Sri Lanka: Part Two
Dambulla and Kandy
By: Zeren Earls - Apr 18, 2011
Including a visit to the Elephant Orphanage, it took us a full day to reach Dambulla, which is in a plain in the dry zone, defined as a zone with less than 39 inches of annual rainfall; trees here have smaller leaves than those in the lush coastal regions. This area is rich in vegetable cultivation, as well as ancient art and architecture. Wholesale markets are busy throughout the night, loading up trucks to supply big cities. Following a delicious meal, the highlight of which was delicately spiced mashed pumpkin, we settled into our rooms at the Thilanka Resort and Spas for the next two nights.
Early in the morning we headed south to Sigiriya, a natural rock formation. This is an UNESCO World Heritage site with a history going as far back as the third century BC, when Buddhist monks lived in the caves around the base. We drove by paddy fields, which were flooded by communal lakes created by dammed rivers. Storks looking for insects dotted the fields, surrounded by earthen dams to conserve water. Nearby treehouses served as nighttime lookout stations for farmers to chase away elephants, which like to eat new rice crops. They are scared away by fire crackers, known to locals as “elephant crackers.” An occasional peacock roamed about, while large squirrels nested on trees.
As we approached Sigiriya, it began raining. As luck would have it, this was the only rainy day during our entire week in Sri Lanka. Donning raingear and umbrellas, we first visited the Archeological Museum, a state-of-the-art new building constructed with financial aid from Japan. The museum holds artifacts found during excavations, such as terra cotta objects and farming tools, as well as replicas of cave frescoes.
Through a thick mist we began our ascent of the enormous rock, two hundred meters above the surrounding plain. Following a narrow metal staircase of over one thousand steps, we first reached the Lion Platform and from there the spacious summit with views all around. Here stood once the Royal Palace of King Kassapa, who reigned between 477 and 495 AD. Hearing that his half-brother was the designated crown-prince, Kassapa killed his father, King Dhatusena of Anuradhapura, and established a new city at Sigiriya (Lion Rock), both to claim his kingship over the “lion race” and to be at a defensive location surrounded by sheer rock faces.
The royal palace, now in ruins, had pavilions set amid gardens and pools. The rock was transformed into an immense lion by the addition of a head and forelegs, of which only the sculpted paws remain. In addition to the Lion Platform and the Summit ruins, the areas of the complex are: the Water Gardens, the Boulder and Terrace Gardens, the Mirror Wall, and the Apsara Paintings, Sigiriya’s most celebrated sight. Commissioned by Kassapa in the fifth century, the painted band of apsaras, celestial nymphs, on the sheer rock face depicts sensuous women scattering flower petals or offering trays of fruit. The naturalistic paintings are the earliest surviving examples of a Sri Lankan school of classical realism. Despite the rain, the exhilarating ascent and descent to and from Sigiriya, coupled with the sight of these frescoes, was already worth the trip to Sri Lanka!
Lunch was at a fast food restaurant, where we observed locals eat with their hands. In general Sri Lankans do not use silverware, instead using their right hands to scrape food off their plates. The left hand is considered unclean and does not touch food. A new taste was yoghurt with honey derived from a plant rather than made by bees. At a craft store run by the government, I bought a small wooden elephant, painted decoratively with a floral pattern. Walking around the wholesale market, we learned about betel nuts, which many locals enjoy chewing like tobacco. The nutmeat is sold rolled in betel leaves, which serve as a pouch for the remainder while part of it is chewed.
The second day in Dambulla we climbed three hundred steps to reach a pair of temples — the Golden Temple and the Rock Temple. The Golden Temple is a modern day creation full of kitschy embellishments, with the exception of its hundred-foot-tall Golden Buddha, which sits behind the temple in the asisa mudra position, that is, raising his right hand in a gesture of blessing. This Buddha has a refined simplicity and serenity, as opposed to the temple’s gaudy facade. A row of statues of orange-clad monks bringing offerings to the Buddha, in addition to some fake elephants on the ground, enhance the astonishing view. Here I bought a small chunk of pink quartz unique to the area.
The Rock Temple nearby is awe-inspiring. Originally created in the first century BC, the imposing Dambulla Rock is divided into five cave temples of varying sizes. The first and third caves have colossal reclining Buddhas carved out from a single piece of rock, 46 and 30 feet long respectively. The second cave is the largest and most spectacularly decorated of all, with an array of Buddhas lined up around its sides. Impressive frescoes, painted in the eighteenth century, cover the walls and ceilings, depicting different aspects of the Buddha’s life. Using squirrel or monkey hair, two families painted the murals in exchange for land from King Kirti Sri Rajasinha.
The paved scenic route to Kandy, the hill capital of the old kingdom and center of the country’s Sinhalese culture, offered various points of interest. The Spice Garden introduced us to spices unique to Sri Lanka — cardamom, coriander, cinnamon, and nutmeg, which thrive with high rainfall and humidity. Pepper dried in the sun becomes black peppercorn; boiling produces white pepper. Roast cocoa beans make dark chocolate, which is high in caffeine. Various spices and herbs are used in ayurvedic medicine for natural ailments; cinnamon oil, for instance, is used for earaches and dry mouth.
At a batik factory we watched craftsmen drip hot wax with a special tool, following free-hand designs on cotton or silk cloth. Dipping the material in the dye bath determines the preliminary color of the design, before the wax melts away by pressing or boiling for the application of a second color. The art of batik was introduced to Sri Lanka by the Dutch, who brought it from Indonesia.
Although Kandy is the country’s second largest city, it has a small-town feel. Streets lined with low-rise colonial buildings give the center a special charm. The scenic centerpiece of the city is Lake Kandy, bounded by elegant white buildings against a rich green backdrop. The winding hills are lined with villas of the wealthy, with their views of the Knuckle mountain range.
Perched at the eastern end of the lake are the white buildings of the Temple of the Tooth, the most sacred temple in Sri Lanka. The main shrine is home to one of the most sacred objects in Buddhism, the Tooth Relic, which is kept in a Golden Casket in a room upstairs. The doors to this room are opened only during thrice-daily worship rituals, to the accompaniment of traditional drumming. We joined the throngs of pilgrims and locals, mostly dressed in white and carrying flower offerings in bamboo baskets, to file by the Golden Casket. However, it was impossible for us to approach the Golden Casket because of the density of the worshippers. The only photo I managed to take of the casket was with three heads blocking most of the view.
A visit with a monk informed us further about Buddhism in Sri Lanka, which preserves the religion in its original form, the Theravada tradition. Observers believe that one is personally responsible for one’s own spiritual welfare, and that the only route to Nirvana is through constant spiritual striving, unlike that of the Mahayana tradition, which believes Nirvana can be achieved through devotion and prayer to various deities. Buddhism is taught as a subject in schools; the most respected person in the country is a monk. Parental permission is required to become a novice at age ten, with full ordination occurring at twenty, meaning commitment and dedication to spreading Theravada Buddhism, which nowadays includes using modern technology.
Full Moon Day, an official holiday, is the most religious day of the month, as the Buddha urged his disciples to perform spiritual acts on every full moon. The devout spend the day at the temple; no alcohol is sold or served anywhere. To fulfill the Buddha’s wishes for equality, no hats or shoes are allowed in temples, where preferable attire is white or in light tones to be soothing to the eye. Fortuitously, our time in Kandy coincided with Full Moon Day. An impromptu visit allowed us to observe a “home-coming ceremony,” an auspicious event where a bride’s family receives the groom following a wedding.
A performance of traditional Kandyan and low-country dances demonstrated the influence religion and folk traditions play in the daily lives of Sri Lankans. The Pooja Dance paid homage to deities; the Mask Dance drove away evil spirits. The Fire Dance showed man’s power over fire, while a Fire Walk performed by a dancer in trance sought the blessings of the Goddess Pathihini. The Ves dance featured men in the elaborate traditional costume with sixty-four ornaments, topped with a headpiece considered sacred to the god Kohomba.
Four miles from Kandy in Peradeniya are the Royal Botanical Gardens, which occupy a horse-shoe-shaped peninsula, around which flows the Mahaweli River. The 147-acre lush gardens, with their four thousand species, is a treasure trove of trees and plants from tropical regions of the world. At the entrance is the Royal Palm Alley; the Great Lawn is home to a giant Javan fig tree, which covers 17,222 square feet. Other highlights are the Orchid House and Gardens, the Flowering Trees, and the Arboretum.
Kandy is also a city of gems, found in the ancient rocks of the hilly countryside. We visited a gem factory, where we watched a simulated mining operation. Once inside the pit, miners break down the surface using crowbars, following which other workers wash the pieces in baskets to spot the gems. Jewels are sold to the highest bidder in auctions, where hand gestures made under a piece of cloth take the place of verbal communication. Sri Lanka is a major source of rubies and sapphires in the world.