Rajagala Kanda is the home to one of the great Buddhist monasteries of ancient Sri Lanka. No much archeological work has been done here, giving you a truly remarkable feel of nature and history entwined together as tightly as the creepers and trees in this heavily forested Kanda.

I had read about Rajagala Kanda, and my cousin had visited it in the company of a monk and Home Guard some years back. Soon after the war ended, we headed that way. It was a long week end with unprecedented number of visitors to Eastern Province. But the route we picked and the sites we visited were all deserted, waiting for those who take the risk of not being sure where they are heading!

In an attempt to beat the traffic we left Colombo after work before the week-end started. No point. The traffic was bumper to bumper all the way to Kandy. It was almost mid night when we got there. Early start next day was not so early! We took the route around the Randenigala reservoir and Loggaloya reservoir and down to Bibile. Not going to sing the praises of this stretch as its pretty well known.

We cross from Uva to the Eastern Province

What we were exploring was the Nilgala route that runs along the northern boundary of the Senanayake Samudraya. Worth it. Every single mile. Highly recommended. If any one finds a place to stay or camp in this stretch please post. We want to explore this area, very good hiking potential. There are lots of historical sites in the jungle and on hill tops that can act as the target destination. We ended up at Namal Oya Wawe at dusk. It’s a hard place to leave.

Namal Oya wawe. Incredibly lovely at dusk. There is a wildlife department beat station just before you get here

Namal Oya wawe. Incredibly lovely at dusk

Camping at Namal Oya wawe have been a wonderful experience, especially given it was a full moon night. But we had booked accommodation at Ampara, Rajawawe Resort, right on the ‘wane’ side of Wawe. When we were there, the water level was very low. The early risers in our group did a bit of bird watching.

The early risers in our group did a bit of bird watching

Next day we set out for Rajagala.

We had asked around from a number of sources whether we needed to be accompanied, needed some kind of pass/ clearance. Some said yes, some said no, so we decided go and find out for our selves. As it turned out you are free to enter and explore.

[Map coming soon]

Turn off at the black Archeological Department sign near Bakkielle. The gravel road ends in a space that you can park your vehicle. Take the path to the right leading into the trees. I am sure there are many ways of doing it but we followed what seemed to be the clearest path up

Some of the ancient steps that still show the way. Not all of the path is this clear.

There were some hand made arrows that proved invaluable to us. But in addition, any hint of a path should be explored. Look carefully at how the rocks are worn out, or if there are signs of steps cut into the rocks as its not a well marked or developed site. We found a huge mushroom shaped cave behind this.

The first ‘peak’ of Rajagala. Pond with remains of two ancient Dagabas on either side and a stunning view of the plains of Eastern Province. Toppigala is very easily identifiable. If have a GPS machine, you can stand here for hours trying to guess what is what.	Low ground between two hills. With remains of a large water storage system; the main storage tank of the Monastery?
Life saving, pure, cold water from the ancient source. The whole hillside was so parched it is a natural wonder and an act of human good will that such pure water was available to us	Note how dry the surroundings are.

The water source is under the large rock where the ferns are growing. There is no way you can access it directly. Someone has simply placed the metal pipe at the source and rested it on the ancient carved ‘jala pihilla’. The plastic bottle is ours. It was kept there for the photograph purely to complete the story. We blessed the ancient Sri Lankan who built this wonder in stone and the modern Sri Lankan who was thoughtful enough to add just a bit of modernity to get it functioning again but not destroy the feel of the place.

The forest, the topography and the remains of this immense historical site kept changing. Such variation, so much to explore. I am not posting everything we explored here on purpose. Don’t want to spoil the fun of discovery for others!

No idea what this creeper is called. But it took up a lot of space!!!!

Fallen stone pillars and tree trunks at the base of yet another Dagaba

End of the day – Bath, of course!! In the Navakiriaru wave (drive past the canal on to the tank bund) and thati paan, katta sambal and margarine…for dinner. As we watched the Poya moon rise, lying on the rocks of an interior tank in Bakkielle, we realized again how grateful we had to be to all those who gave us back our land. It was just the other day that even during daytime these were considered ‘unsafe’ areas.