අවස්තා තුනකදී දින 8ක් කැප කරමින් සමුහයේ කිහිපදෙනෙක් සහ අප මේ වැඩ කටයුත්ත සිදු කරන ලද්දේ බොහෝ වෙහෙස මහන්සියක් මැද ස්වේඡ්චාවෙන් වන අතර අප මුහුණ දුන් අභියෝග මහන්සිය මෙහි සඳහන් කිරීමට නොහැකි තරම්ය. සමස්තයක් වශයෙන් සමූහයේ 25 දෙනෙකු පමණ දින 8ක් තුල තම ශ්‍රමය උපරිමයෙන් නොඅඩුව මෙම වැඩසටහනට ලබා දුන් අතර මෙම අවස්ථාවේ මම ඔබ සියලුදෙනාට ස්තුතිය පුද කර සිටිමි. මෙම දින තුල ඔවුන් හට කිසිදු අඩුපාඩුවක් නැතිව කලට වෙලාවට සියලුම ආහාරපාන ලබා දුන් අතර ඒ සියල්ල අපිට උයාපිහා දුන් තිලක් අයියාද අමතක කල නොහැක.

2021 is an amazing year that I was able to pilgrimage 3 times of Sripada. It was due to the renovation of the Andiyamalathanna Toilet complex. However each time I witnessed different nature, weather, and surroundings. Also, I was lucky to see the Colombo in the morning and in the night at Andiyamalathanna Ambalama. Actually, we identified plenty of mountains and areas and noted everything as to share in our Facebook Group.

සමනල කන්ද රසික එකමුතුව is the only Facebook group in Sri Lanka dedicated to one destination as Holy Peak, Sripadaya. We have created this group in January 2019 for targeting conservation in peak wilderness and make awareness on the pilgrimage. We have launched the first Project in December 2019 as preparation for the 2019/20 Siripa Season. And we have contributed to a project launched by Derana TV and we undertook the Erathna route on that project. And now we were able to do our second project for the 2020/21 Siripa season.

2021 is a most challenging year as the whole world is fighting with Covid-19 and there were restrictions and a procedure in order to pilgrimage Sripada on this season. We had our first pilgrimage on 30th and 31st January 2021 without any letter but under special approvals by the divisional secretariat of Ratnapura as we are conducting a renovation program at Andiyamalathanna toilet complex.

This is the first time that my wife visited peak wilderness for the pilgrimage of holy foot-print. We had this on a poya day as the Uda Maluwa is open on poya days. We headed to Hatton by night mail the previous day and we have arranged a van to pick up us from there and to Nallathanniya for Rs.3,500/-. We started our hike in the dawn and slowly we were able to reach the summit at 12 noon and fortunately, the Uda Maluwa was open for worship.

Another off season Sri pada hike along the easiest route but through the mist.

Ballabandigala (බල්ලාබැඳිගල ) / Bellanbandigala (බෙල්ලන්බැඳිගල) is a 1935m height beautiful destination in peak wilderness and it belongs to the Nallathanniya route as it’s neighbor is Yaka Andu Gala (යකා ඇඩූ ගල ) and the waterfall. I have planned this hike since March 2018 but was not able to make it realize due to some issues. Even though we planned this hike in January 2019 but due to a very urgent matter we had to postpone this hike at the last moment. Finally, I had to make this hike realize with Sajith and Migara on a weekend in October.

Sripada (Adam’s Peak) is currently my favorite destination in Sri Lanka. I still remember that I had 2-3 opportunities to go to Sripada in 2003 and 2006, but I was afraid to go there as I asked that there are about 10-15km to be walked. At that time as I am a school student I don’t have any interest to go there. But soon after my adventure life began in 2010, I was planning to go there with my parents and sisters as they also need to have that experience.

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 […]

Sri Pada Battulu Oya waterfall trail is a different experience to worship sacred peak. We have come across 12+ waterfalls in this route.

Bana Samanala Gala (2010m) is a fascinating rock situated at Peak wilderness. This is our successful one day journey to Bana Samanala Gala.

After a snail-like journey, we reached Maskeliya and bought a couple of essential things like instant noodles. We were planning to take a tuk-tuk from here but our luck held coz there was a Nallathanniya bus leaving at 10am. So having breathed a sigh of relief we got into the bus and settled. The sun was back and my hopes soared like an eagle. However as we got closer to Nallathanniya aka Dalhousie (remember it’s Dalhousie not Delhouse or Delhousie), those hopes came down and down like a deflated balloon.

It was very gloomy and there were a couple of passing showers as well. “This is going to be one heck of a hike” I told Atha and we both regretted not having brought the umbrellas. Well we shouldn’t have worried coz the usage of umbrella becomes next to zero after Geththampana due to the open area and strong winds. We had our long overdue coffee from the shop just before the bridge. Already there was a group of people getting ready to climb for a Pooja and we started our hike around 11am, after 8.5hr journey, well literally.