heard and saw a large waterfall (30m) downstream through the jungle patch. Because of our irresistible desire for waterfalls we decided to get down and try and get a close up view. The path was very steep and we ended up on a rocky slope which ended up in a large deep base pool of the waterfall. The view of this waterfall was worth for the trouble we took to get to it. It was unique and beautiful. After getting back to the Weda Mahaththayas place we got to know that it was called “Kaluwa Watuna Ella” and there was a jungle path to the base which the locals knew of. We had quite an interesting conversation with the old Weda mahaththaya and he told us about many stories (Folkore).

Kaluwa Watuna Ella

A distant view of Kaluwa watuna ella

After having lunch at Hasalaka we went to Mahiyangana in search of a place to stay. At around 4.30p.m we got in to three-wheeler and went to Sora Bora Wewa which was a creation of the giant called “Bulatha”. The “Sorrouwa” that was created is said to be done by the giant by splitting the rock in two. We had a nice boat (canoe) ride and the person who owns this said he can help us if we needed to camp out near Sora Bora Wewa . we waited to see the sun set behind the mountains and left Sora Bora wewa to our rest place where we had a long nap till the next day.

Sora Bora Wewa history (Click image for a larger view)

The split in the rock

Sora Bora Wewa

Paddling in Sora Bora Wewa

Early morning we went to Sri Maha Bodhi Seya (In the town) & Mahiyangana Maha Seya(2Km on Badulla road) which was decorated with “No Photograph sign boards”

We had our breakfast and off we went for some official business and returned back to pack our stuff and depart towards Uraniya from where we took a three-wheeler to Nagadeepa Viharaya.

This is one of the places where Lord Budhdha stepped while he visited Mahiyanganaya. This place must be respected and treated as the other two places (Adams peak & Kelaniya) but because of the unawareness of the majority of pilgrims this place has gone unnoticed despite the archeological evidence & inscriptions found in this holy land. Instead of visiting this holy and sacred place people visit Mahiyangana Chaitya at Mahiyanganaya town. My only hope is that Sri Lankans will treat this place as they do towards Adams peak and Kelaniya and if you are going there please do take some “Pirikara” or help the only priest there, in some way as you can to pay the light bills as we did or if possible please contribute in some way to build up a new “Awasa geya” because the Archeology department is not doing anything other than putting up boards.

Inscription at Nagadeepa Ruins	Nagadeepa Ruins at Mahiyanganaya Uraniya
Half build Dhageba	Nagadeepa Ruins

After spending few minutes near Nagadeepa wewa we came back to Andaulpotha where we took a bus which goes trough Loggal Oya bunt towards Badulla. I somehow managed to catch some pictures of Loggal Oya while I was on the foot board. After that we had lunch and got in to a Kandy bus at Raja Mawatha and left towards Kanday. Though I was standing for 80Km++ I really did enjoy the breath taking views of Randenigala, Rantabe & Victoria reservoirs. We called it a day after we got in to a bus and arrived at Colombo at around 10p.m.

Last Updated | March 16, 2010