NG CEYLON

] ~L~ ~ 01--IIE

SOOR YA ED T 0 N
SEEING CEYLON
By the Same Author

THE GOLDEN AGE OF MILITARY ADVENTURE /ff CEYLON. /933

ANCIENT IRRIGATION WORKS IN CEYLON. - PARTS /, II & /1/. /934-35

IRRIGATION AND AGRICULTURE COLONIZATION IN CEYLON /94/

SEEING CEYLON
LAND, MAPS AND SURVEYS, VOLS. I & II. /951

THE GAL OYA VALLEY PROJECT JN CEYLON 1951 In vistas of

FURNITURE OF THE DUTCH PERIOD JN CEYLON. /969 Scenery, History, Legend and Folklore
DISCOVERING CEYLON 1973

FOOD AND THE PEOPLE 1975 By

LINKS BETWEEN SRI LANKA AND THE NETHERLANDS 1978

CHANGING FACE OF COLOMBO 1984

R.L. BROHIER
THE GOLDEN PLAINS 1992
HON. D. Litt. (Ceylon)

SOORIYA PUBLISHERS
 First Edition 1965
PREFACE
Second Edition 1971
Third Edition 1981 There are few professions, the activities of which are less krtown
to a popular world, than the Survey. There are none more rich in
Fourth Edition 2000 opportunities for the study of Nature in its many aspects, for the
exploration and investigation of vestiges of an old-time civilization
or for gleaning the lore and legend, and the simple thoughts of
people who find refuge away from civilization.
All rights reserved This book is the product of over forty years of travel, on the
highways, and along byways of Cey Ion, in association with "the
theodolite and the tape". It consists largely of legends and
ISBN 955-8425-16-8
traditions which have come down by word of mouth from one
generation to the other. They therefore defy close analysis or
observation, but are unconsciously held by a simple, conservative
people to be true.
These stories, collected in the course of my circuits, call to
memory treks through forests-where the canopy of treetops shuts
out sunlight, and the strange odours of herbs and leaves and rotting
wood pervade everything; the sun-scorched plains-where soggy
and sodden with sweat: one traverses open chenas while heat-waves
Type set in 11 pt Times New Roman dance in the dazzling sunshine; up craggy mountains-where in a
by Prasad Samarasekara biting wind as cold as charity, one patientiy waits the lifting of mist
to make an observation. They call to mind many elderly "story-
Printed by tellers" (many of them perhaps now dead), who can always be
found among the forest dwellers, the village rustic and the temple
S & S Printers
recluse-provided one is prepared to lend a sympathetic ear to what
49, Jayantha Weerasekera Mawatha,
they have to tell.
Colombo 10 I plead to be excused for the seeming egotism reflected in some
paragraphs of this book, and trust the reader will in other respects
Published by accept these pages in the spirit in which I have written them-a
Athula Jayakody great personal esteem for this beautiful Island, its history and its
SOORIYA PUBLISHERS wealth of traditions.
109, Rev. S. Mahinda Mawatha, Many of these chapters have been written independently of one
Colombo 10, another. There is consequently some repetition and overlapping for
Sri Lanka. which I ask the reader's indulgence.
Tel - 2693607 Fax - 2690217
 Apart from personal observation and research, I have garnered
from many sources in writing this book. Where acknowledgement
had not been specifically m :1de I tender the thanks which are due.
I feel it necessary to say a special word regarding the assistance
I have derived from the late Dr. C. W. Nicholas's contribution to the
Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (Vol. VI,
1959) on the Historical Topography of Ancient and Medieval
Ceylon, and a word of thanks to Messrs. Vernon Grenier and S. A.
Wijayatilake, who helped me when the book was in proof stage.
I also express obligation to the Publishers for the great assistance This book is dedicated to a kind
rendered. Physician
to whom the Author and his wife
R. L. BROHIER are deeply grateful
 CONTENTS

PREFACE VII

PART 1-THF. MAN-MADE LAKES OF THE DRY ZONE

I. THE CITY LAKES AND NACHCHADUWA 17

2. RITIGALA-KA.~WA 25
3. MINNERIYA: A Sentinel to Time's Reckless: Re~urring Revolutions 32
4. KAVUDULLAWEWA AND GIRITALE 46
5. POLONNARUVA: What glory is here eclipsed 52
6. THE KING OF LAKE-RESERVOIRS 60
7. KALINGA NUWARA 67
8. THE VALLEY OF THE KALA OYA 72
9. GIANT'S TANK AND AKATTIMURAIPPU 87
10. KANTALAI LAKE 93
I I. ANTIQUARIAN NOTES ON PADAVIYA 98
12. THE LAKES OF THE EASTERN SEABOARD 109
13. THE LAKES IN THE VALLEY OF THE GAL OYA 116

14. MAHA RUHUNA 124

15. BUILDING TECHNIQUES AND SKILL 129
Bibiliography 135
PART II-THE SOUTH COAST ROAD - INTRODUCTION (40

I. GALLE FACE AND MOUNT LAVINIA 142

2. COACHING DAYS 150
3. KALUTARA 154
4. BERUWALA 158
5 BENTOTA 164

6. A DETOUR-THE SINHA RAJA ADAVIYA 16 7

7. AMBALANGODA I 72
8. AN OLD-WORLD. WALLED TOWN. GALLE 177
 9. GALLE TO MATARA 187
ILLUSTRATIONS
10. DONDRA-THE CITY OF THE GOOS 193
11. THE H0 .... 0-MANIYA : A MYSTERY CAVE 198 o1. The Veda - inna-Maligawa-Minneriya (page 38)
12. MULGIRIGALA 105 . page 42
13. KATUWANA FORTLET 211 02. The Vatadage or 'Round Relic House' at Madirigiriya

14. THE URUBOKKA. DAM AND . THE GIRUWA 217

(pages 48-50)after restoration. Courtesy, Archaeolog-
ical Department, Government of Cey Ion
15. MAHAPAELAESSA-WHERE ELEPHANTS GO TO Oil:: 223
page 42
16. RIDIYAGAMA AND HAMBANTOTP 231
03. The Vatadage-undoub.tedly the masterpiece of
17. TISSAMAHARAMA AND KIRINDA 237 Polonnaruva architecture (page 55). Courtesy,
18. IN THE RUHUNA NATIONAL PARK 242 Archaeological Department, Government of Ceylon
19. SERMONS IN STONE 2_51 page 58
20.ENGELBRECHT OF YALA 258 04. The Topawewa-now merged with the Parakrama

Bibiliography 265 Sa~udra (page 65) showing the old Rest House.
page 58
PART Ill-ADAM'S PEAK - INTRODUCTION 270
05. The Potgul Vihara-standing figure; (page65) King or
I.THE LURE OF THEE PEAK 271
Sage? Courtesy, Archae!logical Department,
2. THE PEAK WILDERNESS 277
Govern_ment of Ceylon.
3.LEGENDS OF THE PEAK 284 page 73
Bibiliography 291 06. The railway br1dge spanning the Mahaweli-Ganga
(page 68) a few miles downstream from Kalinga
GLOSSARY OF LOCAL TERMS 292 Nuwara (under construction in 1926).
INDEX 299
page 73
01. The modern sluice of the Kalawewa (page 72) and
the Jaya-ganga in the foreground.
page 73
08. The Avukana Buddha Statue (page 79). Courtesy,
Archeological Department,Government of Ceylon
page 80
09. The Sasseruwa Buddha Statue (page 83-84).Courtes)'.,
Archaeological Department, Government of Ceylon
page 85
10. A section of the old spill at Kalawewa-built
A.D.477 (page 75)
page 112
11. Vakaneri Lake (page 111) with Dimbulagala in the
distance, and terns resting on a'sand-bar. (Photo by 19. An example of an early squat meeting house Dutch
S.V.O. Somanader). Church not the garage at the Ambalangoda Rest House
page 112 (page 172).
12. The unique stone window lying near a Saivite temple 178
page
in ruin at Moragoda (page I 06).It is 2' 9" X I' I O' 20. A typical ornamental lintel over the main doorway of
with partitions 4" square of quartz. The lotus motif in a Dutch house in Galle Fort (page 183).
reticulation is particularly striking. Courtesy, 178
page
Archaeological Department, Government of Ceylon.
21. Ho ... 0-'-Maniya! (page 199).
page 121 200
page
13. The Parakrama Pillar at Padaviya (page I 00). 8' 6"
22. Ceylon Hawk Eagle-the Devil-bird (page 229-230).
high, I' 9" square, crossed by a chastely designed finial
Courtesy, Dr. R. L. Spittel.
in the pattern of a lotus flower, the outer petals dropping 243
page
over the heads of the stone shaft. The top incised panel
23. Forest Eagle Owl (page 229-230). Courtesy,
has an inscription in Sanskrit and the second of Old
Sinhala characters in vogue during the 12th century. Dr. R. L. Spittel.
page 243
Reproduced from the 7th Annual Report-Bell.
24. A villu in the National Park (page 242). Photograph
Courtesy, Archaeological Commissioner.
page 121
C.Felsinger.
page 243
14. Horabora Wewa (page 114 )-gleaming out of a vista
of forest outspread below the Madugoda Gap, Upper
Dumbara.
page 145
15. Colombo-looking from Mutwal. I 00 years ago
(page 144). From a painting by Capt.
C. G. O' Brien, 1863.
page 145 MAPS
16. The Dutch Fort at Kalutara (page 154). From a water.
colour painting by Steiger, 18th century. I. Map of North Ceylon Front endpapers
page 160 2. Parakrama Samudraya 63
11. The Galle Harbour-showing the P. & 0. station on 3. Padaviya 102
Closenberg Island (page 180). From a painting by 4. The routes to Adam's Peak 281
Capt. C. G. O'Brien, 1863. 5. Map of South Ceylon Back endpapers
page 160
18. Ceylon's primeval rain forest-a section exposed by
felling in the Sinha Raja Adaviya (page 169).Courtesy,
Dr. John Baker.
page 178
 Partl

THE MAN-MADE LAKES

OF THE DRY ZONE
 I

THE CITY LAKES AND NACHCHADUWA

The mountain mass of south-central Ceylon has conferred on

this small island two sharply marked climatic zones. From the be-
ginning of time, this high barrier, which crosses the monsoons more
or less at right angles, has checked the damp south-west winds
which are chased by flickering lightning and thunder. Hence, while
the wet-storms hiss down on the country to the windward side of
the mountains from May to September, the all but barren plain on
the leeward side is left dry. It is swept by a land-wind parted of its
moisture, which steadily grows stronger and hotter.
No person who travels over Ceylon 's dry zone when the kachan
winds are blowing can fail to notice the cumulative effects of its
dryness and scor~hing heat. As moisture falls below wilting point
the low scrubby jungles and the chenayayas lie seemingly tired.
The yellowing leaf-blades of the growing paddy betoken the insuffi-
ciency of water. The very leaves on the forest leviathans droop
unrespondingly to the zephyrs.
By th~ month of August with prolonged heat, and under a brazen
sky, the baked earth lies parched, the trees moveless. In back-blocks,
and in the deep forests, game and vermin alike pant for the wat~r in
rock-holes and ponds that is not. There is listlessness even among
the birds, a waiting with drooping wings and gasping beaks.
In far-flung settlement and roadside village alike, it comes to be
whispered: The gods are wroth! What could man or animal do but
submit, and wait their goodwill? Such is the law of Karma or des-
tiny, and the attitude ofthe people is one of contemplation.
So, in time, preceded by a few days of breathless calm, and heat
which exhausts the strongest body, the north-east cloudbursts strike
the island. Avalanches of rain drench the mountain-side and the
plains which lie north and east, while the long-shore winds carry

17
 SEEING CEYLON THE CITY LAKES AND NACHCH:ADUWA

some of the rain to the western and southern seaboard as well. The Finally, there came a third cycle of development which mini-
bone-dry water courses swell to a roar. Rivers swirl down their mized loss by evaporation, and provided for the caprice of the
valleys carrying a maddened flood. And a nf!w season is born.
monsoon. This introduced the feeder canal to the larger tanks which
If perchance the unfavourable climate and physical conditions
tapped the perennial rivers from the central mountains, up in the
which have been described, had been accorded supremacy, the
history of the dry zone which frames the comprehensive landscape foot-hills. Apart from keeping the tanks fully supplied, the system
of Ceylon's indigenous agriculture from the earliest days of coloni- permitted "ribbon-cultivation" by a distribution of water along the
zations, would never have been written. In this inhospitable region route of the canal.
the age-old battle to win food from the parent earth has been waged Undoubtedly the best time of the year to visit the dry zone
against the twin enemies: drought and flood. The battle is pursued plains and to see Ceylon 's man-made Lake District, is between
today in its modern phase. December and March. This is the season when there is a sense of
This mastery over climate and terrain was chiefly achieved by well-being in the air. When the gods are said to smile! The country,
the ingenuity of the ancient people, aided by the bounteous care of
revivified, has put on a new mantle of rich verdure. It is the time of
their sovereigns. They erected man-made lakes, or "tanks" as they
are popularly called, to guard against extraordinary emergencies of the year when from bush and bramble budded with new leaves, you
the seasons. An intricate system of dams and dykes was built with may hear the love-song of birds excitedly busy. When the open
. surpassing skill in the shallow valleys of the plains. In this manner park-lands clothed in green grass rapidly growing, spread themselves
water which flowed down the catchment in one short season, was a multi-coloured carpet of blossoming weeds, and when in low-
stored during the heavy rainfall and used to irrigate a thirsting land jungle and chena or sec<?ndary jungle grov.:th, the earlier yam-vines
during the drought which another season brought: have sprung up and intertwine with the tendrils of various legumes.
Considerable mystery enshrouds the origin and perfection of the In such a fascinating setting, to see the man-made lakes bunded
vast number of tanks and diversion dams on the rivers, or of the
in the confluences of numerous valleys, brimful and running over
network of canals, and laterals, and ditches which served as life-
with life-giving waters, is to carry away pictures in the mind's eye
lines of irrigation to Ceylon's dry zone. We may safely conclude
that the system was gradually evolved in cycles of time. This was which can never fail to charm; pictures which will linger long in
because agriculture had to keep pace with the increase memory. There are few pleasanter hunting grounds which combine
and movement of population. Equally because engineering is a the beauty of Ceylon's lake-scenery with the convenience of the
progressive science. There seems little doubt that the knowledge traveller, than those to be found in the highways which radiate from
gained in constructing small village tanks, with low artificial the richly historic city: Anuradhapura. So, it would be as well to
embankments in the shallow valleys of small streams eventually Jed start with the City-tanks. They justly claim priority in any writing
to a second and more advanced stage of development. which attempts to set out the story of works that slowly rose all
In this second cycle, all but the larger rivers were considered not
over the country to vest the capital and the kingdom with the crown
too great to be impounded by a bund. Structures of earth, as much
of prosperity and civilization.
as 50. feet in height, and water-spreads measuring 20 to 30 miles
round came to be erected in time. These large tanks corrected the The story of the three City-tanks: Basawakkulam, Tissawewa
earlier limitations in regard to the volume of water stored, and the and Nuwarawewa, is as old as the history of Anuradhapura. It is
extent of land which could be irrigated. older than that of the oldest recorded living thing in that sacred City,

18 19
 SEEING CEYLQN THE Cl1Y IJJCES AND NACHCHADUWA

namely the Bo-tree, which is 2200 years old. It follows that from The guards accordingly proceeded to pick up the symbol of
such a dim past we can but glean shadowy impressions of the vital sovereignty: a spear with the royal relic, which had been driven into
part these tanks played in beautifying the , or royal pleasure the earth on some high ground nearby. Try as they would, they could
gardens, by filling the bathing ponds with water, by providing for the not draw it out of the ground. Observing this miracle, Dutthagamani
communal needs of the population, and finally, by passing the water forthwith directed that a monument be built on the spot. This monu-
down to irrigate the rice fields in the suburbs of the ment, enclosing the spear, is the Mirisavati dagoba, originally 120
capital. cubits high, and sited within hailing distance of Tissawewa. Its
Basawakkulam, lying in a shallow valley with its waters held up re! ic-chambers, altars and carvings, and the foundations of stone
by an earth-bund whose concave side faces up-stream, claims pride buildings raised off paved court-yards, are witness to the written
of place as the oldest of the three. It has been identified as the story, and to the antiquity of the shrine as well as the lake to which
ancient Abhayawewa, constructed about 300 B.C. after it is linked.
Pandukabhaya (Panduk-abhaya), an intelligent young king, assumed Still more spectacular, lashed into wavelets, and throwing back
rule over the kingdom. There is nothing in the structure to indicate a liquid contour to full far-extending limits, is the third and last
its antiquity, but if evidence be needed of the remarkable achieve- City tank: Nuwarawewa. It occupies a flat valley off the right bank
ment of that early, unnamed hydraulic engineer who designed it, of the Malwatu Oya and is not actually in the City as its name
there is proof that this structure remained unbreached even after implies. There is a tradition that the water was conducted from it by
the thrilling history of Anuradhapura, with its unique record of means of an aqueduct across the Malwatu Oya.
conquests, dynastic ambitions, regal triumphs and tragedies, had In all probability it was in the early part of the first century
ended on the crest of a mighty wave of invasion 1200 years after before Christ that the construction of Nuwarawewa was started.
the City was founded. Thereafter, the City was overrun by Cholan invaders. It was
Tissawewa commemorates the name of King Devanampiya Tissa apparently when King Vatta Gamani regained his throne that the
of the third century B.C. This lake lies in the south-west sector of work was completed. The only clue to the age of the tank is the
the City and filled the picturesque lotus ponds of another ancient size of the bricks used in building the sluices. They agree closely
and very interesting foundation attributed to King Tissa-the with the bricks laid in the Abhayagiri dagoba which was built in the
Isurumuniya rock-temple, nearby. last three years of the reign of Vatta Gamani, or Valagam Bahu, as
Many legends embellish the early story of this reservoir but a he is sometimes called. The conclusion drawn is that the tank was
link forged by history a hundred years after it was built connects it completed about the year 20 B.C.
with the deeds of King Dutthagamani and admits of no doubt that If your inclinations lead you to review the details of construc-
Tissawewa was its ancient name. The Mahavamsa, the ancient tion and the subsequent history of Nuwarawewa down the
Pali chronicle of Ceylon, narrates in its quaint poetical form of corridors of time, there are several citations brimful of interest. The
expression that when the king of high renown had united Lanka in nagagal or sculptured stones depicting the seven-headed cobra,
one kingdom, he went to Tissawewa that was adorned according to found near the ancient sluices, are symbolical of the snake-king
the festival custom, to observe the traditions of a crowned king. Muchalinda. Similar carved stones are often found placed by the
Having disported himself in the water, the whole day, together with sluices of tanks to represent the sacred guardianship of the waters.
the women of the harem, the King directed his guard to prepare Robert Knox, the English captive of a Kandyan king, and the
to return to the palace. writer of the well-known book on Ceylon, lived on the borders of

20 21
 SEEING CEYLON THE CITY LAKES AND NACHCHADUWA

this tank three hundred years ago under the pretence of selling his Nachchaduwa was therefore buih, but everything points to the spill-
wares. In reality he was trying to discover a way of escape through way having proved inadequate to pass down the floods. This would
the northern ports, then in the hands of the Dutch. But what does account for the four large breaches in the bund which modern
seem strange is that in writings closer in-to a little over a hundred engineers discovered centuries after the work had been abandoned,
years old today, the City of Anuradhapura, which was once "the and when it lay mantled by forest.
capital of the kingdom of Lions" (on whose splendours Chinese The restoration of Nachchaduwa was effected in 1906. More
travellers of the early ages wrote copiously), had, we are told, shrunk recently, the spill was again raised to increase the storage capacity
into a few scattered huts that scarcely merited the designation of of the tank. Anxiety for the safety of the bund under flood
village. Amidst a silence as profound as that of the grave, the lofty conditions remains unallayed. There seemed to be good reason for
monuments erected over relics by pious kings lay entirely covered this anxiety. During the floods of 1957, the biggest in living memory,
with jungle or partly obscured by forests. The sluices of the tanks this I 0th century reservoir with a catchment of 236 square miles
lay under a thick-covering of silt. The channels were similarly choked, stood up to the on-rush of the pent up waters until the bund was
and the bunds enveloped in a mantle of thorny undergrowth. completely over-topped by more than a foot of water. Actual
Indeed, too much cannot be written of the pioneer efforts which breaching took place around the low- level sluice on the 25th of
put new life into Anuradhapura by reclaiming the City tanks, and December 1957. The sluice structure stood out, a lone figure in the
rescuing the other monuments of this ancient and renowned City in landscape. The gap in the bund caused by the flood was 400 feet
Ceylon's dry zone plains. Today, Basawakkulam, Tissawewa and . wide. The roar of the water running over the spill when the tank is
Nuwarawewa, greet you with cheering, glistening sheets of surcharged, intensified by the forest stillness, attunes the mind to
water.They kindle more practical thoughts, in contrast to the pre- the nature of the risk.
ceding picture which showed them abandoned and desolate ... And There is much speculation over the ancient name of
Anuradhapura, with its eight sacred shrines (Atamastana), Nachchaduwa. The Mahavamsa chronicles that a dam was
revitalized, and once again in the role of a Sacred City for the constructed across the Kadambanadi (Malwatu Oya) by Moggallana
serene joy and emotion of the pious, holds festival ceremonies the II (531-551 ). This reference fits in with the constructional details of
year round, to which thousands of humble pilgrims flock. Nachchaduwa. In consequence the inference can be drawn from
Minneriya is within two hours' motorable distance from the statement in the Mahavamsa, that the ancient name of this
Anuradhapura. But tarry a while on your journey, to see contribution to ancient irrigation by Moggallana was the
Nachchaduwa. It is reached by turning down a short motorable Pattapasanavapi.
track seven miles out of Anuraqhapura. Nonetheless, traditions hold that Nachchaduwa was constructed
The bund of Nachchaduwa Tank trammels the waters of the by the great tank-builder Mahasen, and that this tank is the
Malwatu Oya before it reaches the ancient city. Enormous floods Mahadaragala of the Mahavamsa dating from the latter half of
msh down the river when it is swollen by the rains. To throw a bund the 3rd century. A theory has also been advanced that the work
anoss ii was therefore both a bold and ambitious undertaking. The dates from the reign of Sena II (853-887). We thus see that
lnsk rnust have heen rendered infinitely more difficult because conjecture over its original name and the period in which it has been
thrrt" wus nowhere on the river a very suitable site for a spill. constructed presents an alluring quest.
Nrvr11hrlr11~, 11 nrw reservoir had apparently to be found to As to the derivation of its prese,nt name, a writer to the
111111111c tho rice-fields oulsidc the growing City of Anuradhapura. Ceylon Antiquary and Literary Register, Vol VI, part IV, 1921,

22 23
 SEEING CEYLON

associates it with Nandavapi, mentioned in the Mahavamsa as a

tank near which a certain landed proprietor of the Moriyan dynasty
named Dhatusena (grandfather of Dhatusena II and father of the
parricide King Kasyapa of Sigiriya) had established himself.
Suggesting that Nanda in Pali means "pleasure or enjoyment" and
Nacca means "dancing", he infers that .the tank was a place for
water festivals (diyakeliya). RITIGALA-KANDA
Although Nachchaduwa, comparatively speaking is a large
One of the most imposingly situated topographical features
reservoir, little can be seen of its over-all water-spread. At full
often glimpsed as a background to the beautiful view from many a
supply level, most of its waters are lost in narrow creeks which
tank-bund off the road between Maradankadawala and Habarana,
penetrate far into forest recesses. In these dark gullies shaded by
is that conspicuous range of hills which seems to burst out of the
the gnarled and knotted branches of great trees, vistas of perfect
plain from practically sea-level. It is known as Ritigala-kanda. From
natural beauty abound, and if a boat is used, many delightful hours
its complete isolation and abrupt rise on all sides, it presents a more
can be spent in observing bird life. In the furtherrecesses up-stream,
imposing appearance than would be expected from its actual heig~t
the watt?rs lap the embankment of the main road, on which we find
(2,514 feet). Yet strange to say, its summit is frequently bathed m
ourselves continuing the journey to Minneriya.
mist-more especially during the south-west monsoon when the
country surrounding it is parched and dry. Its story is so old as to ?e
associated with the Hanuman traditions told in that great epic,
Ramayana, which was, they say, written more than a thousand years
before the Christian era.
Ritigala is the highest ground intervening between the central
mass of the Ceylon mountain system and the very similar hills of
Southern India. Hence the tradition, that from Ritigala, Hanuman
jumped across to India when he was carrying the joyful mess~ge ~o
Rama, that he had discovered where Sita was being held captive m
Lanka, by that mythical king Ravana. The legend goes further to
say that when Lakshman was wounded and a medicinal herb was
required for his cure, Hanuman was sent to the Himalayas to fetch
it. On the way he had forgotten the name and nature of the plant,
whereupon he snapped a fragment of the Himalayas, and carrying
it to Ceylon twisted in his tail, dropped his load which contained rare
medicinal herbs on the top of Ritigala. He then asked Rama himself
to seek for the special herb he wanted.
The legend apparently sparks from the fact that the cap of Ritigala
really does present a characteristic little oasis of vegetation distinct
from the dry zone forest covered slopes lower down. Time was,
24
25
 SEEING CEYLON RITIGALA-KANDA

even recently, when, honouring this legend, holy sanyasis braved with the Aryan giri) meaning "rock". Hence the name would mean:
the arduous climb to search the summit of Ritigala for a herb they "the rock (as steep and erect as a) long pole" He claims that the
called "sansevi" possessed of various sovereign powers which steep aspect of the insulated rock rising out of the flat country makes
conferred long life. it probable that the ancients gave this hill-feature the simple rustic
Closer in, but still in the distant past, we see Ritigala, which was name Ritigala. The numerous ruins which litter theenrire hill-range
also called Arishtha-the Arittha Pabbata (dreaded rock) of the and its many once-inhabited caves, which lie beneath boulders with
pali histories-as one of the principal low-country territorial abodes drip-ledges and inscriptions, afford ample support to the story of the
of the "yakkas", as the aboriginal veddas of Ceylon were called. ancient importance of the site.
The Mahavamsa (Geiger, eh. X. p. 72) presents a graphic There seems little doubt that this institution which was earlier
description of a great battle which took place between Pandukabhaya used as a stronghold by contending aboriginal clans, and later as a
and his uncles about 307 B.C. in which the Yakkas of Ritigala place of refuge for fugitive princes and religious devotees, was laid
rendered much assistance to the young warrior, who was waste during the Chola invasions of the 11 th century. Ever since
victorious. They received in turn much favour when he later then the forest which grew in the slopes of this hill-range have hid-
became king. On Pandukabhaya's death, the chieftains of this clan den from view much which bears testimony to the truth of history
of aborigines lost their influence and appear to have been gradually and legend. Till recently, (if not even so today), there was a belief
driven away from their habitations by the increasing Indo-Aryan prevalent amongst the scanty village population in the neighbour-
population. hood that Ritigala was haunted by the spirits of the Yakka tribe,
It so happened, that when Buddhism was firmly established in
who originally inhabited it.
Lanka, Ritigala, which was by then devoid of habitations, was
The story was passed round, that one day a villager living nearby
selected as a suitable spot for building viharas. The Mahavamsa
was benighted on the fringe of jungle at the base of the hill-range.
mentions two: the "Lanka Vihara" (177 B.C.) and the "Arittha
Seated half-dozing under a tree in the darkness, he was startled by
Vihara" (50 B.C.). A thousand years later Sena (A.D. 83 I) added
the sounds of the barking of dogs, the cries of children, and the
many sacred buildings which adorned the mountt;1inside, and
usual bustle of a busy village. He thought it strange, knowing that
bestowed them all, together with grants of land, on "the humble
Pansukulika order of the priesthood"- by which is meant "an there was no village nearby, and was bewildered when a little later
order of bhikkhus who had taken a vow that the robes they wore a Yaka in the form of a man carrying a lighted chulu in one hand,
would be made of rags from refuse-heaps or from cemeteries, and and a bath-mu/a in the other, approached and laid before him a
pieced together". The Mahavamsa also tells that the king gave to large quantity of rice and curry, with plantains and oranges. The
this ecclesiastical establishment "royal privileges and honours, benighted villager was enjoined to eat his fill, but sternly warned to
and a great number of keepers for the garden, and servants, and depart in a southerly direction before the day dawned, and not to
artificers". take away any of the food left uneaten lest some evil befall him.
These notices of antiquity tend to show that Ritigala is a spot The villager was petrified by the apparition; however, being hungry,
steeped in history, and one of a few of the older historical names still as soon as his fear subsided he ate as much of the food laid before
being used in Ceylon. It is therefore of great importance from a him as he could. Thereafter, before the first glimmer of daybreak,
philological angle. he got up and proceeded in the direction he was bidden. It did not
The great scholar, the late D.M. de Z. Wickremasinghe, was of take Jong before he found himself back in his village.
opinion that the name is a compound of two words: riti from the pali On being twitted regarding his overnight absence, he told his
aritta, meaning "long pole" and gal (the Dravidian kal cognate fellow villagers with extraordinary clearness all that had happened

26 27
 SEEING CEYLON
RITIGALA- KANDA

to him. Of his stream of words all they remembered was the Government Agent of the N.C.P., who got to the top of Ritigala on
injunction that 'nothing should be taken out'. _Few villagers there- the 29th of October, 1889. He mentions that he rode his horse along
fore _ever r~amed the Ritigala forests in search of honey, or game, a new road to within half a mile of the top, but thereafter had to
or w1ld~fru1t, or even to gather brushwood, for fear of encountering "swarm up the face of the rock, and climb over huge boulders"
the wrath of the "Yakka-spirits". As a consequence, the eritire hill- before he "reached the flat, where the bungalow is to be erected,
range remained for many centuries more or less untrodden by man. commanding a fine view of the country". The bungalow was erected
The first person in recent times to break the barrier and invade the following year by R. W. Ievers, and village lore has it, that when
the peace of this singular low-country hill-top, was a survey officer, the Government Agent was in residence there, his tapal was sent
James Mantell, who was stationed on trigonometrical duties at from Anuradhapura, 30 miles away, by a relay of runners, and was
Ritigala from the 11 th of May to the I 0th of July, 1872. delivered to him within 3 I /2 hours.
A:ppare'ntly James Mantell, besides conferring the sobriquet Another surveyor, J.B. M. Ridout, who went up in the course of
Kod1-bendapu-kanda (the hill which was flagged), on the summit his work, left a record of his visit in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic .
had possibly much to say of the salubrity of a plateau 400 fee; Society, 1892; A. P. Green, an entomologist; a botanist; and the
below Ritigala's wind-smitten zone where he resided for two months. Archaeological Commissioner H. C. P. Bell were, so far as can be
It was perhaps he who kindled the idea that it would make an ideal discovered, the only other persons to climb Ritigala in the last
close-at-hand retreat for officials stationed in the unhealthy climate century. The botanist, who made the trip in 1887, was no other than
of Nuwarakalaviya. Henry Trimen, the author of those rare volumes .Handbook of the
Eventually, this possibility of getting away within a few hours Flora of Ceylon, published in 1872. He says, in a paper read be-
from the hot and sultry plains to pure and invigorating air where fore the R. A. S. Ceylon Branch, that he availed himself of some
heavy mists drive even in the hottest time of the year, seems to have leisure to make the ascent knowing that the remarkable vegetation
registered in the mind of somebody in authority. Six years after on the summit had never yet been seen by botanically trained eyes.
Mantell's visit, his brother D. G. Mantell, who was District He confirmed that the flora on the cap was characteristic of the
Surv_e~~r. at Kurunegala, was directed to inspect and report on the hills in the neighbourhood of Kandy-stunted trees draped with
poss1b1ht1es for the establishment of a sanatorium on the ledge which pendent mosses, and different from those of the low-country
was 2000 feet above sea-level . hill-tops. Bell, on the other hand, explored the wooded slopes of
The report he made indicated that the plateau which was about Ritigala-kanda range, from "end to end" in August I 872. He
twenty acres in extent was most favourably situated and sheltered discovered more than 32 caves and historically valuable lithic records,
from the south-west monsoon which strikes the western side of the which he describes in detail in Sessional Paper XXXVIII of 1904.
hill; that w~ter was procurable from a perennial spring nearby, and Forty-four years ago when stationed at Maradankadawala;
that four miles of bndle-road would have to be built, the last mile of compulsion rather than lure of exploration forced my attention on
which would have to be carried in a zig-zag course up the eastern Ritigala-kanda. It was August, and the country was suffering from
face _o~ the hill. "There can be no doubt", the report added, "that the the effects of a long spell of dry weather. Having taken shelter, for
prec1p1ces and enormous boulders piled in great masses beneath the night in a little P.W.D. circuit bungalow at Galapitigala, we (my.
them will present serious obstacles to the discovery of even a very labourers and I), began the ascent early the next morning. At the
rough route." That the scheme was shelved, but did not village of Galapitigala we engaged a guide who very reluctantly
remain unforgotten, is revealed in the diary of C. A. Murray, Actg. agreed to show us the way to the top: with him leading we followed
a path in single file. Skirting the village tank, we proceeded for nearly
28
29
 SEEING CEYLON RITIGALA- KANDA

two miles through low scrubby jungle off the eastern slope of the What normally rewards the climber who stands on the
hill-range, then turning west made for the northern slope, on which trigonometrical pile at Ritigala, is the wonderful amphitheatre of
flank alone Ritigala can be ascended. A mile or so under higher jungle spread for miles and miles around; an eye-full of the dagobas
forest growth brought us to the base of the hill. of Anuradhapura to the north, a glimpse of sunbeams flashing on
A little way up the forest-encompassed path which trails up the the glassy surface of the larger tanks: Kalawewa on the west and
northern slope, we passed the principal congeries of monastic ruins. Minneriya on the east, quaint hills bursting out of the girdling plain,
Most of them were surprising works in terraced building on and the glorious mountains of the Kandyan ranges rising up on the
boulderstrewn slopes. Only their foundations, composed of large south, like a rampart with a jagged rim.
slabs of stone faced with mouldings, remain. There was a pokuna What first greeted our eyes as we reached the cap was the
(badly breached), filled by a hill stream, which from its stone gruesome spectacle of a human skeleton, bleached by the sun and
facing and huge earth banks indicated the capability of once rain of many seasons, lying on a slab-rock by the Trig-station.
holding a large head of water. In entanglements of undergrowth Amongst the bones which had long been disturbed by vermin when
surrounding the main ruins there were lichen-scarred and bleached they gnawed of the flesh, we found two gilt coat buttons like those
pillars, exquisitely fashioned steps, colonnaded passage-ways with sported in those days by the low-country mudalalies. Th<! victim
stone balustrades-all of which were collectively described by our was doubtless robbed and murdered, and the body carried and de-
guide as maligawas. A graceful peace pervaded this sanctuary. A posited on the summit by somebody well aware of the legends of
tangible sadness hung in the air and invaded the senses, as one in the "Dreaded Rock" and the slender likelihood of the body being
deep melancholy contemplation pondered on the extreme age in discovered.
stone and mortar which lay about under one's very feet. Truly, the By afternoon the mists settled on the summit of Ritigala; abruptly
heavy forest which grows on the lower slopes of Ritigala had been stopping the possibility of completing my observations. We took shelter
kinder to these ruins than man has proved himself to be. from the strong, biting wind which blew all night, in
And of the numerous gal-geval (rock caves which were once temporary talipot camps in the lee of the hill-top and cheek by jowl
lived in)-the very spirit of the place which grips one's affection, I with the emblems of mortality.
can write much. One of them called the Na-maluwa, which nestles A few days after my visit to the summit of Ritigala, a young
under a beetling rock, still exhales a spiritual dignity. From it there "Kingswood lad" named Ismail who was Inspector of Police at
is a magnificent grove of very old na-gas (the graceful iron-wood Anuradhapura, and in maturity Sergeant-at-Arms in the House of
tree) stretching a considerable distance to another cave. The grove 'Representatives, was detailed to investigate the mystery of the
of ancient trees too bears testimony to the antiquity of both cave skeleton. Perhaps he recalls the adventure.
and the images found in them . True, we both went up Ritigala on compulsion. I can't vouch for
The latter half of the journey lay over very steep ground. It would what he has to say, but as for me--1 would not have missed that trip
have been easier but longer to follow the old zig-zag bridlepath, for worlds!
traces of which were; still there. If one made the trip without
pausing to look about, it would take 3 hours of hard climbing to get
from the base to the top. On the plateau -just before we got to the
summit, we found the remains of brick-building put up by levers.
An aged lime tree lent domesticity to the scene.

30 31
 MINNERIYA

few occasional patches of high forest now left. Emerging from the
seclusion_ of one of these on to a corridor of grass-land where the
eye has more liberty, a gleaming, glistening sheet of water breaks
into view; this is your first glimpse of the famous Minneri Lake-
III the Minihera of the Mahavamsa. The open grass-land you pass i~
the-spill.
MINNERIYA The tum at a junction a short way beyond leads to the bund
which disciplines the waters of the lake. In fact, Nature has done
- a Sentinel to Time's Reckless, Recurring Revolutions. much more than man in forming it. The built embankments merely
fill intervening gaps between adjoining hills, and are nowhere of any
The spontaneous exhilaration and ex'citement which one experi- great length. Emerson Tennent, whose book the wise travellerreads
enced when travelling four decades ago, on a bicycle, from Habarana b'efore he travels in Ceylon, likens the enchanting view of the tadk
to Minneriya, is a memory which even the best padded luxury mo-
unfolded from the bund to "Killamey, warmed and illuminated by an
tor-c~r of today cannot kindle. The track was a gravel road, flanked
Eastern sun."
for mdes by thick jungle diversified by glorious wild, parklike coun-
Indeed, to see Minneri in the hush of sunset with a welter of
try called "damana", and alive with birds and beasts and butterflies.
colour hung from end to end on the western sky, with deep shadows
Today the railway has pierced this wild; the canopy of intertwined
gathering on its rich grassy marshes and low wooded steeps, and
foliage which afforded shade to the cyclist has been beaten back by
with the mountains of Matale being slowly duffed out in the dis-
the "squatter", and the road is a macadarnized arterial highway where
tance, is to carry away a never-fading reminiscence which cannot
the heated air on a hot day dances in liquid waves before the bonnet
fail to awaken spontaneous homage.
of t_he moving car. The lack of any form of wild-life is very notice-
The influence which Minneri exerts over the feelings of the visi-
able. One may not now hear the stream of golden bird-song which
welcomed the coming day, or see any animal of the wild move. tor, does not however end with the universal acclaim that it is one of
Compensation is sometimes afforded by the startled antics and bold the most charming sylvan spots in Ceylon. Its very atmosphere spells
s~ringy leaps of the large grey monkeys sky-larking by the road- mystery. While legends, winsome in their naivete; endeavour to
side-the females generally carrying a young one which tightly penetrate this veil, threads of tradition weave stories round its hills
'
clutc?es t?e_ mother round the belly. If you are very fortunate, you its glades, and its forest-fanes. Taken together, they endow both
may m ghdmg round a comer run against some deer feeding in a lake and environs with a halo of mystery, of hope, of awe, or of
glade ahead. They gaze with large, wondering, timid eye-then in a wonderment which appealed to past generations, inasmuch as they
flash the brush-wood and thicket have swallowed them up-even do to the present generation and doubtless will to othe_rs yet: unborn.
though it looks so impregnable. And perchance, if you are travelling The Mahavamsa tells us that this artificial lake was inspired by
earl~, on a sunny morning preceded by a night of light rain, it is King Mahasena seventeen centuries ago, and discloses that for the
possible you may flush a jungle fowl or two feeding on the grassy first n_ine years of his reign this King, Mahasena, was an irresponsi-
verge, and catch a gleaming flash of green and gold before the ble trifler-bitter, intolerant and provocative in his dealings with the
cock-bird hides .himself in the matted undergrowth. . established monks of the Maha Vihara. He showered his favours
With ~abarana bazaar and the Rest Bouse behind, the scenery on. a heterodox order of monks established at Abhayagiri, whose
changes m character. The road makes tortuous trial through the tenets were schismatic.
32 33
 SEEING CEYLON
MINNERIYA

Legend has it that when Mahasena was building _the

Jetawanarama stupa in Anuradhapura for his prot~ges, he desired written .on ola, which used to be sung as an eulogy in praise of
Mahasena:
some relic of the Buddha to enshrine in it. Having failed to get these
his rage knew no bounds. He stormed his way to the compound of
"King Mah.asena while building a pond by engaging
an adjoining shrine with a golden sword in his right hand, and a pot
the services of demons (Yakkas) for stone masonry,
filled with fermented toddy in his left, proclaiming that unless the
orders the Adigar of Ritigala to fetch a site
relies for enshrinement were forthwith obtained he would publicly
suitable for building a large lake.
drink the toddy. His subjects, they say, were shocked, and- even
The Adigar, in fear of the yakkas, disguises the
so the gods and yakkas or demons. Miraculou~ly a relic for
objects of his journey. He makes it known that
.enshrinement appeared, and the King was saved the degradation of
he is leading a band of searchers to find a
drinking toddy at a place of worship.
milch-cow belonging to the royal kitchen which
Eventually the irreligious misdeeds of their monarch raised the
has strayed.
passions of the nation. The people prepared to revolt and a conflict
When they come to the spot where the Ihakula-wewa,
was imminent when, as the story go~. a comely woman who had
the Talvatura-oya and the Kiri-oya waters meet,
found favour with the King took a hand in matters and drastically
they find all the streams high owing to rains,
turned the tide. The leader of the schismatic monks was suddenly
and the plain flooded.
assassinated, and the others of his order were dispersed.
The Adigar sees the place is good for a large
Convinced of his errors, Mahasena reinstated the Maha Vihara
tank and carries the news to King Mahasena;
fraternity in the Sacred City, but loath to remain in Anuradhap~ra
he comes in person to see it-but the King is
himself after the rebellion of his subjects, went, it appears, with
told by the Yakkas (Veddas) the land is theirs
some of his staunch followers "across the stony ocean in a golden
and they use it to grow small millet (minneri).
ship, to the country of Malwara (Malabar) where a thousand men
Later the Yakkas agreed to give'the land and the
of that country received him with great honour. Thence. the great,
King is very happy. After consulting preceptors
King Mahasena went to Madurapura (Madura) from whe~~e he
versed in the law of constructing tanks, King
came with a large number of men he had collected, to R1t1gala,
Mahasena summons a thousand men to build the
which was a stronghold of the yakkas, avoiding Anuradhapura".
embankments to hold the waters of the Ihakula,
The demons or yakkas were the aboriginal veddas of Ceylon who
the Kiri-oya and the Talvatura-oya.
had came under civilizing influence. Later he settled down at
Standing under _the shade of a Mayila tree, he
Nuwaragala-a fortress close to the Kohonduruwewa range of hills
orders them to commence the work on the Friday,
which separate the Matale district from Tamankaduwa. It was from.
under the asterism of Anura.
this spot, they say, he got the surrounding country inspected, and
The Veva is full and the water is rushing in
devoted the last eighteen years of his reign to acts of piety, and to
dancing speed, the overflow forms a milky stream,
works which led to his being acclaimed the greatest benefactor the
and the god-King stands on the banks of the
country has ever produced.
Kiri-oya looking on-May Mahasena protect us!"
There are many stories and traditions which tell how the. great
lakl Minneri came to be sited and built. Suppose we read it in the
Sparking from this theme there are many other hoary legends.
ljlla1n1 phraseology of translation from an old Sinhalese manuscript
The dwindling Vedda tribe who roamed the forests of Bintenna north.
34
35
 SEEING CEYLON MINNERIYA

but are now no more, cherished a tradition that they had first claim irrigate "eight thousand fields."
on Minihera. They held that its bed was a famous hunting ground of Nevertheless, after the sacrifice had been made Mahasena was
their forbears long before the days of Mahasena, and that the King often in a dejected mood-so much so that the Adigar ventured to
compensated their ancestors for having submerged their hunting- question him, and was answered that the King grieved for his
ground. Their ancestors were, so the story runs, summoned by favourite nephew. The Adigar thereupon, begging for the King's
beat of drums from far and near to work on the building of the forgiveness for disobeying him, observed that if the King did so he
embankments. could cure the King's grief. Assured of forgiveness, the Adigartold
Another local legend tells that after seven long years of labour the King of the ruse he had practised, and disclosed that the prince
the tank still remained incomplete. Every year, as it neared was living disguised as a peasant otttside the limits of Minneriya. On
completion the bund sank notwithstanding the efforts of the build- the King's orders the prince was bidden to present himself to the
ers. At this anxious period i~ was revealed to Mahasena in a dream Court and was restored to all his honours. That vast stretch of land
that the demons of the tank area demanded a sacrifice, not a mere known as Hingurak-damana (today called Hingurakgoda) was
animal sacrifice, but that of a royal prince, else they would bestowed on him.
continually destroy the work. When the King's ministers heard of A manuscript (ola) in the British Museum recounts the story of
his dream, they were very greatly in favour of appeasing the the arrival of a "deva" known as Kaludaekada Kumara from India
demons. Much against his wishes he reluctantly consented to the through Jaffna, to Min~eriya. The viHage populace in M'inneriya and
sacrifice, and summoning the Queen demanded that she nominate a around have come to identify the "deva" as Prince Hingurak, and
prince for the purpose. The Queen indignantly replied: "I do not regard him as the tutelary deity of the new colony, Hingurakgoda.
want a tank of that type, hence I have no prince to give you for And they say that sometimes in the cool and silence of the
sacrifice." night, when the full moon silvers the forest, and there is no
After some time, since the completion of the work was still sound save that from the bull-frog and the cicadas, if you have the
being hindered, Mahasena proceeded in state to his sister and begged temperamental gift, you will hear the hoof beats of a galloping horse.
a prince of her. She perhaps could not object and had no option but The rustic would have you believe that that is Prince Hingurak
to consent to offer her son. Throwing a royal robe over the riding his spotless white charger.
shoulders of the lad and having adorned him with gold ornaments, Yet, as might be expected, when years rolled by after the great
she presented him to the King, who bore the prince away in lake was completed, a grateful peasant people sought more tangible
his entourage. means of perpetuating the memory of a national benefactor who
It so happened that the Adigar was very fond of this young prince. had built sixteen enormous reservoirs and one canal. Inspired by the .
When preparations were made for the sacrifice, he plotted a ruse. intangible, legends still current which tell how King Mahasena was
Hiding the prince in the jungle, he ordered a hunter to kill a bear. opposed by the yakkas, and even demons, in his efforts to have
Sprinkling the animal's blood on a coffin which the onlookers thought Minneriya built, and of the assistance he received from other
contained the mutilated corpse of the prince, he placed it in the invisible agents, later generations, forgetting his earlier apostasy,
hrcud1 at the spot where the bund was giving trouble. The work- exalted him to the rank of god.
111<"11 imrnl'diately began throwing in the earth, and filled the gap in
And so, to this day the deified King Mahasena is acclaimed the
thr hund Th<' King's dream having been fulfilled and the sacrifice overlord of Minneriya. Some of his votaries refer to him with the
11111111', 1hr h111ul \lood firm and collected the water which was to
sobriquet Hat RaJjuruwo-which is a name inspired by the ballads
extolling Mahasena's wonderful adventures in India, which are to
\t, 37
 SEEING CEYLON MINNERIYA

this day recited in the villages. Others acclaim him as Maha Sena and of the skill and science which transformed the arid plain below
Deviyo, and yet others as Minneriya Swamy. In an unpretentious it into a land of material affluence. All this, and more, was achieved
devala ( or shrine) which is both ancient and hallowed, and is said to long before the Normans conquered England. Minneriya lake is
cont~in a brass image of the Hat Rajjuruwo, together with other however unique in another sense. When as a result of reckless,
interesting sacred insignia believed to have been presented by Ra recurring revolutions, the population abandoned these plains and
Sin Deviyo (King Raja Sinha 11), a kapurala (or lay priest) desolation reigned supreme, it was the only large ancient tank which
conducts ceremonies all the year round on behalf of the village survived the dire effects of neglect; the bonds never breached, and
people, invoking the help of the deity or propitiating him in order to stood for centuries as lone sentinels over the waters they confined.
avert his ill-will. It was actually not until Pybus, a British envoy who sought an
And such is the veneration and awe in which he is held, that the alliance for his country with the Kandyan king, passed through on
simple folk resort to communion with this invisible power; whose his journey from Trincomalee to Kandy in 1762, that Minneriya
overlordship extends over the beautiful lake and its environs, when was first discovered to a western world. It seems stranger still to
sickness and misfortune befall them, when they want their crops to relate that in 1803 Minneriya was chosen as a military post, and
be rendered secure, or tl}eir fruit-trees protected from pillage, or was occupied by a British Regiment of Foot. Thereafter, this region,
even when a woman's affection is sought, or when an enemy wishes which had for long been described on maps of the time as
to create hatred betw~en man and man. "mountainous, unknown country", began to take more realistic shape
But it is not the peasant alone who acknowledges his power. in cartography and in narrative.
When I first visited Minneriya lake and was walking along its bunds, In 1817, Dr. John Davy, who was Chief of the Medical Staff of
I came upon a group of broken statuettes of stone which the the Army in Ceylon, described how man had all but deserted these
credulous suppose to be, representations of Mahasen, his Consort woods. He found a few families, bound by ties of nativity, living in
and his Minister of State. The traditionalist calls the spot: a cluster of huts on the banks of the channel which ran to waste
Veda-inna-Maligawa. So strong is convention and belief in the from Minneriya lake. Their chief source of support was a little paddy
sanctity of the spot and the power of the deity believed ~o preside ground affording one crop_ annually; their most cherished
there, that often family disputes and lawsuits are settled by one of possession "the small kovilla (dewafe) dedicated to Mahasimaharaja
the parties undertaking to swear to the truth of their statement in the (maha-sima-raja)."
presence of these images washed up by tides of the ocean of Time. Three years later, Ralph Backhouse, who was the Collector of
Some years ago there were .several other smaller jungle fanes the District of Mannar, was lured by adventure to traverse what he
also. on the bund of Minneriya covered with earthenware pots described as "overgrown arid tortuous jungle paths which trailed
resembiing the finials (kot) of Buddhist vihares and devalas but they over a sun-scorched plain" in a search for Minneriya. He found the
are no longer there. During recent construction, to increase the lake surrounded by marshy lands which were capable of very
capacity of the lake, even the images of the Vedainna-Maligawa extensive cultivation in rice.
were removed from where they originally were under a venerable Passing over a decade, we find Minneriya and its environs as
tree on the bund, and lodged in a modem shrine-rctom built on the they appeared in 1831, delightfully pen-pictured by Major Forbes.
bund. He saw the plains "scattered over with elephants, buffaloes
But these traditions, vast, rich and varied, are but a prelude to and spotted deer; and the winged race in every variety of form
the inspiring evidence of the bountiful virtues of this man-made lake, congregating on the margin of the waters, or flitting along its narrow

38 39
 SEEING CEYLON MINNERIYA

inlets." He also wrote how he "crossed the remains of a canal her sovereignty.
which is said to connect Minneriya to the Ambanganga at Elahera, Rice, which is so intimately bound up with the well-being
from whence it was supplied with water." of Ceylon, was, as all know, the principal commodity for the
This canal which Forbes mentions, was also inspired by the production of which Ceylon's lakes were built. Its cultivation was,
kings who in centuries gone entitled their memory to traditional and will ever remain, the monopoly of the small-holder. The first
veneration as benefactors of their race and country. It served as a mistake made after Minneriya lake was repaired was a venture to
hostage-if one were humanly possible against. the unfavourable cultivate paddy in Ceylon on a large commercial basis.
seasons of drought. In 1919, when, after the first world war, paddy was selling at
Fourteen years after Forbes wrote about this uncharted canal, Rs. 4/- per bushel-a very high price for that time, and caused by
the enthusiasm of three gentlemen: Adams, Churchill and Bailly, led difficulties of procuring the grain abroad-a concession to open and
to the discovery of its trace. Having und~rgone great hardship, and develop the land at Minneriya was granted to a Company formed
having literally cut their way through a wilderness of wild under the auspices of the Planters' Association of Ceylon. It was
country, they found the tradition true, and indicated that the subsequently registered under the Joint Stock Company Ordinance
abandoned remains were an inspiring reminder of "human skill" and and was known as the Minneriya Development Company. The
"human industry." nominal capital was six million rupees divided into 120 thousand
But what these explorers did not know, was that the special shares of Rs. 50/- each. Two million rupees were quickly subscribed
functions of the Elahera canal were not limited to Minneriya. and work started. The promoters hoped that by adopting a suitable
Mingling its waters with those from other drainage lines tapped on form of agriculture for the region using labour-saving machinery,
the way, the canal is known today to have provided a continuous and by introducing the then known mechanized technical methods,
lifeline to irrigation down the g~ain of the country to Tambalagam, rice and other commodities could be placed on the local market in
near Trincomalee, 85 miles from. the intake. A venerable tamarind quantities sufficient to compete with foreign supplies. One of the
tree called the orubandi-siyambalagaha (the tamarind tree to main objects of the Company was that shareholders should have
which boats were tied), 26 feet, in girth, which stands on the the full benefit of other foodstuffs grown on the land at a cheap
embankments 5. 1/2 miles from its source, was, according to rate. A gentleman who was for seven years in the Irrigation
tradition, used to tether boats which plied on the canal. This historic Department and had considerable personal experience of growing
link, a protected monument today, is a reminder that the canal was paddy under a tank, was appointed Resident Manager.
used for water-communication as well. The land selected was definitely inaccessible. It was surrounded
Although the bunds ofMinneriya lake had stood the test of many by thick jungle. The only means of access was a rough track which
centuries of abandonment, two of its three an~ient sluices lay blocked trailed over a circuitous route of 14 miles from the main road to the
and useless even so recently as sixty years ago. When these were boundary of the block. The nearest railhead was 58 miles away. It
repaired in 1902, and the reservoir held great promise for
was obvious at the outset that the difficulties of transport for
colonization on an irrigation basis, it must be confessed that the call
construction work would be great.
to the land was a vain appeal. The one and only reason-the
Clearing the land began in June I 920. With the dry season
dapple-winged dragon of malaria. The jungles which had grown on
coming on and as the distributary channels had not been cut, much
the once fertile rice-fields were left in undisputed possession of the
difficulty was experienced in procuring water to be used by the
dry-zone plains because the female anopheles mosquito, the dread
labour for domestic purposes. Yet with effort, wells were sunk and
carrier of the disease, reigned there, and brooked no interference in
40 41
 MINNERIYA

labour lines were built. By the month of November there came the
North-East rains. The country was soaked with water, transport
became a very big worry. The feeding of the labour personnel
became none too easy as supplies of rice had to be transported by
carriers. The few plots cultivated with maize, yams and dry grain
were damaged by wild pig and buffalo. Conditions could hardly
have been worse for health, and swarms of mosquitoes added to
discomfort. Under such conditions malaria was soon rife. It
be.came a well-nigh hopeless task to get any work done. The labour
could not be controlled and began to leave in large numbers.
By the following year, the rice crisis had become an incident of
the past. Cheap Indian and foreign supplies of rice were being freely
imported and caused the price of local paddy to fall. Government,
moreovei;, notified its decision not to proceed with an Ordinance
for the compulsory production of foodstuffs by estate owners or
I. Veda-inna-Maligawa-Minncriya
other private bodies. It was doubtless this particular issue th'at
brought matters to a head. At the end of March 1921, the Board
of Directors of the Minneriya Development Company placed a
resolution beforS! the shareholders that the Company should be
voluntarily liquidated as there appeared to be no prospect of the
undertaking becoming even self-supporting. The resolution was
accepted at an extraordinary general meeting, and confirmed at
another held in May 1921.
This interesting experiment in paddy growing on an extensive
scale under European management and with modem machinery then
available, did useful work in proving that under prevailing conditions
any attempt at large scale cultivation on commen;ial lines could not
succeed. The process of opening up the first section which resulted
in the loss of a considerable sum of money, shows that heavy initial
expenditure was necessary to prepare the low-country jungle land
for paddy growing and to render the surroundings healthy enough to
attract and keep labour. It emphasizes that it must take a
considerable number of years before even a moderate return on
capital could be expected.
And so, the reclamation of Minneriya was permitted to grow still
older in story, waiting a man bles_sed with qualities of head and heart
2. Vatada_l!e at Madiriginya
which fitted him to play the role in shaping what may be termed the
42 43
 SEEING CEYLON MINNERIYA

modern chapter in the irrigation, agricultural development and Malaria, as usual, was taking its savage toll, but effectively
colonization of Ceylon. organized anti-mosquito measures gradually brought the scourge
Minneriya, together with its colonies Hingurakgoda and under control.
Hathamuna, designed and constructed to bring fifty thousand acres Since nothing succeeds like success, this initial achievement which
of virgin wild to the service of this country, stands as a monument to converted a barren waste, where the wild denizens of the forest
that man-aptly termed "The Father of the Nation." roamed and ruled, into an arable settlement, was the forerunner of
We have earlier seen that ,arrayed against D. S. Senanayake's other group-settlements undertaken by the Ceylon Government.
efforts, was even the failure of "Big Business". One year showed And so, today, in and around Minneriya, "the gods smile". The
that, in prevailing conditions, no business concern could hope to tutelary rights acquired by the fever-carrying mosquito have been
restore the dry zone. What was more necessary than money, was disputed and the malaria problem nearly solved. The waters
courage and determination. gushing from the conduits of the lake sing a modem saga as they
It was only in 1933 that about 400 colonists, taking advantage of run down disciplined courses, harnessed to serve far-flung rice fields.
the offer of the then Minister for Agriculture and Lands, to which What the visttor sees of the vast area of land which lay forlorn and
the Governor, Sir Graeme Thomson, imparted his patronage, set neglected for centuries, is square mile on square mile of moist green
off from their villages for Minneriya. The misfortune which field and high-land settlements; and along with it "a bold peasantry,
attended the efforts of the Minneriya Development Company to their country's pride."
open the land in this region; and an accident which ~esulted in
Dr. Willis, a Director of Agriculture, losing the use of an eye while
inspecting the land under the tank, at the request of Governor Blake,
were both put down by the people to the displeasure of the local
tutelary deity who resented the intrustion of trespassers on his
preserves! It is on these, and similar coincidences that tradition thrives ..
Consequently, from the very outset, before the first batch of
colonists began to cut down the huge forest, the goodwill of the
overlords of Minneriya and Hingurakgoda was sought by
ceremonial rites conducted to the satisfaction of the agricultural folk.
When, a few days after the initial rites had been offered, a
bubbling spring was discovered close to the first wadia (camp)
erected, it was of course credited to the benevolence of the gods
who had been placated. One may not inquire how long this spring
had been there hidden by the mantle of jungle. It is sufficient that
the new settlers believed it was created in response to their
faithful observance of rites and that its discovery was accepted as a
favourable omen.
Year by year, the work of reclaiming from the jungle the rice
fields once worked by the ancient kings, proceeded on a set plan.

44 45
 KAVUDULLA WEWA AND GIRITALE

continuous forest, and jungle, extending northwards from the

Minneriya colonization scheme, to Kantalai off the highway to
Trincomalee. The only evidence of human habitation in this desolate
region given over to elephants, bear, leopard and other forest .
IV denizens, is an isolated village of a few mud and wattle huts which
is described on maps as Divulankadawala.
KAVUDULLAWEWA AND GIRITALE Nevertheless, today it is much less arduous to get to the breached
bund of Kavudullawewa. A trail has been blazed, and heavy
"From Minnery, we went to Kowdelly Tank"-,-wrote Sir Henry machines transported to the site are doing what man accomplished
Ward when on tour in I 872. He goes on to say: "the waters having laboriously with basket and mamotie in the past, to fill two breaches.
burst the bund at a period so distant, what was once the bed of the in the four-mile long bund which originally impounded the waters
tank is now a forest, abounding in trees of the largest dimensions." of the Kudagala-oya and the Gal-oya to form the lake.
This little known ancient lake must at one time have retained a head Despite these two breaches the bed of this reservoir used to be
of water equal to, if not even bigger than, Minneriya. Investigation flooded, year after year, with shallow water after the monsoon rains,
goes to show that in all probability it submerged a greater area and large herds of wild buffalo were not infrequently to be see~
of land at full supply level than Minneriya did, before recent grazing on the coarse "ramba" grass which sprang up as the water
enlargement. We today call this feature which has lain hidden in the receded. In the very near future, however, this wild scenery of
forests of the Vattekacci Intermediate Zone for well-nigh 600 years, animal and bird life will have changed, for when the filling of the
Kavudullawewa. It has been identified as the irrigation reservoir two breaches in the bund has been completed a vast expanse of
called Tissavaddamanaka, which is included in the sixteen large water will greet the eye. Many years must roll by before one may
tanks built by King Mahasena. claim for Kavudullawewa the beauty and serenity of Minneriya.
Yet legend would have us believe that this particular lake was Gaunt skeletons of the large trees which will stand out when the
not built by Mahasena, but by one of his Queens,' who wished to forest is drowned will mar the beauty of the landscape unfolded.
prove to the King that the sacrifice he offered to the demons for the Nonetheless, when the bleached remains of these forest leviathans
successful completion of Minneriya Lake was unnecessary. She are eventually drowned by the hand of Time, the eye will carry to
was doubtless unaware of the deception. Apparently, when the bed the waters which reach out into the valleys formed by the spurs and
of Kavudullawewa was submerged by the impounded waters, the strikes of the picturesque forest-clad, quartzrock formation we
Queen taunted the King for the trivial circumstances in which. call the Sudukanda range. On this background another panel of
he had forfeited the life of the royal prince Hingurak. By way of beautiful lake-scenery will be added to Ceylon's dry zone.
reproach, pointing to the lake which she had sponsored, she said: There is one other striking feature which justly merits inclusion .
"See, it is even larger than your Minneriya!" The King, enraged that in these impressions of Kavudullawewa. Below the bund lies one
the Queen had built a lake which she was publicly acclaiming had of the vastest stretches of "park country" or damana which can be
out-sized the structure he had triumphed over, conspired with his found in the island. This more or less level terrain covers an area
ministers to put her away. They say, he clandestinely had her drowned which is not much less than ten thousand acres, and undoubtedly
in the waters of Kavudullawewa! was at one period the paddy lands irrigated by the waters stored in
Time was when it was very difficult to get to this abandoned the lake. Being closely associated with legends of prince Hingurak,
irrigation-reservoir. It lay nearly midway in a thirty mile stretch of
47
46
 SEEING CEYLON KAVUDULLA WEWA AND GIRITALE

it has come to be called Hingurak-damana. In the more open patches with carved capitals and the stone screen-wall-the remains of the
of the damana it is possible to see a mile through the trees dotted Vatadage, or circular colonnade which was the principal feature of
over the level tract. In other parts, the trees are so close as to be of architectural adornment built around this ancient dagoba. He strongly
the nature of a thinly wooded forest. The trees are seldom of great advocated the restoration of this choice oriental motif in artistic temple
size as they sprang up after the depopulation of this part of the composition.
Rajarata and the decay of the old fields, soon after the 13th century. Yet, it was not until 1934 that attention came to be focussed on
In the dry season of the year, before the onset of the northeast Madirigiriya. Work had by then been started on the Minneriya
monsoon, the noonday heat in the Hingurak-damana is dry and colonization scheme, and this had attracted an influx of strangers-
scorching. The-grass is burnt to a cinder, and the leaves on the among them treasure hunters in search of ancient ruins on which to
larger trees droop, betokening the absence of all moisture. But, when bestow surreptitiously the indelible marks of their vandalism. The
after the rains, in the clear freshness of the mornings each green dagoba-mound at Madirigiriya was rifled by them, and apparently,
blade of grass drenched with dewdrops reflects a spicule of light, as happens i;nore often than not, the evidence available was
and the blossoming varieties of the trees such as the satin, the ehela, insufficient to convict the culprits. Spurred by this attempt to despoil
the mee and the damba are in flower, this damana is the most lovely a monument of such architectural and historical interest, little time
country in the Island to travel through. was lost in handling its conservation.
If perchance you do find yourself in this part of the Rajarata, so The Archaeological Department's achievement in this instance
packed with history, lore and legend, you will deny yourself much is fully as worthy of record as the great deeds which the Mahavamsa
if you do not devote a little time to visit an architectural gem among has saved from oblivion. The problems which had to be confronted
the oldest of Buddhist shrines in Ceylon. It is referred to on the one- when work was started in June 1941 were manifold. Transport was
inch to the mile survey maps as Madirigiriya, but was known in confined to a rough jungle track negotiable only by roofless
ancient times as Mandalagiri. Reading in between historical records, country carts drawn by bullock; water was a great problem as nearly
it would appear that in the reign of Kanittha Tissa (A.O. 166-184) it all the ancient pokunas were breached; the country was infested
was a flourishing religious establishment, but reached the height of with wild animals and was so terribly malaria-ridden, that work was
fame from about the 9th to the early half of the thirteenth century. confined to seven months of dry season each year.
However, neither archaeology nor record has disclosed when, Shattering these difficulties came Japan's entry, at the end of
or by whom, the dagoba, which to all purposes was the original 1941, into the Second World War. An aerodrome was built at
shrine, was constructed. Modern reports on the exploration and Hingurakgoda, and troop-camps came to be established over this
conservation of the site tell of "bricks containing Brahmi letters of part of the country which was not far from the strategic port,
most archaic form incised on them as mason's marks, picked up in Trincomalee. In these circumstances the jungle track was closed
the debris round the stupa." There is every possibility that it dated to and communication was much interfered with. Epidemics of
the 2nd century B.C. cholera which broke out in Anuradhapura and Polonnaruva spread
H. C. P. Bell was the first antiquary to reach out to this remote panic, while rationing and short supply in food demoralized the
and virtually inaccessible monument in the very heart of the jungle; labour force. Nevertheless, despite progress being sluggish, the
that was, when carrying out his survey of ruins in Tamankaduwa, restoration was completed in 1945.
nearly 70 years ago. What seemed to have appealed to him most in There is a wealth of silent majesty in the restored Madirigiriya.
the picturesque disorder his eye rested on, were the stone pillars It stands in dominating possession on top of a bare rock which rises
above the surrounding jungle and its solemnity is enh<;\nced by the
48 49
 SEEING CEYLON KAVUDULl.A WEWA AND GIRITALE

surprising richness of its artistic decoration and spiritual grace. The ancient works. Walking on the high embankment or bund which has
ancient dagoba is girdled by three concentric circles of graceful been built across a deep valley, one gets a fair idea of the depth
octagonal-shaped stone pillars, with exquisitely carved capitals. The of water by looking at the drop on the down-stream side which
pillars of the innermost circles are 17 feet high. Those of the second terminai:es in level ground and damp forest. Records do not tell
concentric circle 16 feet high and of the outer 9 feet; so arranged whether Giritale-wewa was despoiled in any one of those periodic
that the pillars once supported a sloping roof which covered a paved invasions from India which swept over at intervals for something
circular antechamber 22 feet wide. In line with the outer circle of like 20 centuries; but it seems certain it must have, for
pillars, one sees the most interesting features of the Vatadage-the Parakramabahu is said to have rebuilt it. In the gloom of the decline
screen-wall, 3 feet 6 inches in height, ornamented with a post and which drove the population from the plains of Cey Ion to the central
rail design, singularly unique and emphasizing its purpose to define hills at the end of the 13th century, this lakelet, together with others,
the sacrosanct limits of the inner shrine. The Vatadage, which was reverted to the jungle which sprang up and gave tranquillity to the
built in the later half of the 7th century A.O. by the wealthy King plains.
Aggabodhi II, has but a single counterpart-the Vatadage built later Those who saw it in this phase of abandonment indicate that the
in Polonnaruva. only tokens-besides the bund and its choked up sluices-which might .
To Madirigiriya, and to see the images and relies reclaimed from have spoken to this region as the popular suburb of a wealthy city,
oblivion, white-robed pilgrims now frequently go in cars and special were the weathered remains of hewn stones, carved spouts and
buses using a new road from Hingurakgoda Rest House. They find steps of masonry. They lay cloistered by thick undergrowth which
there something which the hearts of all men desire. But when they throve in the luxury of forest shade.
have left, and the silence of night returns, the jungle creatures The modem story of the restoration of Giritale-wewa goes back
wander out to where until recently they were the sole masters. just 50 years. Its capacity was increased more recently. Happily, in
the process of restoration many an ancient contrivance was
And so, we pass on to Giritale-wewa--one motors past it four
retained, and the discerning eye which can pick them out has an
miles out of Minneriya-on the road to Polonnaruva. It was
opportunity to obtain some idea of their special functions and, maybe,
originally built about the early half of the 7th century, in the great
assess the time, labour and ingenuity expended on their
fight between Nature and man, when the jungles of these regions
construction.
were being gradually beaten back, and the country nursed as a
One such contrivance is the raelapana or "wave-breaker,'
witness to progressive settlement. This little sheet of water, dappled
composed of artificial dressed stone revetments, or pitchings, on the
on its margin by sunshine, seems to bealways playing a wild game
up-stream face of the embankment. Its purpose was to resist the
displaying that fretted mystery of light and shade with the foliage on
action of constant wave-play which would invariably rode and .
its fringe, and the reflections of fast-flying clouds overhead. As a destroy the embankment. The original raelapana at Giritale-wewa
pretty lake it would undoubtedly claim more attention than it does, has been disturbed very little, and conveys the impression of ripple-
but for its proximity to the Minnrriya Lake. The Mahavamsa names bands formed by the water on the slope of the bund. Of even greater
it Giritala, an accomplishment of Aggabodhi II (604-614), who, had interest is the valve-pit for releasing water to the fields.
his reign not been short, might have rivalled Mahasena as a tank- . The significance of the present structure at Giritale-wewa for
building king;. controlling the water down the channel is that the actual ancient
It is well worth breaking journey to brood over the serenity and bisokotuwa has been set up arn;w with concrete backing, and is
the picturesque setting of Giritale-wewa. Here is an opportunity to one of the very few instances where it is possible to ascertain how
examine the details of construction of the features peculiar to these this twenty three century old device functions.
50 51
 POLONNARUVA

From his youth the ambition to bring all Lanka under one canopy
had stirred within Parakramabahu the Great. Forcing his way to the
throne, he expelled the invaders whose impress on the Sinhalese
of the period was so marked as to even largely alter the national
V character. Seeing his fondest hope realized, he showed himself to
be as successful an administrator as he had proved himself a
POLONNARUVA: WHAT GLORY IS HERE ECLIPSED! warrior. This period of prosperity saw great conquests made,
fortifications which secured the country against foreign inroads, the
Polonnaruva, sixteen miles south-east of Minneriya, was the building of a great city, and works of irrigation which saved the
second and last great capital of the kings of Lanka. This medieval people from fear of famine. This included besides a largeextension
city owed its genesis to its strategic position. It commanded the of that system to meet the requirements of the part of the island
crossing of the Mahaveli-ganga near Dastota, which had proved to which he had made most important-now known as the district of
be a vital point in the line of communication between Rajarata (the Tamankaduwa-a complete restoration of the old system and its
king's country); and the maritime plain of Rohana off the eastern thousands of man-made lakes which had. fallen into disrepair or
base of the central mountain mass. had been wantonly breached by earlier enemy invading forces.
In the latter half of the 7th century, King Aggabodhi IV vacated Little wonder that the Mahavamsa has more to say of this King's
Anuradhapura for reasons of strategy, and went into temporary prowess and endowments than of any other.
residence at Polonnaruva. They called it at the time The time-worn, crumbling ruins which are mantled by forest-
Kandavuranuvara-which meant "the camp-city". Other growth below the northern end of the bund of the lake at
Anuradhapura kings continued occasionally to use Polonnaruva for Polonnaruwa, are the remains of Parakrama's capital. They are the
military reasons during the eighth, the ninth and the tenth centuries, bones of history, and chronicle the sites of citadel and pal~ce,
but it was not until 1070 and onwards, following a Cho la invasion of pavilions, temples of the gods, and alms-halls, of monasteries,
which had destroyed Anuradhapura, that the city came to be
preaching-halls, royal baths and hospitals.
in esse the capital of Lanka, and to be referred to in the annals as
To compare the old city of Anuradhapura with the newer
Pulatthinagara. It continued as such until the middle of the 13th
Polonnaruva would be much like picking the difference between
century.
folk-song and Rock-n-Roll! The earlier was the capital for 12
Nevertheless, Polonnaruva's period of pre-eminence which won
hundred years, and may metaphorically be likened to a very
for it a place in history, was much shorter than the centuries
charming old lady, serenely gowned in old silk and lace. There is a
covered. Its lavish oriental architectural magnificence, and most
of its splendid medieval buildings, both religious and secular-the graceful peace about Anuradhapura, an artistic and spiritual
remains of which even today serve as stimuli to the imagination- grace which lends it dignity. It is impressive. Yet, Polonnaruva is the
were the handiwork of a brief and brilliant interlude of forty-two buried city more favoured by sightseers. It is undoubtedly more
years sandwiched between two periods of very great national spectacular with its forest background. Moreover, as the ruins are
depressions. The King who inspired such tremendous vitalization of not so "ruined", they require less effort of imagination to enable
the nation's energy was Parakramabahu, who reigned for thirty- one to recast scenes of the past.
three years of the. forty-two which brought splendour to the city. The difference in the styles of architecture of the two capitals is
Indeed, no King more incontrovertibly deserved his title of most marked. Polonnaruva dominates in weather-worn brickand a
"the Great."
53
52
 SEEING CEYLON POLONNARlNA

decadent stucco ornament which whispers of imitation and of an "The Orientalist", Vol. II), written with a gift for vividly painting a
urge to get finished with the work quickly. Anuradhapura, on the picture in words, are a pioneer account of the discove~y of the
other hand, but for the dagobas and a few buildings, is all grey stone. disintegrating remains of Pulatthinagara consigned to obhv1on under
The carvings on rock are purer, displaying originality in a forest of large trees-five centuries old, and covered by a mantle
style and design, and more patient craftsmanship. It has to be of lush undergrowth.
remembered that for nearly three centuries before Polonnaruva was Fagan s description of the circular red-brick structure which he
built, the hand of the Pandyan and Chola invader was strong in initially discovered by the side of the road pictures the Vatadage,
Lanka. The country thus came greatly under the influence of meaning 'Round Relic House' ,-which today is acclaimed the
Indian cultures. This, no doubt, is one reason why the style and masterpiece of Polonnaruva architecture. He had only a fragment
architecture of Polonnaruva is pronouncedly Hindu in type. But it of the circular wal; with its handsome cornice round the inner maluva
also has to be remembered that Parakrama himself was a Brahmin to judge by, hence he assumed it was all built in bric~. Yet de~pite
and chiefly of Tamil blood, as doubtless were his court and nobility, the shambles it must have been when he saw it, as piles of bncks,
and also that the King had made his conquests largely through Tamil debris and rubbish, interlaced by the roots of an Indian fig-tree
aid. All this may be the explanation to the puzzle why Tamil norms (banyan) he has very correctly gleaned that the entrances
of architecture dominate in the buildings of Parakrama's capital corresponded exactly with the four cardinal points; that there
~hich are devoted to Buddhistic religious concepts. There can be were double flights of six steps each which led to the lower and
but one other surmise-the regal architect of Polonnaruva realized thereafter to the upper platforms; and that the balustrades at each
that he had to conciliate two sections of supporters and could not entrance were flanked by guard-stones depicting the doratupalayo
afford to alienate the Sinhalese party and the Buddhist monks. The or janitors, which (although male figures) he erroneously assumed
Mahavamsa strikes a charming note when it says that Parakrama were 'female figures'.
"ordained that freedom from fear should be given on the four holy In the commentary on the ruins at Madirigiriya it was remarked
days of each month (even to) the beasts and fish that moved on land that the unique Vatadage there had but one other counterpart. The
and water". only notable difference in the hallowed structure later erected at
I first found myself at Polonnaruva in 1920-exactly a Polonnaruva, is to be found in the design of the ornamental screen-
hundred years after a young first Lieutenant of His Majesty's 2nd wall composed of carved stones covered with figures of the open
Ceylon Regiment, marching his detachment from Batticaloa to lotus flower.
Minneriya, rested a day at "Topary", as Polonnaruva was then called. The more thrilling aspect of Fagan's exploration is told when in
The incident would naturally have remained long forgotten but for the afternoon he was conducted by his guide to the Uttararama or
the fact that Lt. M. H. Fagan kept a journal of his march. the-northern part where he beheld the monolithic figure-carvings
Attracted by some stone pillars standing in the jungle off the in heroic size which lend serenity to the shrine we call Gal-vihara.
road, Fagan hastened to examine them. Surprised by the massive He writes: "the evening was closing fast when I found myself
proportions of tbe structures they formed a part of, he was allured under a dark and gigantic human figure at least 25 feet high, I
to txplorc the jungle deeper, only to discover, with the help of an cannot describe what I felt at the moment. .. On examination I
old vI llagtr of "Topary" who acted as guide, others even more found this to be a figure of Budhoo ... close on his left lies another
ntr11s1vr Ills cardully compiled notes (first published in the Ceylon gigantic figure of the same person in recumbent p_o~ture .... and ~
c iovemmcnt Uuzcttc of August I st, 1820, and reprinted in I 885 in third figure of the same proportions in the common s1ttmg attitude.

55
 SEEING CEYLON
POLONNARlNA

There is much more weird, as it is impressive-to be gleaned dressing table: the other was arranged as dining-room with table
from Fagan's descriptions of other monuments discovered in his and chairs-we had a complete dinner and breakfast service
hurried tour but we must perforce move on, culli~g but one citation for four persons, and abundance of linen". There was nothing,
more: "There is a vague tradition among the people," he writes, moreover, wanting in their supplies for we have the list: "sherry,
"that the Portuguese found immense treasures in these buildings, madeira, brandy, curacoa, biscuits, tea, sugar, coffee, hams, tongues,
since which time, they affirm that lam the only European by whom sauces, pickles, mustard, sardines en huile, tins of soups, preserved
theseruins have been visited." The tradition is possibly true! meats, vegetables, currant jelly for venision, macaroni, vermicelle,
Writing in 1831, Major Forbes says of Polonnaruva: "I had ten flour and a variety of other things including a double supply of soap
days previously to our visit despatched people to clear paths so as and candles."
to enable us to reach the principal ruins ... Soon after entering the This has been a sad digression, which however seems
forest we were surprised by coming suddenly on a large building, necessary to illustrate the metamorphosis which saw a vast
more resembling the early ecclesiastical edifices of Europe than expanse of forest and park-land abounding in varied forms of wild
any other which the island possesses ... " This structure, flanked by life turned into a sadist's paradise for the massacre of elephants and
its two polygonal pillars nearly 50 feet in height, is what we today buffaloes. What jungle revel to the mind?
call Lankatilaka-or the "Jewel of Lanka", ornamented inside and Even as late as the beginning of the present century, a visit to
out with figures of deities in bas-relief, and by a gigantic standing Polonnaruva was considered an adventure, and was not undertaken
figure of Buddha, now headless, in the sanctum. The solid pillars lightly. The road was hardly more than a bullock-cart track; the
and various statuary of this imposing ruin are covered with a country was infested with wild animals. It was not until 1897 th~t an
polished cement which still adheres to some of them. attempt was made to survey and site the principal ruins and limits
In former times, the Lankatilaka was popularly referred to as of the old city, and not until 1901 did systematic restoration start.
Jetavanarama. The figures of two snakes carved in stone near it What I saw on my first visit ( 1920) were a few clearings around
inspired in the past a fantastic idea to account for the derivation of groups of ruins, scattered in disorder, in forest and thorny tangle.
the present name of the city. One of the snakes is asserted to be The Topawewa, a square mile of beautiful water covered with pink
of the hooded variety (Sinhalese Na-ya), and the other the viper lotuses (impounded by a king called s, in the 4th century), greeted
(Polonga). Local tradition reads from this the derivation of the my eye from the verandah of a two-roomed Rest House erected
modern name Polon-na-ruva: Polan -from polonga (viper); off its embankment. The living offspring of the great city that was-
Na-from naya (cobra); ruva-(Sinhalese)-image, 114 persons or 30 families in all-were herded together in a typical
Twenty years later ( 1851 ), Sir Samuel Baker, his brother Lt. V. old North-Central Province village, their link and support a small
Baker, a Mr. Palliser and Stuart-Wortley (later Lord Whamcliffe) tract of field which they cultivllted twice each year, with waters
descended into these plains on one of many excursions carrying drawn from the tank.
with them 18 guns and rifles. They bagged in three weeks "50 That was about the time when an Archaeological Commissioner
elephants, 5 deer and 2 buffaloes" Reading through the day to day lost his way in the jungles while accompanying a reigning Governor
recordings of the trip at least a 100 more elephants must have been of Ceylon. The tale as told was that the Governor, who was more
mortally wounded. "A little method and trifling extra cost will make than sixty years old, wished to v:isit a ruin where some remarkable
a 11111~dt' trip anything but uncomfortable," writes Raker. So, the party frescoes retained their colour after the tide of the jungle had flowed
had "two tents, one of which contained four beds and a general over it for five centuries. His Excellency did not, however, see the

56 57
 SFEll'G Cr-:n,(JN POLONNARUVA

frescoes for his mentor, while endeavouring to reduce the walk

from five to three miles each way, mistook one track for another in
an open pelessa (glade) and utterly lost his way. It was inevitable
that the compass, when vitally required, had been left in camp.
..'< '"'). The sun was no help as this happened in the middle of the day.
Happily, after some anxious hours, the party eventually fell upon a
path familiar to the guide, and the agitation of'the Governor's lady
was allayed when a very thirsty and tired representative of His
Majesty's Colonial Service wobbled up the steps leading to the
verandah of the Rest House. He was confronted by a host of
minor officialdom, who were preparing to send out a search-party
of "Vedda" trackers. The.Governor was a great sportsman:
notwithstanding a desiccated tongue, he turned to the Archaeologi-
<~ < Vatadage at Polonnaruva cal Commissioner and politely crackled, "Ihave enjoyed my walk
and you must come to dinner!"
To the ruins of the temple with the frescoes which the Governor
did not see, and the several other scattered vestiges of the old city
to which, at that time, one had to pick a way slowly, along trails
criss-crossed by a maze of game-tracks, or walks littered with
elephants' droppings, you can now go in a car.
The charming old Rest House which offered you peaceful
habitation, around which the fireflies were wont to congregate very
brilliantly at night, has.succumbed to the urge to see places, in this
age of petrol. A much more substantial, well provisioned building
of many rooms is there to contribute to the comforts of traveller,
tourist and pilgrim, dropped at the porch by cars which swoop in day
and night. There is no adventure today in a visit to Polonnaruva; but
the old, old Polonnaruva remains unchanged, most of it conserved
and cared for. In its departed vestiges of glory, th~re lie enshrined
the adQrations of numerous <millions of people, which seemingly
radiate a feeling of comfort and repose.
To the Philistine who cannot tune in to this intangible influence,
or remains unmoved by the story of these pallid stones bleached by
centuries of sun and rain: to him who visits this historical skeleton
and fails to be lulled by the harmony of its art, the delicacy of its
4< Topawewa
carvings and its bold impressive designs, I hav~ but one word of
advice. Do not desecrate antiquity-keep away!
58 59
 THE KING OF LAKE-RESERVOIRS

anchor this to four miles of rocky escarpment on a section of high

ground. When the first flood was impounded and the bed of the tarik
wa,; submerged, the artificial lake mingled the waters of numerous
. VI
streams flowing down from the Sudukanda range of hills to the west,
with a river-flow led to it from the Amban-ganga along a channel.
THE KING OF LAKE-RESERVOIRS The location of Parakrama's "Sea" was for many years the
subject of intense speculation by historian, antiquarian and explorer.
In the last chapter we saw how, in a period of conquest and When discovered towards the end of the last century, it was found
well-being, Pulatthi (Polonnaruva) was transformed, in a very short that in all its length of bund there was only one serious breach-60
span of years, into a Cai)ital worthy of the power and ambitions feet deep and 600 feet wide. Through this breach a rivulet known
of Parakramabahu 1. We also noticed in parenthesis, how with the as the Divulpitiya-ela had passed down an intensive surging flood
double object of providing food and filling the treasury, the old of water in the rainy season, for centuries. This breach, borrowing
irrigation works which had been despoiled by the enemy, or fallen the name of a hamlet nearby, came to be called the Eramudu Gap.
into decay through neglect, were repaired, and even more ambitious We may not tell when the Divulpitiya-ela exerted supremacy
new works were undertaken. The King's crowning achievement in over the built up bund and caused this breach, but those who had
this field was a magnificent lake he built in close proximity to the made a close study of the conditions at the gap suggest that there
city, so extensive that, in the gesture language of the Orient, it are good grounds for assuming that the tank bund had breached at
received the name Parakrama Samudra. Even by standards of this particular spot at least twice earlier-that is to say, this pride of
today, and construction. by the aids now made available by science the Chronicles had breached three times in a little over l 00 years.
and mechanization, this would be considered a major und.ertaking. These past failures indicated that the impounded waters had
The Mahavamsa, chronicling the conclusion of this colossal discovered the weakest point in the bund and emphasized what
achievement says: "To put away famine from living creatures that formidable difficulties lay ahead if any attempt were to be made to
most excellent of men ... created the king of reservoirs . ... " effectively seal the breach.
Nevertheless, Parakrama's achievement, prodigious as it was Nevertheless, the restoration of this medieval accomplishment
for that age, did not long survive the death of the great ruler. Within long tantalized the patriot, inasmuch as it gripped the imagination of
a century thereafter this lake which received pride of place, and the economist in a position to visualize its great capabilities and the
impounded twice as much water as we find today within the vast extent below it which could be reclaimed from unprofitable
sheltering breakwaters of the Port of Colombo, was breached. jungle waste to benefit a rapidly increasing population.
Together with the glory that was Polonnaruva, both lake and city The successful and favourable start on the development of
gradually passed into oblivion and became the floor of the jungle Minneriya loosened Government purse strings, and afforded a fair
and forest which in time buried them. measure of aid to resuscitate the broad acres of the Tamankaduwa
What Parakrama's engineers actually did to bring into being this district. The investigation carried out disclosed that greater
"sea", was to link up a congeries of five small tanks-with Topawewa advantage would accrue by damming the Ambanganga at the
near the city and Dumbutullawewa near the Ambanganga, or Sudukanda Gap and throwing up an artificial lake rather than by
Kara-ganga of old,-by constructing nine miles of embankment restoring Parakrama's Sea. It was shown that the structure
across the shallow valleys in which the small tanks nestled, and to proposed would be capable of storing three times as much water as
60
. 6)
 SEEING CEYLON THE KING OF I.AKE-RESERVOIRS

the Parakrama Samudra would hold if it were to be restored

moreover, that the new scheme would make available for
cultivation the six thousand acres of richly alluvial land which would
be submerged by water if the project for merely restoring the old
work was undertaken.
It is unfortunate that discussions on the merits of the alternative
projects took place at a period when national prestige was heating
up. In the circumstances, economic and practical advantages were
naturally outweighed by sentiment. That was how the "king of
tanks," commemorated in the Mahavamsa as the crowning
achievement of a martial, enterprising and glorious period of Sinhalese
history, came to be restored, despite the possibilities of a modern,
deep-water reservoir which to greater advantage could have
supplanted it. Discussing this point during a quiet moment with
Mr. D.S. Senanayake on one of his periodic circuits to Polonnaruva-
he explained it in terms of the time saved in securing a large
working reservoir by utilizing an existing bund and filling one serious
breach. Concerning the greater utility of the other scheme, he added:
"We must leave some way for posterity to solve the problems of a
growing population and increasing unemployment which is going to
follow us!"
So today, the visitor visualizes pristine greatness, and the
highest achievement in the art of the ancient hydraulic engineer, as
he gazes from the Polonnaruva Rest House at the waves lapping in
foamy surf on the lofty embankment. When raised to spilling-point
after the north-e~st rains, Parakrama Samudra reach~s its greatest
depth of 52 feet, and the sheet of water extends 3 l /2 miles directly
across, at maximum limit. In August every year, when the lake is at abandonment had nursed and which the pent-up waters today are
its lowest level, the reservoir will show up as three separate lakes, endeavouring to drown. Few who now live will see the water-spread
and disclose the position of the old Topawewa and DumbutuUawewa entirely cleared of these obstructions to navigation and view, for it
which are defaced when the reservoir is at maximum level. The takes nearly a hundred years for the roots of the larger trees under
diagram on page 63 will help the reader to visualize the capacity and water to rot. If you put out a boat, and get close enough, you will
water-spread of the lake when full. notice that the water, herded into these sepulchres littered with
No point on the margin of this man-made feature commands bleached skeletons of trees, is the colour of weak coffee with too
a view of its entire limits. Its upper reaches are crowded with little milk. When the rains come, it turns to yellow ochre. In sunlight
gaunt spectral reminders of the forest which the centuries of it mirrors the seared branches in ghost-like patterns which
beggar description.
62 63
 SEEING CEYLON THE KING OF LAKE-RESERVOIRS

Still another interesting excursion awaits the visitor who takes recently established homesteads, lie spread before your gaze. They
the opportunity to drive along the embankment, and 3 1/2 miles demonstrate the utilitarian value of the Parakrama Samudra. This
further to the Amban-ganga. Here a centuries-old feeder channel, aided land colonization scheme proceeded on much the same
popul;ly called the Angamedilla Yoda-ela, and~ diversion dam ~uilt lines as the Minneriya Development Scheme, but had the great
across the river on a foundation of quartz, testify how the ancient advantage of benefiting by experience already gained. Since the
engineers solved the problem of keeping this great reservoi_r full. water was not impounded until October 1942, the initial 200 families
The general layout of the intake and the supply channel m the who came in subsequently had the added advantage of benefit
recent restoration schemes differ little in its mam features from the from the fundamental change in policy of Government assistance
ancient project. . made in 1939.
To see the picturesque natural setting of the Angame?ill~ There is a traditional claim that the Tamankaduwa district was a
headworks is as much reward for the journey, as the opportumty it stock-breeding centre in ancient and medieval times. The resident
offers the visitor to ponder over the ingenuity of human efforts ~y Moor inhabitants who tenaciously cling to their ancestral villages
which national prosperity through agricultural industry was built dotted about this plain forge an interesting link in social history.
before it came to be written in the Mahavamsa: "because the They are said to be descendants of the original caravan drivers in
fertility of the land had decreased, kings were no longer esteemed the days of the Sinhalese kings and raised selected herds of cattle in
as before."... . times gone. Apart from this legend, it has long been acknowledged
In this secluded spot bordering the Wasgamuva Intermediate that the cattle of Tamankaduwa are the finest stock in the Island.
Zone, tropical vegetation runs riot. The spr~ading canopy o~ ~ree The grazing rights over the Crown damana lands have always been
tops filters the sun's rays, creating below a dim an~ murky twilight much in demand as the grasses of this locality are credited to be
for the scattered undergrowth of shrubs and saplmgs-the forest specially suitable for feeding cattle to be slaughtered for beef.
of tomorrow. The lianas festoon the corridors with gigantic loops, It was no rare sight to see enormous herds of neat cattle feeding
braiding their stems from branch to branch. . . on the grass)'. verge of Topawewa, which you would have been told
And unforgettably majestic, more especi~lly a:ter the. ramy had been driven in and left to feed and fatten, by the herdsmen of
season is the river rushing with a roar which vibrates m the Messrs Ibrahim Saibo--the famous purveyors of provisions, who
stillnes~, dashing with force, br~aking into spray, and whirling among once held a monopoly in the planting districts of Ceylon for the
the boulders in swirling masses of foam. supply of meat.
On your way back from the headworks, paus~ a moment to pay Hence, one of the chief objects of this colonization scheme at
tribute at a spot near the 7th mile on the bund. This was once known Pollonnaruva is to promote animal husbandry, and to this purpose a
as the Eramaduwa Gap, through which a rivulet raged when charged large farm, with pasture and grazing paddocks, has been provided.
each year by monsoonal floods. Even in ~his. machi~e age the This line of development has all along been receiving considerable
surging flood-waters won the battle against time m the first attempt attention.
made to fill the breach, and swept away the labours of a dry season. We pass on to a point in the bend. of toe bund of the lake, a mile
Perhaps it was meant to lay emphasis on the difficulties which faced away from the Rest House. Following a path for about I 00 yards on
men in the age of manual labour to close a breach in a bund when the down-stream face of the bund, one arrives at a group of ruins
the floods had once discovered its weakest point. called Potgul Vihara. On a boulder, resting its back against the rock
But, while here, also tum your eyes to the landscape below the
from which it is cut, there stands carved the figure of a strong old
embankment and beyond. A mosaic of paddy, and the roofs of

64 65
 SEEING CEYLON

man about 12 feet high-he has a beard and long moustachios, wears
on his head a conical cap and holds in his hands what would seem to
be an ola book. It is accepted as a sculpture of the twelfth century.
VII
Countless thousands who have gazed on this statue have named
him Parakramabahu the Great; countless others, attracted by the KALINGA NUWARA
strange character reflected in the face and body, will continue to
dub the statue as that of the King. The popular identification is open The Mahaveli-ganga-the Baracus or Ganges of Ptolemy-has
to question as some suggest that it represents a rishi named Agastya. long been eulogized as the "Queen of Lanka's streams." Historical .
Neither view seems convincing. If the visitor is helped to feel, even topography of ancient and medieval times refers to it by many names:
a little, that in this block of weather-worn stone a long forgotten, Ganga or Mahaganga or Mahavaluka Ganga. Emerging from the
patient craftsman has euphemistically stirred the mind to recall the hills into the lowlands about 7 miles north of Alutnuwara
.man who lived and loved, and fought and built the great tank and (Mahiyangana) it flows in a north-north-easterly direction to the
city, or that here stands a figure which is characteristic of a sage- sea offTrincomalee. The country which lies the east of Polonnaruva
then, much has been attained. is the flood plain of this river. At least twice each year the
surcharged waters overflow the river's banks and fill every
depression in the flood plain at each overflow, fanning lakelets which
are called "vii."
This region is possibly the least known parcel of country to most
people in Ceylon. Yet it is a locality full of interest to anybody who
has cultivated a "seeing eye" and takes the trouble to give a little of
his mind to objects which are linked to history, archaeology or
biology. The charm of these vast sheets of marsh and water
referred to as Handapan Vila, Bendiya Vila and Gengala Vila
and many others which lie scattered north of Manampitiya, is
indescribable; the varied bird and animal life, and withal that
wondrous hush which pervades and sanctifies these open spaces
where Nature is almost uninvaded by man's encroachment. You
approach the southern limits of this region from Polonnaruva,
making the crossing over the Mahaveli-ganga at Dastota-a ford
where history is writ large, and was known by the name Sahassatittha
in the past.
Four miles up-river from Dastota there is a small island about a
mile long narrowing at its northern end. Around it the river flows
with much impetuosity. At one time this duva (island) was known
as Kalinga Nuwara, and if you have the opportunity to do some

66 67
 KAI.INGA NUWARA
"sight-seeing" on it you will find many traces of ruined structures
and evidence of past civilization in masses of brickbats on th~ expedition-but it is written in the Culavamsa that only five
surfac~, ~nd stumps of stone pillars, which indicate that practically ships reached the destination and "the troops landed, defeated the
the ent1re island was covered by buildings. You will find simple carved Burmese forces who opposed them, and laid waste the surrounding
stone m~kara balustrades flanking the entrances to buildings, the country." I cite: "if the Culavamsa narrative is construed
foundat1_ons of large halls (72 ft. by 51 ft.), seemingly elliptical in literally .... the victories gained by six troop-ships can only be
shape, c1rcular, low brick-walled enclosures and even the traces of explained either by a lamentable state of unpreparedness for
a roadway which runs for about half a mile. defence in the Burmese kingdom ... or is just another laudatory
Kalinga Nuwara may well be the historical site where in exaggeration of the marvellous power of its heroes' arms."
medieval times the ceremony of the ordination of monks was held. In the upper reaches of the Mahaveli-ganga a short way from
A chapter in the Mahavamsa, which we are told was "composed the island of Kalinga, the river loses its sandy character and flows
equally for the delight and amazement of good men," refers to one over a reef of granite. Making the most of this rocky obstruction
such ordination in the 13th century, when Vijaya Bahu convened the which presents a series of rapids and falls, the engineers of old
whole of the Buddhist clergy to a "treat" of ordination, to do which built an anicut (dam) in the river. Great, massive square-hewn blocks
he se~t a princ~ and "caused him to build many thousands (sic) of of stone-some weighing 2 to 3 tons perhaps-are there to this
beautiful dwelhng places for priests and large and lofty halls ... and day. When they served effectively to check the flow down the river,
sent an invitation by messenger to all parts saying, lo! we are about the pent up waters were diverted into two channels--one trailing
to hold a feast of Ordination. Now, therefore, such monks as are off on the right bank, and the other over the left bank of the river.
:,vel! disposed towards us-be they great elders, middle elders, or The story of the origin of this superb irrigation scheme is fogged
Juniors-let them, even all of them, endeavour to come to by the mists of centuries. King Mahasena, of whose superlative
Sahassatittha." achievements in the field of irrigation we have already read much,
~e many islets off the southern end of the larger island called was the originator of the scheme. Infused with ardour by
Kalmga Nuwara divide the Mahaveli-ganga here into seven earlier successes, he possibly had ambitions to dam the Mahaveli-
channels. There _is a tradition that near this spot the Sinhalese kings ganga-the largest river in Ceylon. The Mahavamsa refers to this
of old had estabhshments for building galleys and "tsampans." This achievement as "the great Pabbatanta canal," which in all
perhaps bears the stamp of some truth for the section of the river probability was the one that flowed eastwards from the anicut
between these islands and the sea off Trincomalee is of sufficient at Kalinga.
depth at all times to be navigable for small vessels, while moreover In the latter half of the fifth century, about a hundred years
the borders of the river bear high forest timbers suitable for boat later King Dhatusena, or Dassenkelliya as he was also called,
building. apparently augmented this work, and by raising the dam built the
When Parakramabahu at the height of his power was provoked canal on the left bank of the river; and thereby "created fields which
to decl~e war against Alaungsithu, the King of Burma, as a result were permanently watered."
of_a senes of aggressions culminating with the seizure of a Sinhalese More authentic identification of the Kalinga scheme is rendered
pnncess on her way to Siam, this spot-we can well imagine-must possible on reference to the list of twenty-nine canals which the
have been a great ship-building yard. We are not told what was the Culavamsa claims were restored, and perhaps extended, about the
number of the assemblage of ships which eventually set out on the middle of the 9th century by Parakramabahu the Great. The record
reads: "from the point at which the Aciravatl canal originated,
68
69
 KAUNGA NUWARA
SEEING CEYLON
four feet high, there lives and roams that rare giant of Ceylon
anot~er c.~nal named Gomati flowed eastward on the east bank of elephants-the Vil-a\iya. They are a rare tuskless species confined
the nver. Nowhere on the Mahaveli-ganga is there a spot other to small herds which seldom if ever exceed four animals. They are
than at Kalinga Nuwara, where there are traces of an anicu't or of massive, live on the water-lillies which are plentiful in the area, and
c?annels which branch off to the right and left bank. In the are ferocious in the extreme.
Cir~u~stances it is beyond doubt that we here see the Pabbatanta About four decades ago a lone pachyderm of the Egoda Pattu
Irngation Scheme which operated 1600 years ago. which had turned "rogue", was proving himself a menace to the
In _the strange way that places and features come to be named rustic population sheltering in the village of Yakkure. Chase Wiggin-
the nu~ed trace of the Aciravati or left bank channel is now known .. a reputable shooter of rogue elephants, who was Superintendent of
as Kalmga Yoda~ela. We owe this name, which cartography has Minor Roads in the Tamankaduva District-was approached with
adopt~d, to Nevill-a British civil servant, who bequeathed to a view to ridding the village of this marauding thief which damaged
postenty a vo_Iume of valuable antiquarian and philological research, as much of the paddy crop in one night as would feed the small
although not mfrequently paradoxical. . village population for many weeks. Wiggin had accounted for over
The channel referred to as "Gomati' in the annals trailed over two score rogues-but in this instance, kept a date with destiny. He
the Egoda Pattuwa of the Tamankaduva District, which lies off the tracked the elephant to the forest on the right bank of the river
east _bank of the ~aha~eli-ganga. It follows the contour of the ground, between Yakkure and Dastota, but mistimed his shot-changing
but m some sections 1s carried between double bunds 70 feet apart. direction, six tons of fury charged; Wiggin dived back behind the
In 1898, when the first topographical survey of this vast stretch of trunk of a tree, the bellowing mass rushed past him into the deeper
. waste and jungle was carried out, the course of the jungle, but not before the big bull had swung his trunk in passing the
channel ~as mapped by linking up disintegrated sections of bund. spot and crushing the life out of the hapless hunter of elephants,
One may Judge how sinuous is its course by the available evidence
!hat the end of the 21 st mile of channel is but 11 miles from the squeezing him to the tree.
They showed me the spot at Polonnaruva where Wiggin's body
mtake as the crow flies.
was carried to, and buried. A simple monument commemorates
If you folio:' t?is anci~nt channel from the anicut at Kalinga
~uwara, you will fmd the first 5 miles bedded in high forest, with a this story.
Apparently, in the Egoda Pattu of the Tamankaduva District,
difference of only 12 feet in height between the terminals. This
and in the dreary region of forest and jungle-clad plain, of isolated
must h~ve ensured a very sluggish flow. Thereafter, skirting a far-
rocky outcrops and caves off the right bank of the Mahaveli-ganga,
flung village hamlet called Yakkure, it follows the southern bound-
there is more evidence than in any other region which pushes back
ary of the _Handapan Vila--once a vast ricefield vitalized by the
the story to the remote past. Here, in a stretch of country which
waters which c~me down this channel, but now rendered a great
swampy_ lake, filled by the kotaliyas or back-waters which the even today is often referred to as the Vedi Rata (country of the
Mahaveh-ganga throws up in flood-time. Veddas), one may look into the abyss of Time anterior even to the
At its 18th mile, the Gomati Ela sweeps eastward, skirting the picturesque period of remote migrations to Ceylon, and far beyond
~1,orthe~n '.ace of that rocky mass of hill we call Gunner's Quoin. that when intrepid voyagers came in frail craft from the adjacent
I here 1s little rc.ason to doubt the validity of village tradition which subcontinent and took sanctuary in the upper river valleys of the dry
s11y,grsts that this old channel continued further, in a north-easterly zone. Consequently, it is here one can mentally view the
d11rr11011, hut 11 has not hcen surveyed. aboriginal Veddas-to whom, perhaps, Ceylon's earliest past does
In thr ,wa111py tracts of the Egoda Pattu of the Tamankaduva rightly belong.
I >111trn,;t wlw.:h arc covered with the long "ramba" grass, three to 71
70
 ,; \ALl.n OF THE KA.LA OYA

., !'()(gul Vi11ara --standing figure.

King or S:igc'

VIII

THE VALLEY OF THE KALA OYA

About six miles from Kekirawa on the northern trunk-road, in

the Valley of the Kala Oya-the Gona river of the Mahavamsa-
there lie the magnificent twin lakes, Kalawewa and Balaluwewa.
Some authorities suggest that they are the Lake Megisba, which
Pliny featured in the first century, in describing the island which he
named Taprobane. The impressions these age-old works have to
offer are vivid tribute to ancient ingenuity, and modem enterprise.
The raising of the spill of Kalawewa, 15 years ago, has restored
these features to pristine form and capacity. At times, the waters 6. Railway r>ridge spanning the Mahavdi-
ganga near Kalinga Nuwara (when
top the spit ofland which separates it from Balaluwewa. And should under construction)
you be fortunate to see the lake spilling in riotous abandon when it is
surcharged by the rains, you will be seeing this ancient engineering
achievement in its fullest splendour. At such times the impounded
water submerges 6400 acres. Although in measure of capacity the
Kala-Balaluwewa gives precedence to the "Sea of Parakrama" at
Polonnaruva, it long held pride of place as the largest sheet of water
artificially impounded in Cey Ion. In 1952, it was eclipsed by the .,
Senanayake Samudra in the Valley of the Gal Oya, which is four
times larger.
Tradition, with a wealth of picturesque details, unfolds the
legendary incidents which led to the discovery of the site of the
Kalawewa. Apparently, in that dim past when legends were in the
making, there was a citizen of Anuradhapura named Kadavara. His
wife so disgraced him that he retired in disgust into the jungles
far away, and lived in peace apd quiet among the deer and other 7. Modem Sluice of
animals of the wilds. Twelve years !ater, a Vedda hunter, whose the Kabwnva
duty it was to supply venison to the royal household, brought to the
king's notice that he suspected the exile from the city was allured
by a rich treasure over which he was keeping guard.
72
 SEEING CEYLON THE VALLEY OF THE KALA OYA

The king was roused by this reference to rich treasure. t.Ie went Kalawewaand Balaluwewa. He keeps a register and, using a golden
in person to the spot, 25 miles south-south-east of the city, and stylus, writes vengeance against those who will deny him
had the man captured and brought before him. Kadavara, when overlordship.
questioned, replied that the only treasure he kn~w of was a st~etch Apparently, the natural tank in the forest which Kadavara
of water, many miles across, which was held ~p ma sun~en plam by discovered and the king artificially enlarged, was on the right bank
Kala creepers which choked its usual exit. !he kmg was so of the Kala Oya, while Balaluwewa lay off the left bank of the
impressed by the obvious suitability of the site for a permanent river. There was a corridor of perhaps half a mile between the two
reservoir, that he constructed the Kala lake. . tanks, along which the river flowed.
When the great reservoir was completed, he appointed the In order to make his country more self-sufficient in food supply,
jungle dweller, Kadavara, to be its guardian: Cour~ jealousy and envy another King, Dhatusena, conceived the idea in the 5th century
led to accusations of disloyalty and negligence, but they had no of forming a large lake by throwing the two tanks into one. He
influence on the king who knew that Kadavara was devoted to the trammelled the river by a stupendous spill of hammered granite,
lake. One day, after very heavy rains, the embankment sprang a excellently dressed and morticed at the crest, which afforded egress
leak which threatened to become a breach if not stopped early. for spates; and bunded the intervening low land between Kalawewa
Unable to find other means to choke the opening, Kadavara threw and Balaluwewa. He moreover led the water from this large lake
himself into the gap and stopped it with his body. He was drowned along a yoda-ela, or giant canal, 40 feet wide, over a distance of 54
in the attempt, but, for his meritorious act of devotion, was reborn as miles, to Anuradhapura.
Kadavara Deviyo, the guardian deity of Kalawewa. it verily baffles understanding how a canal of this magnitude
And if you would understand how generations ~f men have could have been planned and constructed over such difficult
concentrated on this story of the past, there are the rums of a fane terrain, nearly 1500 years ago. In the first se\'.enteen miles it
to Kadavara deviyo on the old spill, and the evidence of the giant meanders over country which permitted a gradient of no more than
creeper, the Derris scandens, to be seen in t~is district. It climbs up six inches per-mile. Thereafter, it is led in deep cuttings across
thickly, to the summit of big trees, and displays huge masses_ of saddles between watersheds. Having fallen into decay, it was
white flowers uplifted to the sun, and an abundance of beans which restored 700 years later by Parakramabahu the Great, who named
scatter seed on the earth. - it Jaya Ganga.
There are, however, yet other claims to the guardianship of these But apart from these ingenious memorials of ancient
waters. Thousands of years ago, before all the gods were born, the engineering which King Dhatusena caused to be constructed in the
goddess Pattini, when about to bathe, put away upon her robe a valley of the Kala Oya, he added yet another link to them, which
flower of the Sapu tree. Emerging from the water, she saw a b~y, contributed to placing 180 square miles of irrigable land, and over
whose skin was golden, dancing on the Sapu flower. She named him 100 subsidiary village tanks, within the pale of a perfect irrigation
Ilandari-deviyo, and on request gave him her menik-halamba, or scheme.
gem-anklet. In those times, as it is even so today, the Kala-Balaluwewa, and
The favoured lad grew up to be a powerful demon, master of the numerous small tanks filled by the Jaya Ganga, were exposed to
white cattle which he destroys with leopards; lord of wild buff~oe~, the ills of drought cycles, and the vagaries of the monsoon. The risk,
which he binds, carrying a noose in his right hand, and a club m his in not having sufficient water to guard against emergencies, must
left; conqueror of elephants, using a stone mace to toss the":1 about. have been then-as it is now-imminent and incessant. And yet,
He is said to keep watch over several places, notably the twm tanks strangely, on the further side of the Matale hills, two monsoons served
74 75
 THE VALLEY OF THE KALA OYA
SEEING CEYLON

to ensure to those regions a plentiful supply of rain. A part of the bund which has carried away, rested on a foundation of
tradition, old in story, told how the ancient engineers had tapped this natural rock and was insecurely fixed to it.
additional source of supply, but the truth of it had never been The smallness of the cost, as compared with the greatness of
satisfactorily solv~d. the benefits to be derived by restoring this ancient work which
Recent surveys to investigate the feasibility of impounding the would bring irrigation to so vast a tract of country, was pressed on
waters of the Nalanda-oya proved beyond doubt that traditions, how- the British colonial government for half a century after it was
ever flimsy, are more often than not the corner-stones of discovered. Major Skinner, who was Civil Engineer and Surveyor-
history. Traces of an old bund, and an "Earth-Cut" afforded General in the early eighteen thirties, writes that he "would fain
irrefutable evidence that the water of the eastern catchment was have had Governor Wilmot Horton attempt the restoration, but there
actually dropped, at some remote period, into the western water- was neither money nor local population to encourage the effort."
shed, thus augmenting the supply which drained naturally into the On a spit of high land, the only remnant left to mark the line of
Kala-Balaluwewa. division between Kalawewa and Balaluwewa, there Stands an
Dhatusena had just cause to be proud of these works. But his obelisk which tells how this magnificent work, this monument of
reign ended on a sad and deplorable note of great tragedy. His son real kings, deserted and in ruin for many centuries, was restored to
Kasyapa, who had usurped the throne and entrenched himself in some measure of its former utility in 1898, when Sir Arthur Gordoo
Sigiriya, endeavoured to glean from his father where he had hidden was Governor of the Island. Behind it lies a story of appalling
all his treasures. Dhatusena asked to be taken to Kala-Balaluwewa, difficulties running to a period of three years: intense droughts
and pointing a finger to his handiwork declared: "There are my only
followed by heavy floods, insufficient labour supply and sickness,
treasures." Enraged by this reply, Kasyapa ordered that his father
breakdowns in transport of material and provisions.
be stripped naked, bound in chains, and fettered to a niche. The
You will indeed be richly rewarded if, having the necessary leave
niche was later closed up with clay. There are some who say
from the Irrigation Department, you spend a night in the delightfully
Dhatusena was entombed in the embankment of the lake he loved
situated circuit bungalow sited on the dividing spit and overlooking
so well.
The earliest inspection of this feature when it lay languorous and the two lakes. When the sun has set, and the twilight has given way
mantled by forest was in 1898, by Major Forbes and George Turnur to darkness tremulous with starlight and when the gentle breezes
of Mahavamsa fame. They climbed through jungle up the splash the water against the edge of the embankment, or the wind
embankment which their guides put down as being five miles long. playing on the rushes murmurs in soft liquid notes, the rustic
They looked with bewilderment on the mass of solid stones traditionalist will tell you, in whispers, this story of Namal Kumara
which was the spillway of old. Adjoining the spill they came upon a and his bride.
gaping chasm l OOO feet wide, which told too plainly how the When Namal Kumara was born, he was as beautiful as an
impounded waters had broken bounds, and destroyed the reservoir. image of gold; who could have told that he was pre-destined to
The engineers who followed Forbes and Tumour disclosed that grow up to be a dreaded demon! Accompanied by three other
the bund showed indication of having breached at this very point demons, Avatara Devata, Sapumal Devata, and Minimaruyakka, he
twice, if not three times, earlier. Much might be said, and more came from India to Ceylon and was protected by the other gods, but
guessed, whether this was caused by heavy flood and insufficiency was a destructive scourge. It is he who brings famine to a land, and
of spill-way, or by the malevolence of hostile invaders, or in the in the face of devastation and disease which oppress a wasted
course of internal strife. Experts hold to the first supposition as the popula!ion, rides triumphantly, on a white buffalo, beholding the
76 77
 SEEING CEYLON
THE VALLEY OF THE KALA OYA

result of his handiwork. When angered, he takes his revenge on battle between two aspirants to the throne-Jetthatissa and
entire villages, twisting the necks of people and drinking their bl~od. Agrabodhi III; and in the twelfth century ( 1160), one of the famous
One day, while passing the Kalawewa tank, he saw a beautiful generals of Parakrama the Great fought hard at Kalavapi-gama,
maiden bathing in its waters and fell in love with her. Since he could where Gajabahu's commander was stationed, to force a passage
not marry a human, he bewitched her, so that she pined in love and across the Kala Oya. In the hands of a good guide, you may yet
died. He then married her in the spirit-world. explore the site, ai:id reconstruct, in the mind's eye, a stone bridge
Occasionally, they revisit the scene of their first meeting. which was erected on this occasion, so long ago, to span the river-
They bathe in the lake, splashing water, and laughing softly in the which in the times I write of, fed by springs in primeval mountain
happiness of their mutual love. forests, must indeed have been a great hazard to get across.
To be up early enough to see the purple grey of night fade, and There are however more impressive links with history here, much
the water-spread of Kala and Balaluwewa take shape in the first older in story, left by powerful creative geniuses of that age. It is by
pale glow of day, is to capture the ecstasy of watching a world way of a short motor-drive of a mile and a half from the bund of
change from moment to moment in fantasies of form and colour. As Kalawewa, that you arrive at Avukana Vihara where there is a
the light insensibly increases after the first hint of the sun's glow, show-piece of man-wrought beauty carved from a Jiving rock-
one by one the low wooded hills materialize, first disclaimin~ as it which to my mind is one of Ceylon's most appealing art treasures.
w"ere contact with the sombre stretch of plain, but.later mergmg to There, on the eastern _face of a large boulder, cut in almost full
form an unforgettable picture. . round there stands an aweinspiring and impressive Buddha in the
As the time-smoothed rocks crowning the summit of Ritigala on attitude of blessing (asiva mudra).
the north-east skyline and the scattered outcrops of other distant I first set eyes on this soaring apparition when exploring
folds of land become visible, the nocturnal sounds are gradually the vicinity for a suitable hill-top in order to establisn a survey
drowned in clear melodious notes. The early birds with majestic trigonometrical station. That was several years before the forests
cadence begin to sound their joyful reveille. which had mantled the old extensive rice-fields below Kalawewa
Very soon all is babel. Gurgling sounds and discordant had surrendered the territory they had conquered to the inodern
shrieks pierce the crisp, clean-smelling morning air. The feathered pioneer-dry zone colonists. The railway train to Trincoinalee-which
inhabitants of this sylvan abode have awakened to greet the day. today rumbles as it puffs its way through a colonnade of forest
The sun bursts from behind the shelter of purple cloud, and you look which still rings this sylvan shrine, was not thought of at that time.
upo~ the glory of space and light. The babel of bird~calls_ little .b~ We were cutting our way through devious aisles, when lo! we came
little subsides in volume. Soon the freshness you noticed m the air upon this rocky site and this towering lithic representation of the
seems as it were disintegrating in the heat from the risen sun, which human form, In the wondrous hush which a jungle alone can help to
puts the dust cooled by nigl)t dews into motion. The world is awake, create, I stood bereft of my powers of articulation and swept to
and one turns to the turmQil of another day. rapture by what I beheld. Nor is that all-I felt an insignificant pygmy
If you are disposed to probe more into the past, ~ou will so~n in its presence, and humbled. Yet, grasping hold of the tail-end of
find that Kalavapi-rattha-as the country surrounding these twm my reason there gradually seeped into my mind enough clarity to
man-made lakes was called in the ancient chronicles -is drenched perceive the still, unmoving features and expression on the face of
with history. From very early times it was the locale of struggles for the statue, the idea of majestic compassion it conveyed, the
powl'I between rival princes who strove to secure ascendanc~ over

,.
emotional poise and the mellow beauty with which the sculptor
tha lt.11111Jum. 111 At> 624, a field nearby was the scene of a pitched had draped it.
79
 THE VALLEY OF THE KALA OYA

Very truly, only a great master mind could have conceived such
a superlative setting for this symbol of piety. Only a master sculptor
could have transmuted ugly stone into the lovely shape and detail
which had outlasted the monsoon rains that lashed it for perhaps
twenty centuries, the thunder that had rolled over the dense forests
which enveloped it for six hundred years, the lightning which has
pierced the darkness around it with sudden gleam, and above all,
had abased the ruthless invader who came regularly in tidal waves
over cycles of intervening years, to hold back his hand.
Which king of old, moved by piety, inspired this statue as a status
symbol-none may tell. The ancient name of the site is nowhere
recorded, but tradition calls the temple and its appurtenances
Magampeka Estana. There are a few caves near by with
inscriptions, and a very worn lithic record ~n flat rock by an old
"Kema" (rock cistern) since restored, which supplies water needed
by the temple folk and pilgrims. According to Dr. C. W. Nicholas,
the slab inscription attests that the institution existed in the first
century. Maybe this image of the great Teacher has therefore stood
there, looking towards the East for nearly 1400 years before the
forest threw its mantle around it. When the intervening jungle was
cultivated in paddy it must have been plainly visible from the bund of
Dhatusena's lake which found its place on the landscape about four
or five centuries later.
It was not until I read the descriptions by Bell and Burrows; that
_I gleaned some idea of the dimensions of this image: from the tip
of the siraspotha (nimbus) over the head, to the bottom of the
pedestal on which it stands, is 46 feet 4 inches. The pedestal is 3
feet 10 inches high and the siraspotha 3 feet 8 inches. This flame-
like symbol emanating from the head of the Buddha is also referred
to as Ushnisha, and as Ketumale. It is regarded as a development
peculiar to Ceylon cuit1,1re, and is very rare in the early images
extant. The stiltue is slightly joined to the rock behind it by a narrow
strip at the back. Every detail of the robe and limbs is fresh and
8 The Avukana Budda Stati1e
accurate although chiselled so many centuries ago. The presence
of grooves and mortises indicates that at one time there must have
been some structure in which the image was enshrined. There is
" however no trace of such today but for a moulded basement and
81
 SEEING CEYLON THE VALLEY OF THE KALA OYA

panelled wall-all in stone. Bell refers ~o a well-c_arved ~aga-ga~a And here indeed today, is an archaeologists' and epigraphists'
(fivehooded cobra) and a circular offenng slab with a sri-patula m paradise. In the caves, and on the rocks, are numerous inscriptions.
the centre, as noteworthy features found on this spot. Bell, who spent a fortnight exploring the site seventy years agd,
It was my good fortune a couple of years later to drop on an brought to notice over twenty-five of them, including a long rock-
epilogue which rounds off this memorable visit to Avukana a~d record. One of the inscriptions seems to be connected with a
the impressions it left on my mind. It so happened,_that I one~ a~am princess-possibly the daughter of King Vattagamani Abhaya (89-
found myself a habitul in the jungles overlapping the D1stncts 77 B.C.)- ho was married to a chieftain (parumaka). Possibly
of Anll,fadhapur.a and Kurunegala. I was still scram~lin_g up when this King was in exile and hiding in this mountain cave, some
hilltops to secure the necessary observations for estabhshmg a aid he received from the chieftain's family was commemorated by
trigonometrical net. the old writing.
That was how I first found myself at Sasserukanda-a long, The caves on the eastern side are exceptionally spaciou~, and
isolated foot-hill range, running north and south, and ending in a overlook the valley of the Kala Oya. Ten degrees north of due
cluster of boulders called Kudakanda. The main hill, called east, and about 7 miles distant as th~ crow flies, the eye picks up
Mahakanda rises out of a plane 400 feet in elevation, to l, 146 feet in the curly haze of distance the boulder-strewn Avukana \rihara.
at its highes~ point. We pitched camp at the foot of thi~ hill, and for Standing at the entrance of one of these caves one can feel
some days while cloud, shimmer and haz~ played ~t h~de-and-seek the throb of a different existence, breathing in a wonderful
with the flag-poles erected on distant hill-tops w1thm my net of peacefulness. The vista unfolded to the gaze is intensely
observation, I took the opportunity of exploring its jungle-clad slopes. picturesque. Here the thousands of peasants-creamy
It did not take me long to discover that here indeed was ~ past -complexioned, lithe-bodied men, clad in loin-cloths-tilled the fields,
which still lived languorously in writings on bleached and hchen and their women tended their homes, looked after the children and
covered stone dating to the first century; in mouldy caves where the cattle. In days of yore when the jungle was not, one possibly
saintly monk or hermit had lived and kings took refuge: in temples might: have heard a mingling of many sounds carrying from the
which nestled under huge boulders enveloped in an atmosphere_ of valley, and the Indo-Aryan villages which were built on high ground
decay and dust; in the court-yards to those temple~ which occup!e~ below the life-giving waters conserved behind earth-bunds. The
the lower slopes of the hill littered at the time of my ~1s1t buildings the common man lived in were of baked mud, with roofs
with antique stone steps, "vase-pattern" guardstones, and umque of straw obtained after threshing the paddy (rice), their staple food.
moonstones carved with bands of different animal~lephants, dogs, From here came the thronging crowds which built this historic
horses, lions, rams and bulls. institution, and filled the temple courtyards on festival days, who
All this and more tend to show that Sasseruwa must have been brought sustenance in food and kind to the priesthood, and did
a large pre~Christian 'cave-monastery-even larger than Mihintale service for a small and aristocratic ruling class.
and Ritigala ever were. Practically every cluste~ of boulders on the All this however, is imagination; this might have been, or was,
slopes of the hills-west, south and east-contams groups of caves 2000 years ago. The basic component in the panorama as seen
which must anciently have furnished liberal shelter to a numerous today is jungle-a sea of foliage wreathed here and there in shadow
fraternity of wanawasa hermits, Before it came t~ be an ant-~eap cast by the clouds floating under a bright sun. There are scattered
of concentrated piety and learning, the sweat, toll and combmed oases of sharper green under the few irrigation "tanks" which had
labour of generations must have been expended in carrying through either survived the cataclysm which followed when the population
1he stone-work in evidence alone. left the plains and moved to the hills in the 12th century, or had more
83
 THE VA.I.LEY OJ:' THE KALA OYA
SEEING CEYLON

rec~ntly been restored. These water-spreads sparkle like sheets of

glass in the shimmering heat.
Howbeit, the factor of greatest interest to me at this sacred site
was a gigantic image of the Buddha-veritably a twin of the Avukana
image-which the hands of sculpturs had shaped at the base of the
towering southern cliff of Mahakanda. Unlike its twin, this image
had been wrought in sunk relief and united to the scrap wall of rock
at the back of it; but like its twin, the Buddha is posed in the act of
blessing-the right hand with open palm raised, the left bent and
clutching the sivura or robe. This image, measured from head to
foot, is 39 feet 3 inches and differs by being 5 inches higher than the
one at Avukana.

Comparative dimensions:
Head Right forearm hand foot Pedestal
7' 4"
Sasseruwa - 12' 2" 4'8" 7' 4" 16 feet by 2 feet
Avukana - 6' 6" ll' 8" 5' 6' 10" 3' l O" height, &
15' 2" diam:

Head to foot Sasseruwa 39' 3"

Head to-foot Avukana 38' 10" Siraspotha: 3' 8"

One can hardly expect so remarkable a coincidence to pass

unnoticed in Ceylon, where wondrous legends and traditions have
been woven on fabric of gossamer fineness. I gleaned the following
story from a gamarala (aged seer) in a neighbouring village. It had
doubtless come down to him on the stream of Time-having passed
by word of mouth from generation to generation, and was perhaps
told during the long hours of darkness to while away a weary vigil,
when two or maybe three villagers sat in scantily protected watch-
huts guarding their crops from the inroads of elephants, buffalo or
boar. Thus do traditions live:
"Eka mat eka ..." (once upon a time), when the warrior King
Dutugemunu was marching his army against the fortress of Elara
(in the 2nd century B.C.) who had made Vijitapura his stronghold, 9. The Sasseruwa Buddha Statue
news was brought to him when he reached Sasseruwa that heavy
rains had caused the fords on the Kala Oya to be impassable. To
while away the irksomeness caused by the delay, and rather than

K4 85
 SEEING CEYLON

see his great army spending time indolently, the King commanded
them to work on devious projects. To the stone-masons, builders
and sculptors in his retime, he committed the task of producing a
larger than ever statue of the Buddha on the southern escarpment
of the mountain. IX
Before their work could be trimmed, polished and finished, news
came through that the floods in the river were subsiding. The King,
though greatly disappointed that the sacred image, was left in an GIANT'S TANK AND AKATTIMURAIPPU
unfinished state, but anxious to get to grips with the enemy, hur:-
riedly continued his march. The trunk road trailing northwards from Anuradhapura keeps to
When the King reached the river-bank, he found the river, much a low, gently un~ulating central ridge, a spine to the vast flat plain
to his annoyance, once again in spate and unfordable. Annoyed by which tamely falls both eastwards and westwards to meet the sea.
these interruptions and with his earlier disappointment over the Except for the short periods when violent cyclonic rainstorms sweep
Sasseruwa image still in mind, he turned to one of his Chieftains and over, in the north-east monsoon from the Bay of Bengal, this jungle-
ordered that an identical image should be chiselled from one of the clad countryside lies languorous and still under breathless heat and
boulder-rocks on a hump of hill off the left bank of the river. brazen sky. The earth baked into cast iron by continuous droughts,
There you have the legend to account for the magnificent statue gives off odour of burnt brick, and retains all the impressions made
at Avukana, which stands boldly forward-assertive and awe-in- in its softer state by wild animals or droves of cattle or the human
spiring, its features, members and robe beautifully worked out of foot.
the crude rock, given an expression not wanting in placid dignity; And yet, this 2000 square mile tract of country, under the
and connoting why the twin at Sasseruwa standing on its unfinished
beneficent rule of the Sinhalese kings of the Greater Dynasty
pedestal is rendered in rougher details of carving unfavourable in
consisted of thriving settlements complete with gardens and
comparison. Perhaps the unfortunate position of the latter, and the
fact that it has been cut in sunk relief, causes it to appear dwarfed extensive lush paddy fields, yielding abundant harvests of food. The
and diminished in height by the towering dull-grey cliff in the back- ruins of thousands of small tanks which litter the countryside in
ground. But it has also lost much by being weathered badly in places, various stages of preservation and decay, strike the imagination
\\'.,hich has brought about the unconsciously distrait look it wears. today in silent witness to the achievement of a people 'Yho were
I would fain rob the age-old legend of its charm. Surely no war- able to successfully undertake the construction of these economic
like enviromp.ent could have produced these two images. None other works, and attain high degree of opulence.
than an atmosphere of peace could have nerved the sensitive hands Constant inroads by warring invaders into this area in particular
which compassed these statues, more especially the Avukana weakened the power of the people to resist alien pressure. They
achievement of consummate art, and invested these forms with the were thus forced to abandon their peaceful occupations, and
benediction they bestow. gradually withdrew, leaving the country to a hostile neighbour.
Nature soon joined hands to render the land-untenable, and spread
desolation when the communal organizations which kept the lakes
in working order were disrupted.
This prosperous region of north-central Ceylon thus became
an abandoned waste, at the mercy of roving lawless bands whose
contempt for established law earned for the di~trict the name:
116
87
 SEEING CEYLON GIANT'S TANK AND AKATTIMURAIPPU

Ad-anka-pattu, meaning "the land of the rebels". It eventually came built by any one of the kings who reigned over the Island.
to be peopled by a clan from India known as the Vanniyas, to which Unfortunately for tradition, the designs of Giant's tank and
circumstances we owe its present name Vanni . Akattimuraippu show them to be a class of shallow reservoir, fed by
Of the many reservoirs built by man in the Vanni, there are two channels from a river anicut miles away, which were never
interesting works lying off the western seaboard, in the Mannar constructed before the 10th century A.O. But search as you
plains, which are worthy of rank among the scenic lakes of Ceylon. will, you will find no mention made in the Mahavamsa of the
You will find them named Giant's tank and Akattimuraippu on the construction of these useful and comprehensive projects which
maps. They are sited, as you notice, on the right and left bank deviated from the accepted practice of throwing embankments across
respectively of the Malwatu Oya, which in the Mannar District has the flow of rivers or streams.
taken on a new name: Arivu Aru. When they captured Jaffna and Mannar, the Dutch gained
Both the lakes mentioned impress any visitor with the idea that territorial sway over this part of Ceylon. They found traces of bund
they are wonderful monuments to the struggle which has gone on and channel hidden by scrub and jungle, and were told by the local
from time immemorial, between Nature and man, in these sultry people that the work on the right bank of the river was known as
plains. But perhaps; their stronger appeal is the great contrast they Sodayan Kattu Kerai meaning "the giant-built embankment."
present to a person whose mind is jaded by hours of travel, in Tradition made the story even more graphic by adding that it was
attempting to reach them through a country where physical the work of men 40 feet in height! Humouring these garbled
features are particularly barren, and peninsular. But suppose we traditions, the Dutch named the ancient work Reusen-tanke. The
look back a bit. The long story of the human occupation of the British perpetuated the legend by translating the Dutch into English
Island shows us that centuries before Vijaya and his vanguard of -hence the name: Giant's tank.
Aryan colonists reached Ceylon's shores, the coastal region off But the Dutch did more than merely lend assistance in naming
Mannar was a great commercial emporium. It drew the ships of the this derelict feature. They spotlighted Giant's tank in history by
intrepid Phoenicians from the Red Sea, long before their experi- making comprehensive surveys, and by disclosing the strangest part
enced seamen piloted the fleets of Solomon in search of the luxuries about this project, namely that it had only been partly constructed.
of the East. The lure was the precious pearl which the adjacent That doubtless is the reason why it carried no ancient name-but
shallow seas produced, ebony, ivory, peacocks and apes. how came it to be abandoned unfinished? History tells us that an
This advent which the mind may picture in an almost unparalleled Indian prince, Magha by name, invaded the northern limits of the
kaleidoscopic procession of mariners and merchants, adventurers Island, in the 12th century. The Mahavamsa recounts that "these
and thieves, implies the existence of a settled population, and an Tamil giants, like unto the giants of Mara the wicked destructor of
organization by which the naked land, parched to the extreme, was. the peace of mankind, stalked about the land hither and thither,
converted to produce food. ravaging and spreading desolation throughout the kingdom even as
This is how it came to be said that Mantota, the ancient port of a wild. fire doth a forest."
Ceylon where these rendezvoused in times of antiquity, was a town What can be more likely than that the men working on the giant
surrounded "by many tanks of cool waters" and that it was a great embankment, and the feeder channel leading to it, were suddenly
garden. Tradition, carrying on the tale, hands down a belief that withdrawn, and never returned to complete the work they had started.
Giant's tank is the most ancient reservoir extant in Ceylon, so Subsequently came the movement from the plains to the central
ancient, that it is not mentioned in the Chronicles as having been hills, which permitted this region to be submerged in a merciless,

88 89
 GIANT'S TANK AND AKATTIMURAIPPU
SEEING CEYLON

extinct; of a population equal to that of London or Paris once swarming

immobile sea of stubby forest, stunted acacia, and buffalo-thorn.
about this desolate spot without a tradition or a monument--except
For some reason-which is anybody's guess-it was mooted in
this incomplete work, to mark its existence, or to record its decay."
early British times that this old Sinhalese scheme was an abortive
But there is a lighter side to Governor Ward's visit which merits
enterprise, and an utter waste of labour. Investigation showed tiiat
notice, for it pictures to us the wildness of the country at that time,
the bed of the channel designed to convey water from the river to
and tells how it was possible for even a Governor attended by picked
the reservoir was higher by 40 feet in the middle section than it was
guides and his heads of Staff, to lose his way. Rather than tell you
at the two ends. Much was therefore said at the rime of "how the
the- story in my words, suppose you imagine for the moment that
ancient engineers had tried to make water flow up hill" and of how
you are listening to the adventure related to you first-hand:
"the Sinhalese historians, disheartened by the failure of the attempts,
"At Madawatchy, we turned due west and exchanged the forest
appeared to have-made no record of the persons or the period when
the works were undertaken." for a low scrubby jungle. The track was cleared of elephants and
Nevertheless it was a British Governor himself who pricked that other game owing to a succession of cooly halting places and fires
bubble. On a visit of inspection, Sir Henry Ward detected "with the for-cooking, and the stream of humanity trekking their way to the
naked eye" rat the work had been started at the two ends of the estates. Nevertheless, a leopard still remains, who is said to attack
channel, and had been abandoned before the central section was men occasionally. He certainly shows little fear of them for he
c~t ~own. The hasty condemnation of the ancient engineer was wounded and carried away one of our sheep ...and was beaten off
dismissed, after further investigation, as merely ,"an exposure of with difficulty. Of course, nobody had a gun loaded !
our own gross ignorance." "After thoroughly examining the tekkam at Arlon Kulam, we
The partly constructed anicut, which is called a tekkam in these attempted to reach a smaller dam, the guide procured by Mr. Twynam
parts of the Island, would appear to have made a great impression having lost his way, and after scrambling for near an hour, partly in
on Governor Ward when he visited this unique project and saw it the bed of the river up to our waists in water, and partly upon it,
under a mantle of jungle-just under I 00 years ago. In his minute banks which are a perfect net-work of roots, darkness overtook us
he ~~scribe? it as a marvellous work "worthy of the popular The Chu/us, like ourselves, had gone astray and we had every
traditlo~ which ascribed to the hands of giants the hewing out, and prospect at one time, of passing the night where we were, for it was
conveymg to the spot, of the enormous masses of stone that impossible without lights to retrace our steps. The Government Agent
compose the lower portion of the anicut." A special feature in the of the Province, Mr. Twynam, made matters worse, by leaving us to
construction was the free use of rubble hearting set in concrete of seek a path through the jungle. Mr. Flanderka, his assistant, and the
excellent quality which was alone evidence that the work had not two peons, knew no more of the country than I did! And although
been undertaken earlier than the 12th century. the Chulu bearers at last came up, we lost our way so efficiently,
A torrent was unmistakably demonstrating itself at the time of and described so many circles in attempting to reach the camp, that
the Governor's visit, with proof of its resistless power-hurling in it was a great relief to all concerned when we heard the shouts of a
wil~est_confusion enormous stones and trunks together of large trees party sent in search of us. The river abounds in alligators. The
which it had carried down from the upper reaches, and scattered jungles looked a likely haunt of bears, and as genei'ally happens in
aro~nd the anic_tit. It must indeed have presented an imposing sight, such cases-nobody had taken the precaution to bring a gun. It all
for it called up m Sir Henry's mind strange thoughts associating the ended however, by the usual meeting at the dinner table: and we
work with "Empires and civilizations, Science and Commerce ... long then found out our mistake in trying to reach the second dam from

90 91
 SEEING CEYLON

the first without returning into the Mannar road."

No artificial lake in Ceylon has been more exhaustively
examined and reported on than the Giant's tank. The layout on ground
by the old time Sinhalese engineers was eventually modified and
construction was completed in 1872. The tekka~ at Periya-arnal-
kulam, off the 27th mile on the road from Mannar to Madawachchi X
'
built for the purpose of turning the waters of the Arivu Aru from
their natural course into the channel
.
which feeds the Giant's tank ' KANTALAI LAKE
is an imposing sight which richly deserves your notice. It is
conveniently visited from a wayside jungle Rest House where you Brief reference was made earlier to that great ancient water-
can untanglethe story how Governor Ward came to lose his way in ~ay, the Elahera Canal. It drew water at the intake from the A~ban
the jungle. Ganga, in the Matale foot-hills, and replenished Minneriya Lake.
The embankment of Giant's tank, 5 1/2 miles long; lies off the Thereafter, continuing many miles northwards and eastwards, it
road nearer Mannar. It curves inwards at its two ends to form a spread Nature's bounty over scorched and thirsty plains, besides
basin for the water it impounds in a shallow valley. It is 17 feet supplying water to two other large storage reservoirs: Kaudullawewa
lower than the ancient layout intended it to be. The sections and Kantalai.
already built in ancient times to that height were discarded. Kantalai Lake, that other interesting monument in the Elahera
The water which murmurs as it fJ.ows calmly down the channels Canal link, independent of its cheerful and refreshing appearance in
from Giant's tank feed 122 small tanks, which have doubtless a wooded country and warm climate, has an entirely different wealth
existed from pre-recorded times. The waving green fields below of claim to interest and admiration. The trunk road from both
them soothe the mind, inasmuch as the liquid contents of the tanks Colombo and Kandy-a few miles short of Trincomalee-lies along
in this dry and arid region make an extraordinary appeal to the eye. its embankment. As you swing round a bend, and run the motor-car
But the picture of these lakes and the countryside is seen at its up a short incline, the lake makes a sudden appearance, combining
best from the bund of the Giant's tank, off the 11th mile on the road. life, light and enchantment in kaleidoscopic flashes, which flicker
You must see it just before sunset, .in order to catch the effects of past like the pages of a book, as the car keeps running and
light and shadow playing on otherwise not particularly beautiful overtakes the trees standing out at intervals on the water-slope of
objects. The sun is directly opposite-just high enough to allow a the bund. Hence, situated as Kantalai is on.an arterial road, it may
well be that this singular agreeable sheet o_f water, which so
flood of yellow light to trickle over th'e top of the low jungle, on to
unexpectedly reveals itself, has afforded a shock of delight to
the bund, intensifying the vivid green of the wai trees and cacti,
more tourists and local travellers alike than any other Ceylon
and bathing their gnarled trunks and branches in liquid gold. Should
you moreover catch this picture with a dense purple rain-cloud in dry-zone lake.
Many legends have been told of Kantalai Lake. One woven long
the east, arched by a double rainbow, as some persons have seen it,
before the story of Vijaya's landing in Lanka was inspired, tells that
you will indeed carry away an impression of the beauty of Giant's
in the 512th year of the Kali era (corresponding to 2500 B.C.),
tank which the best artist would only spoil.
a king of the Dekkan, in order to avert an impending disaster,
committed his infant daughter to the perils of the open sea in.an ark
of sandalwood. Driven by wind, and carried by tide, the ark was
eventually cast ashore south of Trincomalee. The spot is still known
92
93
 SEEING CEYLON KANTALAI LAKE

as Pannoa (Pan-noa) meaning "smiling infant". The princess was talai!" (uncle! my head!) she screamed. But her uncle stood
picked up, and adopted by a local ruler, and succeeded to his resolute and silent, urging on the workmen, who frantically doubled
dominion. their efforts. Very soon, they hid the maiden from view, for ever.
In time, a Hindu prince, inspired by a vision, repaired to Ceylon This, they say, is how the lake came to be Kan-talai, and why a
and started to erect a temple on the promontory off Trincomalee, portion of its mighty embankment goes by the name: "Woman's
which we call Swamy Rock. The princess, hearing of this, sent a Bund". Nevertheless greater imagination lies enmeshed in the
Captain with her guard, to expel him-but later, falling back on a sequel to this legend which tradition jealously maintains is true. The
feminine prerogative, changed her mind, and accepted the prince as demon, unsatisfied by the sacrifice which was offered to him, has, it
her consort. She endowed the Temple of a Thousand Coluinns, which is told, ever since claimed a human life every year! A mysterious
her husband completed, and vandals in time destroyed, with vast arm sudden{ y appears, and drags its victim under the surface of the
fields extending to Tambalagam. She ordered that Kantalai Lake be water-in vengeance, tradition says, against mankind who sought
built to hold up Nature's bounty which normally would have.nm to to stem a flowing river.
the sea, in order to irrigate those fields. And, as we ponder, while So while you wonder in the gloomy shade produced by the
trying to visualize the conditions which placed such a gigantic branches of overhanging trees, along the edge of this lovely
embankment within the sphere of the possible in that dim distant meeting-place of water, sky and land, it is well, in moments of
past, another entrancing legend interposes itself. introspection, to remember what tragedy lies veiled by the
The Monatschain or Prefect--or more familiarly speaking, the Woman's Bund, and the peculiar beauty of the waters of Kantalai
Overseer responsible for piling earth to build the embankment-failed Lake.
time and again in his effort to close the breach. No sooner was the Other traditions, still very old in story, venture to force a claim
earth-work raised, than the hill-streams in spate would rush down that Kantalai was one of sixteen tanks built and gifted to temples
one particular gully and carry away the patient labour of thousands by that great tank-builder King Mahasena, in atonement for
of workmen. renouncing the religion of the Buddha, for persecuting its priests,
The soothsayer who was consulted declared that the recurring and overthrowing its temples, in his youth. The Mahavamsa gives
misfortune was caused by a demon who had not been sufficiently the ancient names of these tanks, in the building of which the King
propitiated before the construction of the embankment was taken in "gathered to himself much merit." But, by no stretch of licence can
hand. There seemed to be but one way open to appease his anger. any one name so mentioned be associated with Kantalai Lake. Who
A human sacrifice must be made, a virgin had to give her life to would not but feel glad that no substantial evidence has turned up to
satisfy the lust of this demon. tarnish the character of romance, and the mysterious antiquity,
And so, it happened that one evening when a sinking sun shed a endowed by the early legends which frame the lake's origin.
coppery glow, from a gold-and-red-streaked sky, and spread a Time was, when by the treaty of 1766 between the Dutch and a
subtle-coloured back-cloth of deep purple shadows for the low hills Sinhalese king, Kantalai Lake came within the purview of an alien
on the northern slope of the valley, the overseer who had no government. An engineer-Johan Fombauer, by name- caused
children of his own, enticed his niece to the ill-omened breach in the the lake and entire tract of surrounJing country to be mapped. He
embankment. Bidding her stand there, he ordered the workmen to submitted the plan, together with a report, to the Dutch Governor
q11iddy lhrnw in the earth. "Maman-kan!" (uncle! my eyes!) she van der Graffe. Both map and report are the earliest documents
11hu111rcl, p111t1t1){ up her arm to shield her eyes from the sand and
extant of this fascinating ancient irrigation project. They pay
1h111I, 1111d whr11 thr rurth had reached up to her shoulders "Maman-
95
 SEEING CEYLON KANTALAJ LAKE

eloquent tribute to the science and high topographical sense shown possibilities of the Kantalai-Vendarasan scheme. For several
by those engineers of old in planning for conservation of water, and ~ecades t~ereafter, forests continued to mantle the once productive
for putting it to the best economic use. nce-growmg lands in the valley of the Per Aru, which flowed
"The strong construction of the ancient conduits, the granite fro~ Kantalai Lake to the sea. Tambalagam--once an expanse of
facing of the bund they lie under, the tradition that the embankment moist-green paddy, which bent in ripples to the touch of gentle breezes,
and the conduits are the work of human hands, the extensive view grew to be a large shallow bay, from which people collect window-
across the lake, and the religious feelings of the people toward the pane oysters.
lake .... " were in themselves sufficient to foster the i,npression of I~ more recent_tim~s, surveyors have once again been actively
the vast area it was capable of irrigating. But this plan and report bearing through this wtldemess. Machine-cut distributary channels
did more. They brought to light yet another clever twist in the layout have brought many hundreds of acres back to their former
of the scheme. :-Vholesome state of productiveness. Landless peasants have moved
Spo't-levels on the ground disclosed that when Kantalai Lake m, _forced to the conviction that their salvation lies in organized
filled to a given height, the water over-topped a lip of rising ground, agr~cultural effort, and the production of crops which would afford
and found its way to another bunded hollow on the north-eastern a d1rect means of sustenance. And engineers, with an eye on the
side of the Kantalai Lake. This supplementary storage reservoir is needs of a future, f~c~ng the phenomenon of a population increasing
named on maps Vendarasan Kulam. by a quarter of a mtlhon persons every year, have restored a section
The bund of Vendarasan Kulam is in good repair, and still an- of the ancient feeder channel from Elahera, to raise the head of
. other surprise awaits the visitor who takes the turn off the main water, and enlarge the capacity of Kantalai Lake .
road to this lakelet, which has, in addition, been lovingly fashioned From the Rest House, which stands near the Trincomalee end of .
by Nature. The placid surface of the water is bespectacled with t~e bund, ~n land shored up and on the very edge of the lake, the
large round floating leaves of the lotus plants. In the flowering view over its expanse of water is unbroken. The marginal ground
season the entire scene is transformed, and fashioned rich in colour, ascends everywhere from its edge with a nearly equal degree of
the pinks and off-whites predominating. The opinion has been boldn~ss, and extends to dreamy ranges of low hills in the distance.
expressed that this tank is older than Kantalai. Maybe, even if we Recalling the earlier mystery-tales of vengeful demons, it cannot be
were given the power to cast our mind's eye back a couple of accounted strange that this old Rest House too has its haunted room
thousand years, we should be no nearer finality on that opinion. and its historic ghost who comes to make your acquaintance on ~
What we do quite definitely know is that it was only a little over Tuesday night.
180 years ago that documentary evidence was first made available . But there are more idyllic dreams which the seclusion and
by the Dutch engineers to a modem inquiring world, of this inter- p1ctur~sque advantages of this site can induce, even on that person
related system of water-storage by which, literally, none but the who gives credence to the ghostly story, and is conscious of an
smallest quantity of rain-water falling on the land was permitted to 1~mense relief when dawn comes round. All visions of the night
reach the sea before benefiting man. Here indeed was evidence, d1sappea~ as_one_ stands on the verandah, in the early hours, when
mastery over terrain, of a mingling of waters from several adjacent the mommg 1s still lapped by darkness, and a pearly glow lying low
catchments, augmented by the drainage caught up by the Elahera on the lake blurs the line of land and water. Even before the sun has
Canal which traversed 63 miles of undulating plain to link up with had ti~e to mount the horizon and set the grey waters. gleaming,
these reservoirs. melo~10us notes from the surrounding jungles, and harsher nois.es,
The Dutch had little time left to them, before their possessions in give hfe to the strikingly beautiful scene.
Ceylon passed over to Great Britain, to do more than investigate the

97
 ANTIQUARIAN NOTES ON PADAVIYA

intervening high ground, served to hold up the water which drained

from the valleys of the Makunu Oya and the Mora Oya.
The more interesting features in this ancient scheme for
irrigating the region is, however, to be found in an impressive
XI diversion structure of stone-work which served as both anicut and
bridge, sited about a mile below the confluence of the two rivers,
ANTIQUARIAN NOTES ON PADAVIYA the Kiul Oya and the Ma Oya (called Periya Aru in Tamil), which is
today the boundary between the Northern and North-Central
Framed by the roads which today link Mullaitivu, -yavuni~a, Province. This diversion structure is referred to locally as the
Horowupotana and Trincomalee, there lies a dry-zone reg~on which "Vannathi-palam"
was once flourishing, yet very recently was one of_ the wildest and Tradition holds that the tract of land originally irrigated in this
least known parts of the Island. Here, on the borderlme of the North- region lay off the right and left banks of the Ma Oya below the
ern, the North-Central and the Eastern Provinces, w?er~ droughts "Vannathi-palam" diversion and reached to the shores of Kokkilai
bum the country and conditions are austere, prospenty i~ the past Lagoon.
was pivoted mainly on two large man-made lake-reser:,r~irs. Toes~ The conclusion one is justified in arriving at is that the "Vannathi-
are referred to on modem maps by the not too familiar names. palam" was the earlier of the two irrigation works in the region and
"Padaviya" and "Wahalkada." . . . . that the reservoir was built later, as the science of tank-building
These two memorials to the skill of the ancient irrigation advanced, and perhaps to cope with the needs of an increased
engineer rank among the major "tanks"-as the man-made lakes population. .
of Ceylon are popularly called. Nevertheless, the_ date and In these circumstances, the diversion dam could only have served
circumstances under which they were constru~ted ar~ still a gu~ss, to irrigate one crop-the Maha, from Decemb~r to April each year.
and it is but vaguely presumed that they fell mto rum some t1m~ It is a well-known fact that in these months of the year the north-
about the second half of the thirteenth century. . . . east monsoon brings rain over the regions. Thus seasonal rains
This ignorance of the history of these lake-reser:oirs 1s augmented by the waters brought down by the rivers and diverted
barely excusable considering that there s.e~i:ns to be considerable by the "Vannathi-palam" into two channels which took off from the
epigraphical evidence in the ruins _of old cities below these tanks, dam and trailed over the right and left banks of the river below the
which still await examination. Admittedly the monuments were very dam, must have sufficed to irrigate a large extent of field.
difficult to get at in the past as the country was roadless and However when the Yala sowing season (June to October)
covered by a mantle of jungle. That excuse may not be put forwa~d came round, through the cumulative effect of rainless months and
today since Padaviya is Jinked to the main net. of the I~la~d s scorching heat the rivers and water courses had gone bone-dry.
roadways, and Wahalkada can be easily reached usmg a 6 mile Jeep This was why Padaviya reservoir came to be designed and built.
track which "takes off from it. . . The reservoir was sealed off, serving as a medium for collecting the
The bund of Padaviya tank, as originally set out and ~ml~, w~s m waters which came down the rivers trammelled by the bund in the
two segments divided by a spur ?f high ground culmmatmg ma north-east rain months, and unleashed in the dry months of the year
hilltop traditionally called Deiyanne Kanda, 340 f~et above meai~ to help grow the staple food of the people.
Sl'U level. The eastern segment of the bund was built about~ milt There seems little doubt that Padaviya had fallen into disrepair
long, and the western about a mile and a quarter. They, with tht' prior to 1140 A.O., and that Parakramabahu 1 restored it about 50

99
98
 SEEING CEYLON ANTIQUARIAN NOTES ON PADAVlYA

years after he became ruler of Dakkinadesa. That the King did broken into by numerous open spaces of grassland, marsh and pond,
carry out repairs is told by an inscription on a dressed stone diversified by groves of lame forest growth, no doubt intensified the
pillar which is still extant and was found set up on the bund of distortion.
the reservoir. Nonetheless, to Emerson Tennent goes the credit of being
A little after the middle of the 13th century, possibly about 200 the first visitor to qffer a detailed description of the breached
years after the pillar commemorating the restoration had been set embankment and of the "Parakramabahu inscribed pillar," and also
up, ceaseless incursions and forays from abroad, coupled with fatal a picture of Padaviya at the height of its desolation.
dissensions within the country, apparently reduced authority to nought. Governor Sir Henry Ward-to whose policy all irrigational
The uneasy seat of Government moved from one spot to another in activity today must trace its origin, saw for himself the ruin and
the plains, and eventually came to rest in Lanka's central mountain the potentiality of Padaviya in 1856. He was impress~d b_y
zone. the magnitude of the undertaking and. left a minute that, i~ his
With a depleted population unable to cope with the situation, the reckoning, the construction of the bunds "must have occupied a
jungle tide encroached upon the many works of man, and hid from million people for I Oto 15 years."
view all that bears testimony to the truth of history and legend. Thus, L. F. Liesching and J. F. (later Sir John) Dickson were two other
for about six hundred years Padaviya, in ruin, remained a ready Civil Servants who served in the "tank district" and fell to the lure of
prey to the mantle of forest which enshrouded it. Padaviya. The former according to a diary entry visited the ruined
The earliest recorded visit to the ruined and abandoned Padaviya tank on the 5th of September 1896. Unaware of a note ( 1853) left
in the colonial era is that made by Emerson Tennent in 1848. by another early visitor, Northmore, he went to great pains to
Tennent approached Padaviya from the eastern coast and elucidate the inscription on the "Parakramabahu pillar," and followed
"arranged to halt, and sleep at a village about l Omiles to the south- up his diary entry with a reference to the visit in his administration
west to it". Since their plan involved a long, journey the following report for the year. Dickson was at Padaviya in 1873 and has left a
day, Tennent writes: "We ~tarted for the tank by torchlight some record of his visit in diary entries of the 17th and 18th of August.
hours before the sun." He kindles in the mind some idea of the There is much of a muchness in recorded entries of other visits
wildness of the country and the route traversed: "It was tedious subsequently made-{;hiefly by Revenue Officers stati~ned at
work, the branches, thorns and climbing plants closed over-head so Anuradhapura, except for two: the earlier by Henry Parker m 1886
low... that we were obliged to get down and lead our horses. The. and the later by H. C. P. Bell in 1891. The Report by Parker on
footpath ..... ran along the embankments of neglected tanks, and Padaviya-wewa and the ruins of the habitation near it, wh~ch he
over rocks of gneiss ..... before daybreak we entered on the bed of saw nearly 80 years ago under a six-century old mantle of Jungle
the tank and proceeded towards the main embankment. ... when and forest, is both comprehensive and very detailed. By patient
this enormous embankment was in effectual repair, and the research he has interspersed technical descriptions of the
reservoir was filled by the rains, the water must have been thrown structures with a wealth of historical and archaeological notices.
back along the basin of the valley for at least 15 miles.'' Although these notices are open to modification in parts, and can
This estimate, which undoubtedly rests on no more than an eye- be supplemented in the light of the more collective knowledge
survey from the large rock occupying a position about the centre of available today, there cannot be better proof of our apathy tow~rds
the bund, is not correct, as the maps since made available show. this interesting and important work than the simple fact that eight
The prodigious area brought into view from Deiyanne Kanda, decades have gone by and little of anything more tangible has been

100 101
 ANTIQllARIAN NOTES ON PADAVIYA

brought to notice. At the end of the western section of the embankment there. was
Bell, who made his first visit to Padaviya in October 1891 (five a 300 yard-wide chasm of solid rock outcrop. This the ancients had
years after Parker), prefaced his report with the remark that "no used as the 'spill'. About 700 yards away, and off the same section
account of Padaviya-wewa can afford to dispense with most of the of the embankment, there stood the disintegrating ruins of the stone
tower, or bisokotuwa, with twin-conduits under the embankment.
full and careful det~ils set out by Parker". To several paragraphs of The intake wall of the bisokotuwa had several bond-stones, the
Parker's Report which are reprinted in Bell's Report, the latter has projections scupltured in the form of elephant heads. At the end of
ad~ed extra footnotes and had tacked on at the end of it a brief the conduits was a pas-pena-naya or five-headed cobra
notice of the ruins of the cjty which stood off the bund of the tank sculptured in hard sandstone.
which he had put together from field notes made by his assistan; The bed of the tank was covered with tall ramba grass and
D. M. de Z. Wickremasinghe. proved a luscious feeding ground for large herds of elephants.
Through it, the Mora Oya had cut for itself a sinuous course and
flowed through the largest breach in a sharp curve, having
collected the waters of the Makunu Oya at the confluence a mile or
so higher up. A deep pool of water always collected at this breach
in the line of the embankment. West of this breach, hidden by un-
dergrowth and scrub, there stood Parakramabahu 's inscribed pillar.
On a second visit to Padaviya in 1947, a party of surveyors was
bl~zing trail and preparing engineering plans for the
reclamation of this unpeopled void. On a third visit in 1956 diesel-
driven bulldozers, graders and dredgers-with inexorable clatter and
screech-were wrestling with earth to fill the breaches in the bunds,
and Ceylonese engineers and workers were engaged in building a
modem spillway, sluice and valve pit.
Amid the litter near the point where the main breach was being
filled, I found the "Parakramabahu pillar"-bulldozed from its
position on the bund and left apparently discarded and thrown up
with the rubble some distance away. Undoubtedly no one on the
spot appreciated its historical worth until it was brought to their
notice.
In May 1963, with the idea of gleaning new impressions and
contrasting them-for better, for worse-with earlier memories
obtained the hard way, I again visited Padaviya by car along a newly
~adaviya wa_s. in my circuit when in ! 92 I, I happened to be constructed Irrigation Department road, to miles in. length fron
~tat1oned at Kebitigollewa. The country environing this station was Kebitigollewa.
m those days a trackless waste. It was a long arduous walk to the
The luxury of one of the most uniquely sited circuit bungalows
~arth-embankm~nt of the abandoned reservoir. When I first saw it,
it was breached m four places, and serrated by gullies through long which I was by kind courtesy permitted to occupy on this
e~posure to the action of rain-water, and the rampage of herds of occasion certainly highlighted the contrast. So too the vast
wild. elep~ants, buffaloes and pigs. It lay here and there, shimmering sheet of water on which the eye today rests.
e~twmed m the octopus-like roots of large trees and was matted It was all a staggering revelation, awakening on a mind crowded
with undergrowth. with pictures of a melancholy waste the resuscitation of an area
102 103
 ANTIQllARIAN NOTES ON PADAVIYA

which had been of great utility to mankind in cycles of time down course of the preliminary engineering survey prior to restoration in
the ages. 1947.
I was happy to notice on this visit that the historic "Parakrama These old-time surveys and reports bring to light that early
pillar" had been given a prominent position on the restored bund- archaeological speculation was coloured by an impression that
more or less where I first, saw it originally set up. Two squat slabs Padaviya-wewa was "The Sea of Parakrama". This perhaps /s why
on the right and left of it displayed translated versions of the two surveyor Mortimer named the tank as such on his plan. Bell's
inscriptions on the panels of the pillar. remark on.this point is significant. He wrote: "It seems premature
Getting back to the modern restoration of the reservoir-what in our present ignorance of the many large tanks still buried under
intrigued me most was that whereas we generally accept that the forest and practically unknown to discuss the question without any
ancient engineer and agriculturalist were seldom wrong, we have hope of arriving at the truth."
ventured in this instance to suggest that we know better. Very naturally this was written prior to the disclosures made by
The supplementary resources which the Vannathi-palam Douglas Blair and his party of surveyors in 1898, when they
provided in the past, have not been harnessed to the new scheme discovered and reported on the g mile bund at Polonnaruwa anc
and as a result the Ma Oya continues to waste its waters in the sea. thus helped to establish the site of Parakrama's Sea.
On the other hand the Padaviya tank, which was built as an But it apparently was not Mortimer who gave the name Moragoda
auxiliary to store water for irrigating fields in the dry Yala season, to ihe ruins of the ancient town below the tank bund, for levers has
has been drawn upon to do duty in the Maha season as well. an entry in his diary made four years before Mortimer's survey
Naturally, by this curtailment of water resources the maximum designating the site of the ruins by that name.
potential of the early scheme has been considerably reduced and The name has no historical significance, it may with good reason
facilities for irrigation have been confined solely to land off the be accepted as nomenclature originating from, and used by,
right bank of the Ma Oya. It is moreover evident that even in the inhabitants from isolated villages in the vicinity who roamed the
selection of the land which has been recently asweddumized we jungles collecting fruit from the Mora trees (Nephelium longamum), *
have, rightly or wrongly, deviated from the practice of the past and which grew profusely in the area. This practice of making a holiday
included a vast extent of what was high-land dwelling area which of it collecting mora-fruit in the season was popular even so re-
the ancients considered less suitable for growing paddy. cently as 40 years ago when I was stationed in the district.
Proof of this is the testimony of several peasant settlers in the I shall now proceeti to describe briefly a few of the antiquarian
area that while preparing fields for cultivation they constantly turn features of this and two other ancient sites in the area.
up much debris-potsherds, brick-bats and fragments of tile. The evidence of a dagoba mound with steps leading to it flanked
The focal point of ancient habitation under Padaviya would ap- by very plain balustrades rounded at the end (3' I O" by 2'), the trunk
pear to be the site ~till buried in forest on the down-stream slope of of what was once an erect figure of the Buddha (possibly 7' 6" high
the eastern section of the bund and west of the modern sluice. on its pedestal), and a mutilated sedent Buddha in usual meditative
This more recently has been declared an Archaeological attitude, definitely prove the site to be Buddhistic.
Reserve. The ruins were first surveyed by District Surveyor J. R. Yet at this ancient Buddhist establishment there is much to
Mortimer in l 891, and mapped by a party under A. J. Wickwar indicate Hindu influence. This. is particularly noticeable near the
(later the Surveyor-General),' who carried out the topographical sur- ruins .of two buildings, originally shrines, where one notices among
vey of this region in 1897-98. They were again surveyed in the
*M.acMillan Dimorphanda "mora"
104
105
 SEEING CEYLON
ANTIQUARIAN NOTES ON PADAVIYI

the litter of stones at least two lingams, one of them erect in its ornate and permanent, with sculptured pillars and frieze, Bell
yoni or receptacle, in perfect order. Bell, who made a provisional describes the site as "monastery". It originally had the tank on one
excavation of the sanctum of one of these brick-walled shrines, side and the river (Mora Oya) on the other.
proves the whole to be a Saivaite temple. Many Tamil inscriptions In these circumstances a most intriguing feature of this site is
were noticed and some pillars still extant bore ornamental carving. the presence of ten artificially constructed wells-they are 4 to 5
The visitor is especially struck by th~ richness of ornament on a feet in diameter and average 30 feet in depth. All of them are
solitary carved pillar on the site, which doubtless was one of many brick-lined.
used in building the structure. There is also a unique stone window The presence of these wells rouses considerable interest in the
lying by the side of the structure with a lotus motif. light of the fact that they have been sited where an abundant
On the site of another shrine, a little way from the one Bell domestic water supply from channel and reservoir was easily at
cursorily excavated, there is a large inscribed pillar, now prone ( 14" hand. Obviously, but two theories can be advanced to account for
square, 6 feet high with a ball-top, all four sides inscribed). Bell them.
refers to it as the "Siri Sans Bo Kasub" pillar. The first: that they served as an all-the-year-round source of
Wickremasinghe, who has given us the text and translation of domestic water supply to a monastic establishment on this site
the inscription, states that it palaeographically belongs to the 10th before the Padaviya reservoir was built, and while the
century and identifies King Kasub Sirisangabo who is mentioned in Vannathipalama was the diverting point of irrigation in the district.
the text of the inscription as no other than Kassapa IV (circa A.O. Bell observes: "the bricks used in the monastery area are decidedly
896-913 ). The contents tell that the pillar-edict proclaims the grant older in type than those employed in the sluice of the tank."
of certain immunities to lands irrigated by the waters of the The second: that the wel.ls were sunk after the reservoir breached,
"Pandonnaru" tank. in order to serve the needs of the inhabitants who remained on the
The ruins of a building on the site of which the "Siri Sang Bo site until such time as the city and the monastic establishments were
Kasub" lies would also appear to be a Buddhist shrine converted to finally abandoned to the jungle.
a Siva Devala. A kneeling bull (2' 4" by 1' 9") in the round upon a There is y~t another group of ruins in the jungle to the east of the
narrow pedestal-the Nandi or Vahana of Siva-infallibly points to modem sluice which earlier explorers, including Bell, do not appear
later Mahayana influence. The head of the bull is severed. The to have been aware of. On this site there are the ruins of a dagoba
mutilated motif of a colossal stone lion, which must have measured and buildings in an advanced state of ruin. Sculptured remains of a
approximately 7 feet from head to tail, by 5' 6" in breadth is also to statue prone on the ground waits identification. Local lore has it that
be seen nearby. the statue (5 1/2 feet in height, 2 feet across) is that of Mahasena-
All the sites and the special lithic features mentioned have fared who is traditionally believed to have built the reservoir. .
ill at the hands of the vandal and the treasure-seeker. Most of the Unlike the ruins at Moragoda this site has apparently not fallen
latter have been split and flaked as it were by fire. to the hand of the vandal. From visible evidence it seems to be
Finally we come to what appears to have been a walled older too. Dr. Godakumbura refers to the discovery of this site in his
enclosure, about 8 acres in extent, seemingly laid out in streets and, Administrative Report for 1962.
from the evidence of broken brick and tile, heavily built over with There is one other archaeological site of very ancient origin near
less permanent material. There are traces of three buildings, at least Padaviya, which merits mention in this connection. It is on an
two 60' x 50', and one a little smaller ~hich appears to be more outcrop of rock 4 I /2 miles north of the embankment of the tank as

106 107
 SEEING CEYLON

the crow flies, and is described on the topographical map as

Buddhannehela. Bell says it had not been previously visited by an
antiquarian when he 'inspected the ruins in the company of
Wickremasinghe in October 1891. It is today easily approached by XII
a motorable track.
Interesting antiquities on this site are five rock-caves, one THE LAKES OF THE EASTERN SEABOARD
indicative of having been aPillaiyar Kovil with lingam and yoni and
a broken Pillaiyar, another with a sedent Buddha protected by a Ceylon possesses no natural lakes. The lake-like lagoons which
7-hooded naga, essentially Buddhistic. lie scattered over so great a portion of the coast line, parallel to the
A pillar 9 inches square by 6 feet 4 inches high found on the site sea, therefore hold a special measure of interest. These peculiar
in one of the caves bore inscriptions on all four sides, with the estuarine formations were named by the Arabian geographers of
figures of a crow and a dog cut underneath to indicate that whoever old "the Gobbs of Serendib". They hold the waters of many rivers
transgresses the rules enjoined in the inscription shall be born in the prevented from entering the sea by strips of deltaic land, and sand-
future as a crow or a dog. bars of their own making.
Wickremasinghe, who translated the inscription from an The most arresting of the many lagoons scattered on the
ink-estampage, is of opinion that the contents give no historical western side of the Island, are that congeries of alluring waterspreads
information of any consequence. Possibly a careful inspection of and wooded islets off Kosgoda and Balapitiya. The east coast
this site might disclose other inscriptions which might throw some nevertheless offers a more striking development, as one may see at .
light on Padaviya.
Batticaloa. The rivers along that stretch of seaboard have helped in
forming an indented network of waterways, fully 50 miles in length,
which stretch from Valaichenai to Samanturai.
How very few persons realize what delightful water-excursions
these still river-stretches on the east coast offer. The shores are
embowered with richest vegetation, or fringe~ by dense thickets of
ever-green mangroves. Only filtered light penetrates intothis maze
of curiously arched and spreading roots hanging over a dark morass
of smelly mud. Where the surface is covered in bulrushes and
lotus, Coot abound, and the light-coloured Jacanas with pheasant-
like tail are seen walking pn the big floating lotus-leaves, as round
and as green as jade plates, picking unwary insects out of the water.
In marshy margins, or in the ooze, white-necked Black Storks
sedately search for luckless frogs. In quieter recesses where they
can fish unmolested-Cranes of infinite variety, Pelicans and other
aquatic birds, find covert. The sound-effect afforded by the roar of
the unseen surf as the boat glides silently along these lagoons, presents
a repetitive note on the many pleasant impressions one carries away.
108 109
 SEEING CEYLON . THE LAKES OF THE EASTERN SEABOARD

.?ff the .~a~dward ma_rgin-of t~is labyrinth of fresh-water lagoons bone-relic of the Buddha. Tradition holds that Kavantissa also caused
or Gobbs , m the Batt1caloa district there lies a level plain. Here the marsh to be drained, and converted into a lake. By this means
the eye may rest on the vastest expanse of rice-fields to be seen in the lands he dedicated around the shrine, to a distance of three
any P~ of Ceylon. The principal subscribers to this evidence of gows (about I 1 miles), were cultivated for the maintenance of the
~r~sp~nty are not the fresh-water lagoons, but rather an ancient sacred institution and the 500 monks who were in residence there.
1rngat_1on system and a chain of man-made lakes. They have been In a period much later, when the Vanni was broken up into small
all bml_t on the comm?n principle of holding up the wet-weatfler principalities under semi-independent chieftains, Seru Vila is said to
floods m huge reservoirs, and of opening the outlet of the reservoir have come within the pereditary domain of a female chieftain styled
to ~eed the dry rivers i~ the p~riod of drought. Thus has a country Allai Vanichee. It took its present name from her: Al-lai. Little more
which was once mosaiced with malarial swamps and arid wastes is known of the ancient or medieval history of this lake and nothing
be~n transformed into an expansive vista of fertile land. Apart fro~ of the time it fell out of use and lay in disrepair and abandonment.
bemg _romantic links with the past, these eastern lakes are also among The first attempt to restore Allai-tank was made just under too
the thmgs of reposeful beauty left by a past civilization. years ago, but the repairs appear to have been of a fragmentary
~ravelling d?wn the east coast road from Trincomalee to nature. J:oday, much has been done to further its scope by restoring
Batt.1calo~, th~ first of the larger ancient lakes to press itself on the feeder channel which motorists cross by the ferry at Kilivedi.
one~ notice 1~ Seru Vila. It is more popularly known as the The head-works of this channel, known as the Kallar Anicut, are on
Allai-tank. This reservoir irrigates a fertile tract of country tucked the Verugal. As most readers are doubtless aware, the Verugal is
away between the sea and the river--east of the several mouths of one of the diverging branches by which the Mahaweli-ganga
the ~ahaweli-ganga, and south of Kodiyar Bay. Tradition harks to empties its waters into the sea. Kallar Anicut is deserving of a visit.
a pe':1od when the principal features-in this region was a vast swamp, The seven-mile drive to the spot lies through delightfully shaded
or v!la'. wh~re ~e flood-waters of the Mahaweli-ganga collected. patches of forest. The bed of the Verugal is so deep and narrow.
One m1~ht 1magme, in the circumstances, that this water harboured that when carrying flood or freshet, the current rushe~ in with
large flights of Teal. This perhaps is how the place came to be
called Seru Vila. extreme velocity.
Vakaneri-tank, in the vicinity of Valaichenai, is another of these
Nevertheless, _what brought Seru Vila prominently to notice
large lakes which have proved their value as a means of promoting
when app~rently It was steeped in sweet, silent loneliness, was
the general prosperity of the eastern seaboard. The scheme by which
a far-reaching event reckoned to have taken place on the third visit
this lake has once again been brought into use from a state of
of ~he Buddha to Ceylon, which was in the eighth year of His
abandonment reveals again the intention of the ancient designer. A
enlightenment. The great Teacher is believed to have tarried a while
dam called the Punani Anicut, across the Mandura-aru, turns the
at a sp?t on the borders of Seru Vila, and thus bequeathed to
water into the tank. An Irrigation Department circuit bungalow,
?eneratlons unborn one of the sixteen holy places of Buddhism
mCeylon. picturesquely set on a rock off the embankment, commands a full
To this tr~dition the region owes its pristine importance for, as view of the waterspread of Vakaneri, and an illimitabl~ expanse of
~as prophe_s1ed would h~ppen, centuries later, still in pre-Christian low-jungle around it. Over this strikingly barren mantle of treetops,
times, a prmce of the Smhalese, named Kavantissa, consecrated there looms impressively in the distance that towering mass of granite
the sa~r~d spot by erecting a national monument in the form of a call_ed Dimbula-gala by the unsophisticated Vedda. It has been
magnificent dagoba. In this shrine he placed the forehead renamed in anglicized character Gunners' Quoin, after its likeness

IIO 111
 THE U.KES OF THE EASTERN SEABOARD

to a wedge or quoin, used by gunners to elevate the old-type

cannon. Perhaps there is justification for digression to ask whether
what is merely imagination merits the continuance of this name for
a topographical feature which manifests such a vast collection of
structural ruins upon and around it. There is equally vast evidence
of its place in history, as the principal quarry which supplied the
stone images and figures, pillars and steps, for Lanka's medieval
capital at Polonnaruva.
Rukam-tank, offering a pleasant greeting to the motorist
~ , ~
.~ .,II
.., .
.'
:,
approaching the east coast from Badulla, is yet another feature which
.. ..,
.. helped in ancient times the regular cultivation of a vast region below

--
it. So comparatively recently as nine decades ago, the lake was
. _,.J
-'"V
~ . ' referred to as the Rukam-plain, and the vase extent of land
cultivated under it as "barren and unproductive".
10. Section of the old Spill at Kalawewa (wa~hcd away by floods in 1957) In this boulder-strewn area one finds deep roomy grottoes and
caves fanned by masses of rock supported by other rocks, and which
were lived in by the roving aboriginal tribes. But there is spectacular
evidence which proves that the district was later peopled by a more.
intelligent race. Numerous ruins of reservoirs and habitations
litter the country far and wide, and on the summit of that rocky hill
bulking sheer from the sea of jungle lapping its sides, which we call
Nuwaragala, there are the ruins of a city which undoubtedly formed
the hub of that ancient habitation testified to by the evidence
scattered over the lower terrain.
A visitor to these parts who is up to hard jungle travel, and learns
nothing of the buried city on the summit of Nuwaragala, will indeed
be meting out very scurvy treatment to his intellectual appetite. It
,w,wt 1114 u.u Ft .r r1tn . . . . . no e, - ~ may take a day, or a little longer according to the temperament and
aesthetic taste of the visitor, but this buried city, once seen, will be
always remembered, for its wealth of might, and'silent majesty.
Taking the .old road-which is the one and only approach to the
summit-one is appalled by the impregnability of its perpendicular
rocky sides. With such facilities for defence this hill may W!!ll have
been one of those Sinhalesefort, which the nation built as strong-
11 1/akancri Lake holds "in the midst of forest, upon steep hills, and in fastness
surrounded by water". In fact, this is amply testified by the ruins
112
113
 THE I.AKES OF THE EASTERN SEABOARD

of what appear to be gates and guard-houses, all the way up. On

complete.d together, and as the lake filled, Bullatha's work on it could
the summit, besides the bones of the city which died long ago,
no longer be kept a secret. Eventually, when the King saw the
there is a magnificent artificial kema, to use the local term for those
gleaming expanse of water, he immediately realized that its
beautiful waterholes in rock.
possibilities for providing the people with a means for growing food,
West of Nuwaragala there looms a new landfall: a rampart of
were indeed a much more meritorious act than he had performed
mountain with battlemented scarps. Down this, the Mahaweli-ganga,
by merely adding to the height of the dagoba.
the queen of Lanka's rivers, makes a rapid descent before it turns
Bullatha refused to entertain the King's request that he should
northwards to spread.its waters into placid levels, over deep beds of
take the merit for raising the fabric of the dagoba, and that he should
yellow sand. This, perhaps is how it acquired its name-Maha-
give his monarch in exchange the merit which would accrue from
weli-ganga, or the "great sandy river". The region we call Bintenna
the construction of the lake. the refusal so enraged the King, that
includes all that dry zone plain which spreads itself from the base of
he decreed the giant should be killed, and his body cast into the
the mountains.
waters of the lake.
In point of antiquity Bintenna transcends the renown bestowed
on any other territory of ancient Ceylon: for, long before the Vijayan No sooner was this done, they say, than there sprang to life on
infiltration, Alutnuwara, by the side cf which the Mahaweli flows, the spot where the carcase sank a beautiful red water-lily the
was one of the chief cities of the aborigines. It was then called Nyinphaea rubra, and a large red and white lotus blossom which
Mahiyangana. In later years, a dagoba, so runs the legend, was built reposed on broad green leaves. The water-lily is believed to have
there while the Buddha was yet alive, and .four miles away a great grown out of the giant's head (Oluwa, in Sinhalese) and to this day,
lake came to be constructed. . . this aquatic plant is loc}llly called olu. The large red and white lotus
A peculiar fascination, to my mind, hangs over this spot. The blossoms sprang from his eyes. The spongy cellular stalks which
very Veddas apostrophize tMs in folk-song by referring thus to the support the floating leaves took shape, they declare, from his limbs.
running waters of the river, and the still waters, of the lake: This, the traditionalist explains, is how the surface of these remote
lakes in the dry zone came to be ornamented with the great coral
Yonder, yonder spreads the Sorabora lake! flowers whose petals have long been the emblem of Ceylon.
O!. Mahaweli-ganga, whose waters cry as they run,
O! Mahaweli-ganga, thy waters neverfail!
O! Lake in whose waters sports the queen of red flowers.

Although tradition and history fail to throw any light on the story
of Horabora-wewa, many legends fill the gap. One of them tells of
a fodhaya named Bullatha, who was of assistance to King
Dutthagamani when the King, seeking to gain merit, added a super-
structure to the sacred dagoba at Alutnuwara. The giant contrived
clandestinely, while doing work for the King, to leave the city every
evening.and throw up some earth on a bund which was to impound
the waters of Horabora-wewa.
Both the mantle to the dagoba and the embankment were
114 115
 THE LAKES IN THE VAILEY OF THE GALOYA

ultimately pulled these emigrant bands of pastoral folk to their banks.

The river valleys of the dry zone, which offered climatic hazards
they had grown used to in India, became their first settlements.
And, if you will wander enquiringly over the Gal Oya Valley or
over almost any of the 30 other river valleys in the Island, you can
XIII
link this deduction with stone inscriptions which epigraphists
consider date from the 3rd century B.C., and locate those sites
THE LAKES IN THE VALLEY OF THE GAL OYA which the early emigrant settlers were attracted to. Such possibly
are the circumstances under which the earliest knowledge of
We now come to another river-basin with its geographical sources agriculture, the art of conserving water in man-made lakes, and the
in Bintenna: the 350-square miles of country drained by the Gal practice of irrigation for the cultivation of rice; were initially
Oya. It is indeed a region almost classic in its relation to peoples' discovered for Ceylon.
lives. To learn something of its earliest history and human story, we First in the picture cf attempts to store the 75 to 100 inches of
must look on this river valley as~ region of long, long ago. rain in the catchment of the Gal Oya, are the small artificially bunded
Dim traditions supported by other lingering evidence, associate reservoirs, which are scattered about in their hundreds, both in the
the Gal Oya Valley with rnan of the Old Stone Age, and the upper reaches and over the plain. Most of them are in a state of
aboriginal Vedda, who once upon .a time roamed this primeval abanoonment. Next come the larger devices for storage as told in
wilderness with bow and arrow. Yet, although proof that they the ruins of the ancient lake called Mahakandiya, the famous
were the earliest inhabitants of this hinterland is interesting, the Diga-Vapi, or "long-tank" of the Mahavamsa. A great bund which
knowledge does not offer any important result. If we must picture the spates of centuries have conquered lying across a right bank
these people, it cannot but be as roving clans who kept within tribal tributary of the Gal Oya, called the Pallang Oya, is another large
ancient work. It is now in course of restoration. Further down the
boundaries of their own making. They must have inhabited narrow
valley there are the beautiful artificial lakes which have been named
bel~s, limited in area fronting streams and springs where wood,
Kondavattavan, Amparai and lrrakkamam. These hold t_he waters
water, and food secured by hunting, fishing and collecting were readily
brought to them from the river by feeder channels.
obtained.
Off Kondavattavan lake, on an ancient high-land site, there was
This naturally refers to wild untamed Ceylon, long before its recently discovered an inscribed pillar which was set up in the 10th
history began to be told in lithic record and monument. It is contem- year of the reign of a king named Dappula IV (A.D., 924-935), and
porary with a long~past era, when an Indo-European people, named is of great historical and geographical interest. It specifically names
Aryan, armed with mightier weapons of the steel age, namely the the district Digavapi Mandala, and throws light on the economic,
spade ,and the hoe, had settled in the valleys of northern India in social and administrative aspects of land, a thousand years ago.
obedience to the decree which sent man forth "a tiller of the ground". From such evidence, and much more, we are able to reconstruct
Having overflowed into other parts of the sub-continent, these what must have been the early fight in the Gal Oya Valley to claim
Aryan-speaking people were casting eyes on new lands they could the bounty of the good earth from the untenanted tracts of sand and
settle in without protracted navigation. Ceylon happened, by forest and scrub, and of an incessant struggfe against the risk of
geographical accident, to be the furthest limit. Infiltrating through drought and flood and famine,in the ageless feud for food.
the narrow water:-stretch we call Palk Strait, they were driven by But the greatest contribution this valley was destined to make
monsoonal winds prevailing at the time respectively on to the east- towards self-sufficiency in food and the evils of landlessness, is a
ward or the westward side of this Island. The rivers, big and small,
117
116
 SEEING CEYLON THE LAKES IN THE VALLEY OF THE GAL OYA

very modern undertaking. steel-tape. Up and down trackless hill-flanks, lanes were cleared on
Just two decades ago, after the north-east monsoon rains had a rectangular grid, and heights taken at close intervals. Gradually,
ceased to drench the country, a small party composed of ten the ground-surface hidden by the jungle seemed to take form on the
surveyors moved into the region. Their one approach was a plans, and the contour of the waters which would converge on the
gravelled agricultural road, which drove inland from the coast and bund when it came to be built, was marked. It was not until eight
ended at Amparai. This, as the visitor who travels today along a months had elapsed that the survey was finished.
motorable artery knows, is many miles short of the bund-site of That was the initial step, since elbowed out of reckoning, which
Senanayake Samudra. The baggage carts were able to proceed gave to Ceylon its largest man-made lake. It submerged forty square
only a few miles further along a natural cart-track. Beyond, there miles of country, and when full contains thirty times as much water
lay a tangled network of game-tracks haunted by elephants and as is held within the breakwaters of the Colombo harbour. The
bear, leopard and wild l;mffaio. marvellous geographical transformation was achieved after the dam
A climb to the summit of Inginiyagala, a hill-top 1085 feet above was completed in November 1951, and as it were magically, by the
sea-level, revealed for the most part nothing but jungle, with the rains of one monsoon. The pent-up floods brought down by the river
river valley and tributary ravines shown up by the more pronounced spread iii picturesque abandonment The water formed many
foliage and the larger trees thriving in moisture. Occasionally the islands. It lapped on promontories and capes of its own making, and
eye picked out a splintered or rounded rock which seemed to burst running far up into over-hanging forest recesses, formed narrow
from the undulating swell of the landscape. and sinister creeks. All that is left of the drowned forests today is a
Such was the inhospitable region which claimed the labour of tangle of bleached leafless heads and branches of trees which are
this party of surveyors. Dispersing at Inginiyagala, each and all blazed lifted out of the water in the shallow stretches. Among these silver-
their trail into this uncharted void, making a line for their respective white bones, there are many of our noblest timbers: our finest
stations. Sometimes they had to hack their way through matted satin-woods-including the variety known locally as malburutha,
walls of thorny scrub, a:t others to proceed with the utmost caution or flowered satin-and ebony in varieties which are streaked or
along uncertain tracks which led deep into forests, cutting marks on flowered, or are in raven black. Only one tree of the famous veined
the trees in case they should lose their way. and marbled calamander was discovered in these forests.
Initially, the expiring remnant of a jungle-folk who occupied six 1n the bed of this lake, under 40 to 80 feet of water, there also
hamlets within the reaches of the area under survey, and cherished repose the six Vedda settlements which the pioneer surveyors
yague claims to the lands on age-old traditions, viewed the advent located in forest setting. They were claimed as ancestral holdings
of the surveyor and his labour staff with suspicion. But this feeling by Attanayake Mudiyanselage Ukku Barida, acclaimed chief of 36
very soon wore off. Howbeit, such are the vagaries of civilization families and three hundred souls. Gesticulating vehemently, the old
that, equipped as the surveyors were, they were largely dependent '' gamarala asked: "How can the waters rise over our homes when
on the veterans of these isolated groups of people, whose we are five fathoms higher than the river?" No argument could
experience of forest-ways was unique, to guide them over this convince him. "But if you take us away," he added, "you must also
back-block. take our gods!" So, both man and god had to be moved.
There were precipitous rocks over whith guide and surveyor But just as much as there was travail for man while this lake
crept on knees with difficulty, and the labourers panting and was taking form, there was a great period of travail for game too.
perspiring followed, carrying theodolite or level and dragging Driven hither and thither by the rising waters, herds of deer, and
troops of monkeys, and many other small or large animals found
118 119
 SEEING CEYLON THE I.AKES IN THE VALLEY OF THE GAL OYA

themselves marooned on the islands. On one such, a leopard was

trapped by the waters, but apparently, after feeding for some time
on the game, had taken a swim to the mainland. The greatest
menace for a while were the snakes: they appeared in teeming num- 12. A unique Stone window
bers on the islands,. and had ventured to escape drowning by
sheltering everywhere above the water-line, on rocky outcrops and
even trees.
But fortunately for wild life today, this great lake named after
that patriot, the Rt. Hon. D.S. Senanayake, whose unbounded faith
, saw in it the symbol of a new Lanka, has together with its forest
fringe been proclaimed a Sanctuary. The future it holds is that of a
National Park, or strict reserve for game, and of the conservation of
bird resources on the water-spread.
The Bird Sanctuary, as I last saw it in the young daylight of a
steamy misty morning, cannot fail to provide abiding satisfaction
and interest to the naturalist. Gliding prosaically in a modem launch
over the waters of the lake, I watched picquets of Pelicans and
Painted-Stocks using the whitened skeletons of the huge trees as
nesting places while Cormorants, Teal and Heron winged their way
with steady purpose in battalions. A lingering bedlam chorus of
shrilling hoots, flutings and cat-calls, which floated over the still air,
emphasized the complete freedom from disturbance which this
feathered world enjoyed.
Then there is that mysterious jungle which curls itself from the
furthest edge of the lake and reaches way back to the Passara hills.
This jungle verily beckons, and should you bridge the rippling .
surface of water which divides, you may step into an old redoubt
and pick out the spoor of elk, deer, wild-boar leopard and elephant,
where once upon a time soldiers on the march from the coast to the
mountain capital of Ceylon rested. .
13. Parakrama Pillar
If you are disposed to make longer jungle peregrinations, strange
spectres of aimless butchery of the mid-nineteenth century may still
be traced in these forest breaks. The 16-chain maps will discover
for you in this blanket of jungle two sites, the one bearing a legend,
"Kengalla Bungalow Major Rogers" and the other, "Site of Sir
Samuel Baker's camp". The Major is credited with having slain
upwards of 1400 elephants, while the Victorian Baronet related how
120
 THE LAKES IN THE VALLEY OF THE GAL OYA

SEEING CEYLON
Master, plunged into the river-pool where the crocodile was
lurking. Diving into its depths, he located the monster and, getting tc
he and his friends would pursue a herd of elephants till they had grips with it, thrust his hands between the reptile'sjaws and wrenched
destroyed every member of it: bulls, cows, and calves. Such is the them asunder. He bore the carcase and th~ javelin ashore, and laid
ruthless toll which has indeed beggared an area where the nobler them at the King's feet.
animals and breeds of game at one time abounded. Raja Sinha was so astonished at this display of courage and
From the digressions, germane to the reason why Ceylon is not strength, that he thereupon handed the javelin to the brave bearer as
overfull of elephant, and wild deni~ns nowadays, we tum our a mark of honour. He further decreed that this man, and his
attention to a small but fine old lake in an adjoining rivervalley, north descendants, were to bear it as insignia b~fore the flag of the Disava
of Uhana. It appears on maps described as Divulanai Tank.
of the Four Ko~ales, in perahera procession, and war. This series of
Remoteness explains why so beautiful a feature-dependent
pools where crocodiles lu~ked 400 years ago has grown to be a
for its attractions on the wooded foot-hills which gracefully fill its
great lake, the largest in Ceylon.
shore-has remained so little known and visited. But what is more
intrinsically important about this tank, is that in the process of
restoration in the eighteen seventies, a one-piece slab of rock
bearing a valuable l 0th century sculpture, secured from an unknown
site in the vicinity, has been appropriately set up and built to form a
parapet by the sluice. In the main, it depicts a seven-headed naga
king in an attitude of adoration, surrounded by other unique
features. More recently, Divulanai lake has been absorbed into a
large work, and called the Nava-kire Ara Reservoir. It is too much
to hope_that with due reverence for the past, this iconographically
unique sculpture on the sluice of the abandoned bund will be
removed to the new bund, and preserved to posterity.
They say that when Raja Sinha, lord of Tri-Sinhala, reigned in
the 16th century over the Sinhalese country, he once chanced to
journey from Alutnuwara to Samanturai, which was at the time called
Matta-kalapuwa. A short way beyond Nilgala, the Gal Oya scoops
itself out a bed in a series of deep rocky pools. While resting here
the King's attention was drawn to a crocodile basking on a rock
nearby, which was said to have killed many men.
The King, stealthily drawing near to it, struck at the reptile with
his sword, but failing to reach his quarry, followed up with a thrust
using his kotaviya, or javelin. The crocodile however.jumped away
and disappeared beneath the water, carrying the javelin in its side.
Noticing this, a valiant bearer of arms in the King's escort, which
in this instance had been supplied by the Four Korales of the Kegalle
District, stood forth and, having obtained the permission of his Royal
123
122
 MAHA RUHUNA

over the foot-hills and the dreary forest-flats beyond is brought into
sharp focus by the glistening waters of Hambegamuwa tank, and its
leaning hill.
XIV It is a long and hard journey to Hambegamuwa. You have the
option today of motoring half the distance, and "jeeping" the rest of
MAHA RUHUNA the way, from Tanamalwila, on the Wellawaya Tissa Road. If, how-
ever, you could make your pace funereal, and would rather have
The mountain ranges which circumvallate Upper Uva make a the diversified fragrance of forest and jungle come rippling in your
sudden sheer drop of thousands of feet along the lower rim. On the face, instead of the fumes belched by an engine, you would take the
outer face of this natural rampart the land falls away beyond the foot-path which drops down fmm Haldurnmulla, or the flat one which
foot-hills, to metge into a vast littoral plain'. Hence looking from lies on the route from Telulla, south ofWellawaya.
any vantage point on the girdling heights there lies outspread a It so happened that I did the jungle trek of 20 miles to
commingled scene of earth and air and water, which combines Hambegamuwa, from Telulla, and climbed up to Haldummulla
sublimity and beauty in a most_extraordinary degree. Few who have in I 923. There was then but one jungle village on the route- an
travelled along the arterial road from Haputale to Hal~urnmulla could isolated settlement all but completely cut off from the outer world
have failed to find a strange fascination in this panorama. by forest scrub and thicket. Here a handful of forest-folk sheltered,
Over this dissolving vista, one sees Nature in many capricious fighting against unseasonable rains or prolonged drought, poverty or
moods. At times the scene is brilliantly lighted. The vivid moist sickness, to live. Balaharuwa came to lie in the territory of wild
green tint of the stepped rice-fields sited in the valleys between the things, it spot-lighted history as the district headquarters of the
hills, shows up in much greater contrast to the subdued hues of Gonbadde Dissava, whose special duty it was to keep the cattle
other patches of cultured vegetation and the purple of the grass- pens belonging to the Sinhalese kings stocked with the best animals
covered undulations. Jungle stretches-which lie unbroken, far and produced in the countryside.
far-give the illusory effect of a heaving ocean. That however was long ago-I found the country overrun by
On the other hand, when the tropical lowlands do not fall under savage herds of wild buffalo grazing in the pelessas or open grasslands
the full light of the sun, there is more uniform effect. Every outline which once were paddy-fields. Elephants roamed the foot-hills; bear
of the aspect which the eye can scan, is brought into sharp focus. and leopard may have been lurking in any cave or thicket we passed.
Over strands of vaporous clouds which lie hammocked in the So plentiful were sambhur and spotted deer, that it was no rare
valleys, or hang suspended low over the plains, the white salt- experience when on a hilltop, to see them grazing or browsing in the
encrusted lagoons can often be seen at a distance of 40 miles, at the many open glades spread below. They called this park-land pock-
season of harvesting, separating the misty outline of the coast-line eted by glades yaka-bendi-divulana. It means the maze formed
from the broad blue rim of the ocean. Nearer in, flashes of silver by a devil, signifying that none but a demon could lay such an
help in locating Tissa-wewa and Ridigama waters, and position other intricate network of pockets, one so much like the other, to trap the
manmade lakes of Maha Ruhuna. unwary. To find your way about them is impossible without a guide,
Such wide outlook perhaps has advantage, but I would fain and it may easily be that you will get completely lost and keep
declare that to me the lower vantage points bid more affection: for walking in circles.
instance, the look-outs on the cliffs of Haldummulla where the view The only feature which set Hambegamuwa apart from the
surrounding jungle, once upon a time, was a breached tank-bund
124
125
 SEEING CEYLON MAHA RUHUNA

through which the waters of a river, the Mau Ara, flowed It is however at or near Tihawa, now called Tissamaha-
untrammelled. It was in the year 1888 .that the breach was first rama, about 8 miles inland, that the grandest memorials of old times
examined. This was when Fisher was Government Agent. are to be seen: A visit to this country five decades ago disclosed a
Rambukpotha Ratemahatmaya, of the old generation, was also wilderness more or less desolate. But it was evident that if the
associated with the work of restoration. One story be used to tell ground were but scratched anywhere, there were ashes, while
relates to an adventure when he, with the Agent and the Engineer, innumerable large ancient bricks and tiles lay scattered and thickly
was trekking back to the road after one of many inspections of the strewed the ground.
work <?f restoration. When that touring Governor of Ceylon, Sir Henry Ward, visited
The party, as they emerged on to a glade, was confronted the insignificant hamlet Magama-once the Great City known to
suddenly by a herd of wild buffaloes. The leader was a savage, geographers of the West, even in the days of Ptolemy-he was.
magnificent animal, and came challenging up to them defiantly. "I sufficiently impressed by Tissa-wewa to write, "even in its present
must have that head," the Agent was heard to say, as the beast state it is singularly beautiful, for although what was once the bed of
approached nearer. The old bull threw back his horns and sniffed the tank is covered with forest trees the growth of many centuries,
the air. He meant business, and the remainder of the herd seemed the outline of the great natural hollow which formed the lake is
to be watching his movements. As he was set for the final charge, distinctly visible, and the bund is perfect."
a first shot rang out; it was followed by another and yet another. But what was then jungle has made way for a sparkling sheet of
Momentarily dazed and checked, the leader stood still. The herd water whose flashing beams catch the eye of the observer standing
wheeled round and stampeded. There was still fight in the old bull, on the Haputale gap. There is at the present time no place in Ceylon
and he charged again, alone. where a greater change has been effected by irrigation . At the
The R. M. raised rifle to shoulder. "No!" shouted the Engineer, restoration of Tissa-wewa in 1871, and while other old works were
as he put out his hand and drew it down, adding: "There are only being restored in Magama, several specimens of trowels, chisels
two in this bit of work." The prize was eventually secured. "How and stone cutters' tools, dating to so far back as 50 B.C., were
many shots was that, R. M. ?" enquired the Agent. "Seven, Sir," discovered on the sites. They may be seen in the Colombo
was the reply. "Seven shots was never a salute," observed the Agent. Museum. Commenting on these specimens , Sir Robert Hadfield, a
Raising the rifle again to shoulder, several more reports broke the noted authority on the metallurgy of iron, said: "they present a
jungle stillness. Twenty_.one in all, and he grounded his rifle. "The fascinating collection, without doubt the most unique and complete
monarch of the plains has now had a royal salute," ha observed, in the world."*
"and I own the head of a king of the tribe." Nothing is perhaps more misleading than to follow the popular
Much can be told of the pioneer efforts which recreated the habit of calling these beautiful expanses of water, whose shores are
thriving settlement seen today at Hambegamuwa, whose original marked by reed-beds and in whose shallows water-lilies bloom, the
history and that of its lake is clouded in the mists of two thousand "tanks" of Ceylon. The Sinhalese called them in olden times vap;
years. That was when this part of Cey Ion was the principality named and in the present time wewa. The Tamilians called them kulam.
Maha Ruhuna .. But .time presses, and we take a road cleaving a The Portuguese referred to them as lakelets, and used the
straight course through two walls of flanking jungle south of . corresponding word in their language which is tanque. The British,
Wellawaya. This eventually brings us to a point where we can take
In a paper "Sinhalese Iron and Steel of Ancient Origin", May 9th 1962.
full measure of the bygone opulence of this principality. History of the Public Works Department, (Bingham) Vol. 11, pp. 87-91.
' . 12T
126
 SEEING CEYLON

borrowing directly from the Portuguese, perpetuated the stupid term

"tank" to describe these landlocked waters.
And with this observation, I conclude my retrospection on the
dryzone lakes of Ceylon. More and more of these dreams of kings xv
which materialized from the brains of nameless and forgotten
engineers are being reclaimed from the jungle to serve man. So the BUILDING TECHNIQUES AND SKILL
story must go on. Searching tests have not found these ancient works
out of date. By reclaiming them the Present pays homage to the Men from many lands who are acquainted with earth-moving
Past. There can be few worthier tributes to the greatness of old and construction methods, or with the science of the forces of
Lanka. water and of modern instruments for setting height, angle and
distance, have gazed in admiration on the bunds of Ceylon's lake-
reservoirs, on the stone conduits in the beds of the reservoirs, on the
stone dams which trammelled even the largest river, and on the
canals which trailed over the plains on astonishingly easy gradients.
These experts have speculated on the incredible toil, infinitely
increased by the imperfections of working tools and other
equipment, which must have been expended in raising these works.
They have examined the builders' tools as represented by several
types of trowels, jumpers, chisels, wedges and other stone cutters'
implements which have been collected in ancient Ceylon quarries
and on the sites of irrigation works during later excavations for
restoration, and are now in the Colombo Museum. They have told
us that some of these tools date to an age anterior to 50 B.C.
These tools then are the answer to the question how the blocks,
each weighing several tons, were quarried and dressed. So we turn
to the next question: How were the blocks h,,mled from the stone
quarries ~here giant half-hewn rocks still betoken the long distances
they had to be moved, or in other words, how were they set up in
the places where they were wanted ?
By way of answer to this enigma one is irresistibly reminded of
the answer to Horace Smith's spirited "Address to the Egyptian
Mummy"-
- - "Men of yore
Were versed in all the sciences you can mention!
Who hath notheard of Egypt's peerless lore,
Her patient skill, acuteness of invention?
Al~hough her mighty toils unearthly seem, .
Those blocks were brought by railroads and by stream!"
128 129
 SEEING CEYLON BUILDING TECHNIQUES AND SKILL

It would indeed be going too far to claim as much as this for the the Inda-Aryan people of the dry zone plains could have lacked
ancient system of haulage in Ceylon. Nevertheless, where facts either time or man-power. Dramatic confirmation of this is found in
fail, legends which are amusingly simple slip in t'o fill the gap. One of the fact that they had sufficient man-power to use simultaneously in
them maintains, that the blocks of stone were moved and set in constructing spectacular non-productive objects, for instance the
position by giants-of the measure of whose strength we are impressive achievements at Sigiriya, the numerous dagobas, the rock-
permitted to form some idea on being told that one of them, with the temples of which traces can be found in almost every.rocky outcrop
palms of his hands, compressed the head of the king's chief which rises out of the plains, the stupendous mounds of brick -
elephant, and thus shaped the huge hollows now to be seen at the overpowering to the senses-which were raised by pious kings in
temples of all animals of that species! the royal city as monuments of their faith, or the aesthetic taste
It seems indisputable, since there was no knowledge at the time displayed in the erection and decoration of many a place; pleasure-
of mechanical appliances, that the haulage must have been done by garden and monastery.
pulling the blocks along the ground using skids and rollers, with crews Pondering over this, it seems clear there must have been
of men tugging at" ropes made from vines. Archaeologists, by population pressure which had gradually built up, and that it was
fusing old and new ideas, have recently come to the conclusion concentrated in and around the capital city Anuradhapura. To what
that it was precisely in this manner that England's towering, extent that labour was capable of exaction and whether it was paid
worldfamed monument at Stonehenge, above Salisbury Plains, for, voluntarily given, or rajakariya, is not clarified in any of the
consisting of 50 ton pillars of stone bridged by 5 ton lintels, was set historical chronicles. However, one fact which stands out from this
up. No doubt, in Ceylon, elephants must have been largely used, and saga of labour which created a unique civilization for Ceylon back
perhaps rough vehicular contrivances too. Given plenty of time and in the mists of time, is that of all the works to which it was turned,
plenty of men, there is no block which could nor have been brought those raise for the purpose of irrigation call to mind the finest
to its right place by this means, inasmuch as there was no tank-bund
concepts of engineering skill, and not just merely the magnitude
too big to build.
of the undertaking, or of patient craftsmanship, as the other
Next there arises the question: how were the earth embank-
monuments do.
ments consolidated? Tradition holds that in the past consolidation
It was earlier stated that most of the ancient irrigation works lie
was done by driving flocks ,of sheep and herds of goats or neat
in terrain which, when estimated by the eye, appears to all purposes
cattle over the laid-on earth. The modem adaptation of this old-time
flat. Yet we know, from such evidence as remains, that ch,annels
method is what is called a "sheep's-foot roller" -in other words a
roller studded with imitations of a sheep's foot which is run in were traced mile upon mile on gradients which would seem to have
tandem by a tractor up and down the embankment. The cylinder of called into use precise instruments of the modem age to-establish,
the roller is filled with sand to produce the light pressure natural to and that the art of aligning such channels was well developed. We
-the ancient method. know that baffling ingenuity, unsurpassed by any means available in
CaJculations disclose that the ancient bund of the Parakrama the present day, traced c;mt bund and contour of the larger tanks and
Samudra at Polonnaruva contained 4 1/2 million cubic yards of earth- sited the sluices.
work. A thousand men, working a 24-hour day with mamoty and Many an engineer engaged on aligning channels or furing sites
basket without breaking off, would have taken 12 years to complete for spillways in accordance with modem ideas testifies that the old
that structure alone. work and the new are often found to be never more than a few feet
Bearing this in mind it cannot be said that in the period when the from one another. Excavation to build foundations for new sluices
larger and more spectacular irrigation works were being constructed has in many a case disclosed the remains of an old sluice. Many
130 131
 SEEING CEYLON BUUDING TECHNIQUES AND SKIU.

other instances there are which go to show that the modem Ceylon was a device consisting of two pots contai.ning water, fixed
engineer has frequently found himself anticipated by an unnamed to the ends of a sighting rod and adjusted to a "true" horizontal
ancient predecessor. plane. This could have been used either to prove levels or
Consequently, although no working plan or design dating back to lay gradients.
the sixteen centuries we have cursorily skimmed over has come Another curious device is mentioned by Parker, who says he
found a monk in a secluded temple using for proving levels a
down to us, and although there is no indication in any old writings as
shallow triangular wooden trough with its upper edges planed true.
to the survey instruments the ancient engineers employed, the It served; he says, as an efficient level when filled with water.
vastness of conception ofCeylon's ancient irrigation system removes Although we have no definite knowledge of the formulae the
all doubt that the old engineer must have depended to a critical Inda-Aryan engineers used, of the gaugings they took, and how
degree on a system oflevelling and horizontal measurement to render they set about their work, of one fact we can be very certain. They
the construction practicable. were men possessed of high technical ability, with wide vision and a
Whether the works were never designed, but based directly on highly developed "water" and topographical sense .
observations and then set out, we cannot tell. But possibly there We now turn to the component structures of the ancient works.
were plans, since one example of Sinhalese cartography of the early There is a small island in the Mahaveli-ganga, about 4 miles from
17th century, attempting to show the irrigation system near Elahera, Dastota, round which the waters of the river swirl with extreme
impetuosity. Making the most of this obstruction which is surrounded
was discovered recently.* Plans were doubtless drawn on perish-
by rapids and falls, the old-time engineers built in the 3rd century
able material as the one referred to was found to b.e. Consequently A.O. the first anicut or dam which trammelled a major river. The
there is "left no clue to suggest that plans played a part in the early massive, square-hewn blocks of stone, some weighing two or three
land-measurer's craft. It is only possible to theorize how surveying tons perhaps, are there to this day. These stones appear to have
and levelling were done. been held together by mortise and tenon joints at the crest, so that
On the walls of a tomb I visited, at Thebes, in Egypt, there is a each course was retained in position, not by its weight alone, but
drawing dating to 1300 B.C. depicting a surveyor at work. He is also by pressure of the water from behind.
using a measuring cord and ranging poles. Very likely some such In the anicut (tekkam) built about the 7th century across the
simple means known from the beginning of civilization was used Malwatu Oya to divert water to the Giant's tank and in other similar
for measuring distances in Ceylon too. There could have been no contemporary structures, a cement seems to have been used,. It
has been proved by analytical results published in the Chemical
angular measurements such as we now use, but there was an
Trade journal that this concrete prepared and used in Ceylon 13
ancient instrument called the groma OT rectangular sighter, which, centuries ago, if not earlier, showed very superior properties to the
with the plumb-line, has been thought to have been used by man for Roman mortar-which had long been accepted as the best ancient
over 25 centuries past, and very probably in Ceylon too. It sufficed product.*
fairly effectively to set out right angles and perpendiculars to a main The spillways, some of them man-made and called vaan in
line. In careful hands, the results obtained would not have differed Sinhalese, other natural rock called gal-vaan, over which the
appreciably from those obtained with instruments of higher waters of the tank pass when surcharged by rains in flood-time,
precision. range from simple contrivances in the small tanks, to complex
To complete their equipment there must have been the level. To examples which must surely have involved study of the movements
rely on tradition, the precursor of the modem spirit level used in
* "Analysis of Concrete Six Centuries old froin Anicut of Giant's Tank, Ceylon"
* Land, Maps and Surveys (Brohier) Vol.11 (App. A) History of the Public Works Dept., Ceylon, (Bingham)! Vol. II, p. 86.
132 133
 SEEING CEYLON

of water over many years, and considerable labour to build. Two 01

even more spillways were sometimes provided in the larger tanks.
One of the most spectacular examples extant of the latter is the BIBLIOGRAPHY
ancient spill-wall of chiselled granite at Kala-wewa, which has been
left untouched in later schemes of restoration. It is a stupendous Key to Abridgements
construction, approximately 216 feet wide and 170 feet long, B. C. G. S. Bulletin of the Ceylon Geographical Society
. completed about the 5th century under the signal disadvantages of CALR Ceylon Antiquary and Literary Register
those times. The work impressively testifies to the craft of the Ep: Zey :' Epigraphia Zeylanica
J. D. B. U. Journal of the Dutch Burgher Union, Ceylon
stonemason. Each block of granite is meticulously fashioned to fit Journal Royal Asiatic Society. Ceylon Branch
JRASCB
its neighbour and the whole is a wonderful monument of patient J. R.G. S. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society
workmanship. M.L.R. Monthly Literary Register, earlier Ceylon Literary
Another feature which was accessory to the bunds of the larger Register
S. P. Government Sessional Papers
tanks is the raelapana, from the Sinhalese raela (wave) and pana Sp. Z. Spo/ia Zey/anica-Bulletin of Nat. Museums, Ceylon
(stone): in reality a revetment or pitching on the inner face of an Trs: E. A.C. Transactions Engineering Association of Ceylon
embankment or bund. It acts as a "wave breaker" and resists the U.C.R. University of Ceylon Review
action of wave-pt ay which a bund holding up a vast open sheet of
water is exposed to. In some smaller tanks it is intended as a "rip-
ple-band", and takes the form of a facing in dressed stone. IRRIGJ\TION WORKS OF CEYLON
Finally we come to that constructed device known as a sluice in
English, and horowwa in Sinhalese, -whereby the water from the ABRAHAM, M.C. Gal Oya Darn. Trs: E. A. C., 1949.
tank was led to the system of major and minor channels to be car- & MENDIS, A. H. Detention Reservoirs in Gal Oya Valley. Trs: E. A. C.,
1956.
ried to fields near or far. In the smaller tanks, where pressure was Batticaloa Lagoon. Trs: E. A. C. 1954.
by no means great, this was effected by means of cylindrical burnt- ARUMUGAM, S. Village Irrigation Works. Trs: E. C. A., 1957
clay pipes laid under the bund. What permitted the old-time BALFOUR, J. A. Irrigation in Ceylon (Presidential Address). Trs: E. A. C.,
1914. .
engineer to proceed so boldly with the construction of better and
Notes on Nachchaduwa. Adm. Report, Govt. Agent.
bigger reservoirs was a structure found in tanks built earlier, but N. C. P., 1900.
perfected by the 3rd century A.D., known as the bisokotuwa, BLAIR, DOUGLAS Adm. Reports Survey Department, 1898 - 1900.
meaning: "the enclosure where the water level lowers." This outlet BROHIER, R. L. Ancient Irrigation Works in Ceylon, Vols. I. II, Ill.
1934-35.
work built into the upstream face of the bund regulated or totally The Tamankaduwa District and the Elahera Canal, 1941.
stopped the flow of the water into the discharge culverts, and also Interrelation of Ancient Reservoirs and Channels in
served as a silt trap. We can only surmise that the gates of this Ceylon, J RAS CB .. Vol. XXIV, No.90, 1937.
structure were of timber and that elephants furnished the motive Legacies of the Colonial Dutch Engineer (Irrigation) Trs:
E. A. C., 1949.
power to lift them. Structural Features of Ancient Irrigation Works
What is specially interesting is that even some of the earliest (Presidential Address). Trs: E. A. C., 1956.
sluices are with these triumphs of ingenuity which proves that the The Gal Oya Valley Project in Ceylon. Dept. of
early engineers had mastered the problem so successfully that all Information, I 9S I.
others were content to copy their example. Thus, the builders of Land, Maps and Surveys. Vol. 11 for Dutch maps and
those bisokotuwas have established a claim, which is 2,000 years plans, L9SI.
Irrigation in Ceylon. Ceylon Today,Marchl954.
old, to be considered the inventors of our modem valve-pits and
BROWN, W. . Irrigation in Ceylon. Tra: E. A. C., 1931.
valve-towers.
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J RAS CB, Vol. VI, 1959. Dimbula-gala Caves,C AL R,Vol.lII, No. 2, 1917.
PARANAVITHANA, S. Ancient Names and builders of Padaviya and Parker, H~ Ancient Ceylon, Part ll. London, 1901.
Nachchaduwa. U.C.R., July-Oct., 1958. Spittel, R. L. Vanished Trails, 1944.
PARKER, HENRY Irrigation in Northern Province, S. P. XI, XXlJI, XXIV,
XLVI, XLV!I, XLVJII, 1886.
Ancient Ceylon, Part II, London, 1909.
Memorandum for Irrigation Works, 1887.
General Report, Irrigation in Mannar District. S. P. III,
1889
.t>IUDHAM, CHARLES An Hi.vtoricat Account of Ceylon. Vols.l & Il, many
references to "tanks". 1848.
REPORTS CentraJ Irrigation Board, and Provincial Irrigation Boards
issued as Sessional Papers from 1885-1900
SCHARENGUIVEL, H.0.T. Gal Oya Dam. Trs: E. A. C., 1952.
SCHNEIDER, CAPT. G. Irrigation Notes 1807. Printed Ceylon
SURVEYOR GENERAL Literary Register, Vol. I, 1887.
SEA OF PARAKRAMA Ceylon Almanac, p. 28, 1857.
SOMASUNDERAM, S. Minneriya Irrigation Scheme. Trs: E.C. A. 1961.
TENNENT, SIR J.E. Ceylon-an account of the Island. Vol. I, pp 338,
430-432, 468. i860
TURNOUR, GEORGE Epitome of the History of Ceylon 1832.

136 137
 Part II

THE SOUTH COAST ROAD

 INI'RODUcnON

old preserved in stone or paintings, those whose inclinations

?end tow~rds a study of_old traditions may yet explore veritably
isolated villages, where time has not yet destroyed the devotion to
Introduction old memories deeply rooted in the souls of the people, and the
respect for traditions, legends and customs inherited from a distant
Thousands of people come to Ceylon, as sightseers, on business, past.
or as student. Each of them has been seeking guidance, .as others The marvellous heritage of Ceylon's ancient civilization, the
will if they are wise, on the scenic attractions and the strange magnificent network of man-made lakes and irrigation channels
customs to be encountered. Nothing is more suited to the cause of which have combined life with culture, in the sun-scorched level
international understanding and goodwill. But almost to an individual, pla~n~, have a strong claim to admiration, and cannot fail to satisfy.
visitors from abroad cannot help commenting on the lack of Or tf tt be the tang of the sea and possibilities which attract, there
enterprise and the scant interest devoted to Ceylon's attractions, are a galaxy of coves and bays on the girdling coast-line which hold
apart from its sunshine and colourful scenic resources. There seems out an irresistible appeal to the work-weary.
therefore little hope of holding the interest of tourists and visitors Nevertheless, more often than not it is the Ceylon jungle that
from abroad in large numbers, until health and pleasure-seekers a~pears to exert the greatest fascination. Nothing can be jollier,
nearer home help by popularizing these assets, and putting them on with work and worry left behind and an open road ahead, than the
the map. prospect of a holiday in regions which have been little explored
There can be no question, therefore, that a movement to "See and seldom visited, where one may take back picture!; of wild
. Ceylon first" among ourselves might have practical results of no denizens sporting or grazing in open unpeopled wastes, o.r bending
little value. There are hundreds of Ceylonese who were wont, over their reflections in the limpid surface of quiet jungle pools. To
before exchange control curbed their enthusiasm, to embark on reach such jungle solitudes is necessarily fraught with a little more
holiday tours abroad having shown very little curiosity for what is than_ the usual organization. In reality a short jungle trek is not quite
fascinating and beautiful in their own country. 'Where to go!' or, so difficult nowadays as one might imagine. .
'What is there to see?' are question~ frequently asked. Naturally, For those who can afford it, the best way of seeing Cey Ion is to.
much depends on one's inclinations and interests. However travel by motor-c_ar. The railway and the motor-bus contribute in
diversified or different these may be, it does seem possible to some measure to bring many remote places of interest within the
satisfy every one of them in this little Island. reach of the les~ fortunate, but much will depend on how one
If it be cool air or rugged landscape that one is after, there are arranges the itinfrary. It is not the intention of the writer, however,
scores of resorts set in the south-central highlands, where hill piled to provide a Syfj,es
. ,,I
of itineraries for those who know little of their
upon hill, and mountain range upon mountain range, seemingly come own country, but rather to convey a few bird's-eye views of the
to rest at the elevation of Nuwara Eliya. Historical and archaeologi- cultural and natural attractions at their very door, for which
cal associations can be satisfied by unlimited excursions to many a accessibility appears to have bred a form of contempt.
less frequented spot, even if the tourist centres Dambulla, Sigiriya,
Polonnaruva and Anuradhapura fail to offer allurement. And while
the artist can still seek and find in the ruins of these old capitals
inspiration in craftsmanship which may be even two thousand years
140
141
 GALLE FACE AND MOUNT LAVINIA

It was about the year 1872 that the old Dutch fortifications were
demolished, but very singularly a portion of the old casemated
powder magazine near the eastern end of Chatham Street, was
spared for some time to recall a weird traditional tale of dark
I tragedy.
When the Dutch forces had for weary months made efforts to
GALLE FACE AND MOUNT LAVINIA reduce the Fort of Colombo, Gaspar de Figuera, a deserter from the
Portuguese camp, offered to lead them to a part of the works which
.They say that the picturesque in these modem days cannot hold had been carelessly defended, on the condition of being adequately
its own against the practical: effect must yield to usefulness_. rewarded in the event of the surprise proving successful.
All that remains of the grass-grown ramparts and the bastions of After the capitulation of the fortress when something like order
the old Fort of Colombo are a few mouldy sections of the walls had been restored, it came about that Nemesis, who sooner or later
which, with a moat, the Beira Lake and a rockbound coast line, overtakes all traitors, was preparing Figuera's doom.
rendered the city for centuries "the best fortified position in the whole The Dutch Commander harangued him on the enormity of his
of India". offence in having betrayed his countrymen, and, as a warning to all
The old main gate-:--which until recent years was the Fort police traitors, sentenced him to be bricked up on the top of the powder
station-affords the best idea today of the ancient fortifications. magazine. He was accordingly taken there, was placed in a vault
The grim old moat, the draw-bridge and the tally port have with a loaf of ~read and a botde of wine beside him, and was
vanished, to make Colombo more spacious. immured alive.
But behind Queen's House there are, remnants of what once With the demolition of the ramparts of Colombo to make the Fort
formed the sturdy fortress, called by the Dutch Punt den Brei!, more spacious, breezy and healthful, the umbrageous tulip and bread-
overlooking the rocky shore to which the Sinhalese fisherman had fruit trees which once lined the main streets had1also to give way
given the name Gal Bokka, which the Britisher corrupted to Galle for wider thoroughfares.
Buck. The Dutch nomenclature of these streets had from much earlier
Enkhuyzen and Leyden Bastion, lying in unfrequented recesses, days been buried under English names, the only one which lends
are other portions of the rare old walls which savour of old mystery, itself to identification being King's Street (present Queen's Street)
and conjure up visions of the single vain attempt, made by a which was called Heerne (King's) Straat. The old Dutch gable-
beleaguring army, to break down the sturdy battlements . ended houses which faced this principal thoroughfare are no more.
How strange it does seem to be told that, even until quite recent The South Gate of the Fort at the end of Heeme Straat, called
times, the Fort gates were preserved and that sentries were posted the Gale Gate, took the form of the letter "S", and opened on to a
at them! They were closed at nine o'clock when a time-gun boomed. short roadway flanked by Suriya trees, which had struggled for a
No person was permitted to carry out or take in a parc;el out of crooked existence against the wind for years. This led through a
hours, unless he possessed a pass! . small gate and a drawbridge to the present popular marine parade
Undoubtedly, Colombo has undergone a very great change m of Colombo: Galle Face. How very few realize what a wealth of
the last century-but, in monument, by record and through tradition, information which can lend charm to memory, lies associated with
we may even today pick up the threads of old-time as~ociations ~nd this lung of Colombo -where crowds foregather today to sport on
piece together legends which have come down to delight postenty. holiday, to daily perform exercises in the serious business of

142 143
 SEEING CEYLON GALLE FACE AND MOUNT LAVINIA

keeping fit, or just as they say to 'drink' the delicious sea breezes!
Who would for instance associate Galle Face as a component
part of the citadel and rampart, which girdled the earlier Colombo?
Nonetheless, this was its original function to expose any hostile ap-
proach on the southern fortifications, and render artillery and mus-
ket fire fro in the batteries and breastworks more effective. It was
in this sense-namely, as a continuation of the glacis facing Galle,
that it perhaps received its present name. The land is to this day
acclaimed the property of the Military. Tim_e was when the whole
plain frorri the South Gate, extending as far as Mount Lavinia, came
to be called Galle Face. Howbeit, Tennent, writing over a hundred
years ago, tells us that Galle Face derives from Galle Faas (Dutch),
meaning "the face or front of the fortifications facing the direction
of Galle."*
In the early days of British occupation, Galle Face served as the
principal exercising ground of the garrison. Rather curiously, mili-
tary executions too were enacted there, just outside the Fort and 14. Horabora Wewa
overshadowed by the "South Gate" walls. Records tell of four mili-
tary executions--of Private John Gould in 1810 for mutiny at Galle;
of Private John Stevenson in 1814 for mutiny; and Privates John
Jenny and John Masterson in 18 I 7 and I 833 respectively, in both
instances for mu!inous conduct and striking officers. It is indeed a
strange coincidence that these four unfortunate men were all called
John.
It was actually only in 1828 that Galle Face came into promi-
nence as an esplanade, and a rendezvous for the general public of
Colombo. That happened due to the fact that Sir Edward Barnes,
the Governor of the time, was interested in horse-raci.ng, and found
the open space on the southern approach to the Fort a very suitable
venue for a race course.
The ground on the Galle Face was accordingly levelled to some
extent, the mounds built by termites were razed to the ground and
the holes made by the land-crabs filled up. The latter operations had

* The oldest Dutch map of Colombo (circa 1680) shows a fausse bray-
"a ditch. and low parapet behind which infantry took shelter", thrown up on Galle
Face from lake to sea. It is possible that inasmuch as the Dutc)l called the South
IS. Colombo-100 years ago
Gate "Galle Gate" they called this structure "Gale Fausse", which in anglicized
form came to be "Galle Face".
144 145
 SEEING CEYLON GALLE FACE AND MOUNT LAVINIA

to be performed before every race meeting or oftener. There were no motor-cars, or rickshaws, or bicycles, of course, fo.
By this means a good course of a mile and a quarter, which when the races were held on the "Colpetty Race Course" there
carr.e to be called the "Colpetty Race Course", waf: obtained - were none in the Island.
starting opposite Galle Face House (which has now made way for Galle Face retained its character as the race course of Colombo,
the Galle Face Hotel), rounding the high ground where the Galle and its chief recreation ground, until the eighteen eighties.
Face battery later came to be positioned, skirting the Lake, and Meanwhile, there are other aspects and legends of it which merit
tracking back to the starting point across what until recent times notice. For instance, there cannot be anyone living today-not even
was the Colombo Sports Club ground. On the highest point and a hardy member of Gun Lascars-who remembers how cleverly
nearly in the middle of the oval track a circular grand stand was the Artillery practising from the southern ramparts of the Fort, sent
built by subscription. This structure, which is highlighted by the late a 30 pound ball into Galle Face House, at that time a beautiful pri- ,
J. L. K. Van Dort in sketches made by him in 1854, stood on the site vate residence.
until recently occupied by the Colombo Club, to which owing to It was a nine days wonder artd everybody, including the Gover-
its circular shape arid high-pitched conical roof it bears s~me nor Sir Colin Campbell ( 1841-47), came to see the mischief done.
resemblance. The story goes that the ball struck the masonry bridge on the sea-
In fact one is inclined to hazard the suggestion that even today, side road, glanced off to the left, and penetrating the roof of the
the central structure of this building, with its semicircular ends and private dwelling house, passed through the ceiling and finally rolled
steep and high-pointed roof, looks like a glorified grandstand of down into the drawing room, leaving a heavy dent in the brick and
oriental pattern. The original building was of brick, plastered with chunam floor. Happily the inmates had not left their bedrooms and
chunam, and had a cadjan roof, which as in the present building there were no servants about, so that nobody was hurt.
"projected over the verandahs on the second and upper floors". Galle Face, and as we travel along the South-Coast Road Mount
The grand stand was in those early days known as the Assem- Lavinia, have come to be place names to the people of Ceylon. To
bly Room, and was vested in a Board of Directors of what was the tourist and the foreigner, they stand for the two well-known
known as the Assembly Company, composed of those who sub- hotels, to which these euphoniou~ names are themselves an adver-
scribed towards its erection. It was also called "Race Bungalow"- tisement.
a name which, among horse-keepers and rickshaw-coolies, the To the majority of people the most familiar bit of Ceylon' s charm-
Colombo Club building which succeeded the originaJ structure long ing coast is Mount Lavinia. It is a gay sight on days when passenger
persisted in retaining as they would have none other. The Assembly ships are in port, or at week-ends, when the bathing pavilion and
Room was let for public functions, and here too the annual race-ball beaches are alive with paddlers and bathers, and others :azing and
was held-the upper room being "c"ool and airy for dancing, with lying in the sun. In blunt sailor language this jut of land which over-
card-tables placed on the verandahs, whilst the lower room forms a hangs the sea six miles south of Colombo, was named the Pregnant
good supper room". Wench, betokening what it looked like from the deck of a _ship. It
From such beginnings the races on Galle Face came to be an was described as such in charts of the early 18th century. The building
annual September event lasting five days and beginning at 3 p.m. on the palm-shaded promontory--once used as a Rest House, to-
each day. If you will pause to picture the life and movement the day The Mount Lavinia Hotel--originated as the country residence
annual event gave rise to, you will see in the mind's eye the bandies, of a British Governor.
the palanquin carriages, the hackeries, the equestrians and the Governor Sir Edward Barnes planned to make it Government
pedestrians of all sorts, who were there on the "road to the races." House, with a marine drive extending to the Fort. A noble building
146 147
 SEEING CEYLON

GALLE FACE AND MOUNI LAVINIA

was 'raised, blotting out its rustic predecessor, and that Will; mt: end
of a town-planner's dream, inspired by forethought for a Colombo buildings being erected to hold as many as 150 inmates. The mound
with elegant homes facing an esplarade and sea-front six miles long. thus came to be gradually filled by a very quiet and harmless set of
The house on the Mount was, under peremptory orders from the Boer sojourners including, besides the convalescents, the old, the
Home Government, sold by public auction, and the property west of feeble, and the debilitated. The permanent military barracks by the
what is today the main road from the Mount to the Fort of Colombo, side of the railway line near the sea-now a part of the hotel--,-
most ofwhich is said to have been privately owned by Sir Edward, were converted into a hospital.
fell under the hammer to various Ceylonese owners at 5 s. per acre. Proceeding further south from Mount Lavinia, along the coast
One portion alone was retained: Galle Face, the present lung of road, one can find many another delectal;>le resort drenched in
Colombo. salt-laden air. Taking them in tum, there is Panadura; hedged in
But whence came the name Mont Lavinia?, you ask. Romance between the sea and an inland back-water forming the Bolgoda
links this nomenclature (Lavinia) with a beautiful, large-eyed maiden Lake, all dotted with charming islands; Kalutara., old world town,
of that day, who was destined by the traditions of caste to wear no once enthusiastically known as our "Richmond-on-the-river";
more than a handkerchief to cover her breasts. Legend tells that Bentota, famed for its excellent oyster tiffins; Ambalangoda, where
her father, Aponsuwa, was able to induce an old-time Governor of the safest bathing is to be had; Galle, fallen from high estate-once
the Island to permit her, and the other women of that caste, to cover a great emporium intimately associated with the earlier mercantile
their upper body with a jacket. enterprise in the East; Weligama, queen of Ceylon beaches; Matara,
Mount Lavinia is also claimed to be a corruption of Lihini- steeped in Dutch traditions and birth-town of famous men; Tangalla,
Kanda-meaning "Sea-Gull Mound", and Galkissa is the fishing with splendid seascapes that burst upon the gaze .at frequent
village nestling nearby. Much more correctly, perhaps, the name intervals; Hambantota, jumping off place for big-game hunters and
derives from 1-flvinia, a common Ceylon plant found in Colombo : trippers to the Ruhuna National Park; and last on the line-Kirinde,
The sea-blown headland of Mount Lavinia, which in peaceful ever battered by the artillery of angry seas. Suppose we take time
times provides fresh air and rec;reation for the residents of what has to contact these places which are linked to Colombo by the South
b~come today a popular suburb was in the two world-wars put to Coast Road.
use as a camping ground for troops, or as a battery. It nevertheless
lays bare the story of a c~mp put to other uses during the Boer
war, earlier. On the 17th of December 1900, it was opened as a
sanatorium to accommodate twenty-five convalescent Boer
prisoners of war, who were encouraged to regain their health and
strength by bathing in the inviting, warm, clear sea and by picnicking
on broad sandy beaches. A mile of the sea shore was at their
disposal, and within these bounds. the prisoners .of war were
permitted to roam at will between 6 and 9 in the morning, and 4 and
6.30 in the evening.
It was not long, however, before the value of the station as a rest
and holiday camp pressed for more notice. This led to additional

148
149
 COACHING DAYS

The Ceylon horse-coach of those days was of unifonn pattern.

The main body consisted of a very broad "coach-inside" to
accommodate three on each seat. In front there was a low driving
II seat which offered room also for one passenger, sometimes two.
Behind, facing the rear, there was another seat hanging over, very
COACHING DAYS uncomfortable, and occupied by those who paid the lowest fare.
The limited accommodation called for bookings well ahead of a
Most people will consider a journey from Colomuu along the journey, and this was done at the Mail Coach posting-house, in Baillie
South Coast Road very commonplace. In reality, if you will cultivate Street, where a schedule of rates, affixed to a board and
a seeing eye for bits and pieces of scenery, or pause to analyse, in prominently displayed, bore the legend:
the scroll of life unfolded as you pass along, how others approach
everyday problems, idle moments will be filled with a wealth 9f Fares from Colombo to Galle:
interest. What is more, few routes will vie with this southern high- European Gentlemen ... 2. 10s
Moodleors, Native Noblemen,
way in wealth of literary association. The wise traveller reads
their descendants ... 1. 10s.
before he travels. By this means, one is able to draw entrancing
Proctors and Natives ... .1
panoramas of the past, from many different perspectives, showing
the changing conditions which influenced men and matters before And what with the cost of meals at the posting Rest Houses, and
we entered this speed crazy phase. tips to the ,driver, guard and the host of hangers-on all the way, the
Such as it is, contrast a journey on this arteri!ll road today coach-ride was beyond the means of all but a small minority.
with that made 150 years ago by the Honourable Federic North, Such travel no doubt had its romantic side in those years of
Governor of the British Settlement in Ceylon, and his entourage endurance, though we marvel that anyone could have undertaken it
over the same ground. It brings to mind a picture of 160 palanquin- lightly. The picture we have is of the passengers seated in cramped
bearers and 400 baggage-carriers trudging wearily along the hot, surroundings through many hours of creaking, lumbering and jolting;
sandy track. What dust and din they must have raised, to say of all the fresh air kept out by curtains of American cloth hanging
nothing of that contributed by the escort of 60 men of the Ceylon from a roof supported by iron stanchions, in order to exclude the
Malay Regiment and 20 men of the Pioneer Corps! And yet, this sun, rain and dust; of the horses, one of which was usually a quiet
was not all, for there were two elephants loaded with heavy animal, the other a brute. After being harnessed with much
baggage, six horses and 50 lascars in charge of four large tents, difficulty, the latter often neglected the business of pulling the coach,
which completed the procession. The journey, we are told, was done and proceeded either to kick the dashboard to pieces, or to bite its
in stages of ten miles a day! docile companion.
Even years later, the only public conveyance available for the The stages were generally short, about seven miles. The rivers
journey was Christoffalstz's coach. It left Colombo daily, break- at the time were unbridged, and while the coach was being ferried
downs permitting, when the time-gun on the ramparts of the Fort across with tl:te passengers on a raft, the fresh pair of high-fettled
boomed at 5 a.m. One usually reached Galle bleary-eyed and steeds usually pranced on the opposite bank at every crossing.
exhausted, at sundown. That was very fast travel, and what The first section of the coast-line railway was opened as far as_
travelling it must have been! Kalutara in 1879. The lion horse brought much change in what
150 151
 SEEING CEYLON COACHING DAYS.

perhaps seemed to our ancestors a few years. It gave to them some- a~enues of tea_k which cast shadows over green maidan and
thing of the precision and power of the machine in its infancy. gardens in bloom. All this, and more, the Sandesa poems have
Kalutara, at the present day, basks in the romance of the rubb_er translated into song.
tree. If perchance you had toured the district 50 years ago by river
or by road-as I did in the course of my work-you would recall * *
* *
having seen acre upon acre of undulating country adjoining ricefield
and village garden being cleared, the Na, or iron-wood tree with its Foreign ambition and strategy shattered this aloofness which
red young leaf and sweet white flowers, the massive Teak, the bright Kalutara had enjoyed from the beginning of time. Early in the
Nadun, the fruitful Jak-all goodly timber trees felled and burnt, the seventeenth century, a Portuguese engineer cast his eye on the
smoke rising heavenwards, the slopes bare. On these were planted hillock which from a military standpoint so effectively commanded
the tender rubber saplings which year by year grew into great trees, the river-crossing and the approach from Colombo, Thereafter,
bedecked in the season of wintering _with a variety of colours: red, Gangatilaka Vihara knew its place no longer. Palisade and taipai,
brown, and yellow, in all their tints and shades. or earth walls, came to be Taised on the green hill instead and its
summit was mounted with artillery. Thus did Kalutara enter a new
* *" phase. The district was the scene of many a hard-fought encounter
* *
between the forces of Mayadunne and Vidiya Bandara, and it was
here too that the youthful son of Mayadunne, later Raja Sinha the
British planters ran the large estates which covered nearly every
First, of glorious memory, marshalled his forces, and with the
hill-side. Agency houses helped proprietor or shareholder to big
Portuguese as allies at the time, marched to make history for the
profits and dividends. And as town and district sensed rosy visions
district; at Pelanda. The years rolled on until there came a challenge
of boom-which often, like the splendour of a glorious sunset,
to Portuguese power by a new and formidable invader.
heralded stormy change to follow-the cry went up for land, more
land, to plant with rubber trees and make a fortune. Happening to
have been in the thick of it surveying applications for large tracts of
Crown forest which were sold by public auction, I well recall the
rush. Land was selling at the upset price of Rs. 50 an acre. There
were few roads then, and one reached the hinterland on the
Sabaragamuwa frontier by canoeing up rivers.
There is much to interest one in this hinterland, but it is rather on
fragments of the earlier history of Kalutara I would dwell, when the
interior was ruled by a Sinhalese king, and when, if you looked from
the northern bank across the waters of the Kalu Ganga, near its
mouth, you saw, on the outlying spur of an insignificant hill, an
ivory-white dagoba poised on its crest. Gangatilaka Viharn, they
called it; and De Queyroz, the historian, says of the river flowing by,
that it was named "Santosa Ganga". There were large trees and

152 153
 KALUTARA

planted rubber if it had been marketable in those days. There was

certainly an advantage in growing sugar: from it, at least, "some
Dutchmen distilled rum", forestalling Gal Oya by many years.
But the one enduring legacy of the Dutch occupation is the canal
III system, which has played no small part in enriching the district. On
these waterways built by their hydraulic engineers, arrack from the
KALUTARA. distilleries, coir fibre and all agricultural produce from the district,
which found purchase in markets abroad, were carried in padda
One of the earliest notices of Kalutara in the period of the Dutch boats to the warehouses in Colombo for shipment. An attempt was
occupation is by Christopher Schewitzer, an adventurer, who ~ook made, too, to link up with the roadstead at Barberyn (Beruwala),
service under the Dutch East India Company, and kept a diary. but work was stopped at the cabook hills of Maggona when three-
Under date 22nd April, 1677, he wrote: "I was sent with 30 soldiers fifths of the canal had been cut.
to the Fort of Kalutara ... to have some new ramparts added to it..."
This apparently was the first attempt made by the Dutch to remodel *
the crazy Portuguese Fortaleza. Van Goens, the Dutch Governor
* * *
and Commissioner of War, also ensured in this instance that a good In February 1796 the Fort of Kalutara was ceded to the British
road connected Kalutara with Colombo, "along which eight men troops under General Stuart. It did not remain long garrisoned after
could march abreast, taking with them field guns." the Kandyan capitulation in 1815. Time was when one of the
buildings within the Fort was used as a country retreat by a Chief
* * * * Secretary, the Hon. John Rodney. On great occasions, they say, he
had salutes fired from a "bamboo battery". Here too, in 1824 he
And so, coming down the stream of time to the eighteenth buried an infant son, and built a pyramid of brick over the grave,
century, we see the historic hill of Kalutara converted into a which carries a pathetic epitaph appealing to posterity "to respect
compact residential Fort complete with moat and drawbridge. The and spare the remains of our child".
fortifications on the summit terminated in four rondels, or angles, The town was at this time, 130 years ago, pithily described as "a
conspicuously surmounted by bartizans or quaintly picturesque stone favourite resort for invalids, with its umbrageous walks and cool
sentry boxes shaped like pepper-pots. The glacis, or open space and salubrious climate." A quarter of a mile from the Fort stood the
surrounding the Fort, extended westwards and southwards, bazaar, "Chiefly in one street, built of stone with thatched roofs
corresponding to the esplanade of today. inhabited by Sinhalese and black descendants of the Portuguese."
It is told that the stone for the Fort was brought as ballast in ships The Dutch building which housed the Commandant of the station,
which returned to their home-ports filled to overflowing with has gone its way to make room for Kalutara's new Courts. It was
commodities of the east--cinnamon, oil and spices. long used as a Rest House, and later as a Police Court.
To supplement the indigenous cinnamon, the Dutch introduced
coffee of a very superior kind, and pepper. The latter, besides being
profitable and easily grown in the shade, proved useful to fill
* * * *

interstices in the storage of cinnamon for exportation to Europe. Writing of the old Kalutara Rest Houst, which was much more
They also grew sugar-cane to advantage, and would no doubt h~v~. open than the modem one is to the sea breezes blowing across a
154 155
 SEEING CEYLON KALUTARA

verdant lawn, other picturesque "roadside hotels" which dotted this surf on the coast, the migrant Arabs were accustomed to draw up
countryside when journeys were made by pony-trap, hackery or their frail craft into this lagoon. Here these intrepid sailors "spent
bicycle, are called to mind. Moragala is the only one which has two months or more in the shade of the forests and gardens and in
survived the introduction of transport that increased the mobility of the enjoyment of a temperate coolness". They described these
travellers. Perched on the summit of a hill, and overlooking the lagoons round the coasts of Ceylon by a generic term: "Gob of
wooded undulations of the Pasdun Korale, it is still worthy of Serendib".
exploitation for jaded nerves. A hill stream, which monotonously
murmurs as it cascades by the side of this Rest House, lulls the *' * * *
senses to restfulness, just as much as the crystal-clear pool it has
formed in the luxury of verdure affords pleasant bathing. The As the centuries went by, even the ebb and flood of invasions
traveller will do well to provide against too severe rationing by from the neighbourig continent pressed population into this region.
notifying the Rest House-keeper beforehand of his intention to In one such cataclysm which took place in the 11 th century, we
stay there. have the first undoubted historical allusion to Kalutara. On this
occasion the country was overrun by an usurper called Wikramapandi
* * * * and his mercenaries. He set up his seat of Government on the bank
of the Kalu Ganga near where it enters the sea, and he was lord of
Just about half a century ago, when the Fort at Kalutara, which a kingdom which virtually stretched from the sea-coa~t to the
had brushed away Gangatilaka Vihara, was neither a residence nor central mountains, and extended along .the coast southwards and
a ruin, utilitarian ambitions once again stepped in and, without any .eastwards to Trincomalee. They called the city Velapura. No relic
reverence for the past, crowned the "green eminence" with a remains to tell of this dignity to which Kalutara attained. Neither
modem official residence for the Assistant Government Agent. this capital, nor the geographical territory it commanded, was
Nevertheless, Time, which is ever ringing in changes, is once again destined to survive the exploits in the 12th century of Parakrama,
attuned to wrest the pageants and ceremonies, the devotion arid surnamed "the Great". Forcing his way to a throne, he expeiled all
sanctity, which the ancient shrine laid claim to. The site has recently usurpers and knit the story of a reunited Cey Ion in the zenith of its
been vested in the Kalutara Bodhi Trust, and new landmarks will splendour.
crown the hill-top from where the river, which washes its base and
spreads into an estuary, disposes an arrestinrlicture of riparian * * * *
scenery.
There remains to make mention of but one other quaint land-
* * * * mark of Kalutara's romanticism-a rampart of vegetation, the fine
old banyan tree which has thrown an arch across the road which
In the scenes unfolded by the generations of people who leads to Galle. Under th~ graceful and dainty tracery of its
contributed to the patch-work of population which today so filaments and aerial roots, the traffic along this arterial road daily
profoundly affects the social, economic and political life of Kalutara, flows. It kindles interest as a typical oldtime link of a modem
there are many traces of foreign influence. Even so far back as the Kalutara. For how much longer?-One wonders.
5th century of our era, when the south-west monsoon was rolling

156 157
 BERUWALA

in the natural effort to let their green crests catch the sunlight.
Between the rows of slender trunks of the seemingly interminable
coconut groves, one glimpses the ever-changing drama of ebbing
IV and flowing ocean, of narrowing beaches, and of fishing life. Monsoon
vagaries supply the change in scene.
BERUWALA
* * * *
It is surely improbable that the eye can ever weary of the
constantly changing scenes which are revealed to a traveller on the For six months of the year, lashed to fury by south-west squalls,
road south of Paiyagala. A kaleidoscope of coves, bays and turbulent seas and mountainous waves thunder on the share and on
headlands, overshadowed by vegetation to the water's edge, headlands of dark rock. The angry ocean struggles as it were to
dominates the sea-scape. On land, the eccentricities in plan and tear the land away. The roadway is drenched i~ driving clouds of
decoration of the plastered and tiled houses of the well-to-do, and stinging salty spray. And yet, at other times, more particularly from
the crazily fashioned hutments where dwell the poor, flicker past November to April, under blue sky and with fleeting cloud-shadows
like the pages of a book. Most of the smaller dwellings hug the playing on calm waters, the surf lazily breaks on the yellow sands
highway, the thatched roofs of the hutments slung low towards the which bar its advance. 1'his is when shoals of fishes close inshore,
sea in order to resist the fierce winds of the south-west monsoon. and shouting crowds of :men and boys swarm the beaches dragging
Just at the road-side may stand the blackened,weather-wom walls in the ma-dael, or giant nets, within their respective fishing beats
of a house, slowly turning to powder. Many of these crumbling marked by coloured flags on poles. It is the season when brown
relics have never been lived in. Either the naekat or lucky position sailed outrigger fishing canoes ride the ocean in large numbers, and
of the constellations, was not ascertained. correctly before the first pin prick the dark nights with the yellow light from flares against a
pillar of the house was erected, and misfortune intervened; or the skyline powered with white stars; and when the shore-fisher may
disquieting effects of the evil eye, the evil mouth, or the o~e_ns, be seen casting his line from the tip of every tongue of land which
proved too strong to be disregarded with impunity, and bmldmg juts into the sea.
operations were suspended!
* * * *
* * * *
Of the hundreds of uses proverbially claimed by Sinhalese
As each townlet rushes towards the moving car, the colourful, tradition for their beloved palm, few coconut trees in this locality are
throbbing life of market-centres brings into focus passing glimpses permitted to fruit. They are tortured and put to greatest use to yield
of a conglomeration of fashions and manners and customs-the the S&I) from their beautiful flower. Connoisseurs know this to be a
results of influences which have been at work for hundreds of years. sweet and pleasant beverage when first drawn from the tree. When
There is much fun in picking out the Western influences on Eastern fermented~ it becomes a highly intoxicating teddy; and when
life, the definition of which is so often evaded by that convenient distilled, the potent spirit, arrack. A cocktail, made by the simple
term, the "inscrutable East". process of mixing the sweet toddy with arrack, produces a "heady
But we return again to the road, which continually races ahead drink", on which a man can get exceedingly drunk on very
through a colonnade of coconut trees which bend perilously inwards small money.

158 159
 BERUWALA

If it should strike you that the people in the localities where

the toddy-tapper operates appear more languorous in movement,
you may be sure that this is well within the tradition of the age-old
saying "Opportunity makes the thief'. Many get exceedingly drunk
with no outlay of money at all_:_a characteristic which is shared by
the pub-crawling crow and the squirrel by day, and by the flying fox
by night. The~e jolly tipplers take their fill of the fermented sap from
the small clay chattie, or the gourd which is hung under the bleeding
flower, in the crown of the tree.

* * * *

16. Dutch Fort ar Kalurarn

Beruwala tells of its past in a domed mosque with white
minarets, embowered by trees; a coastal port where small craft
may anchor; and a ten-acre islet, from which there shines in all
weathers when darkness falls over the coast-line, the Barberyn light.
The Kechimalai Mosque is built at the tip of the tongue of land
which shelters the anchorage against all but the lash of the south
west monsoon. It is traditionally claimed that the advance emigrant
band of Yavanas, styled by misnomer Moor, from Kayalpattinam to
the north-east of Cape Comorin, landed at this spot in 1024 A.D.
and made it their most important and historic settlement in the
Island. Their descendants are the Ceylon Moors of today.
The event is commemorated in the very name of this urban town-
ship: for Beruwala, is a corruption of Bae-ruwala, which freely
translat6d from the Sinhalese means "the spot where the sail
~. was lowered". Although the Portuguese found them the most
.' l:I formidable adversaries no Moslem armed force ever arrived off the
shores of Lanka. They established themselves here by the pedlar's
pack, not by the kris. As a local proverb has it: "There is no place
where the Moor trader and the crow cannot be found."
Five times during the day the muezzin calls from the minarets
of this mosque. The devout followers of the Prophet respond and
pay homage in.incessant pilgrimage. Once a year they come in
procession from all parts of the Island, to give thanks and hold high
17 Galic Harbour. 1863 festival.
* * * *
160 161
 SEEING CEYLON BERUWALA

The Customs premises and warehouses are enclosed by lichen make the crossing. Vari-coloured shells cast up by the wash of the
covered walls of crumbling coral-stone and lime plaster. The waves, strew the shaded pathway from the landing-place to the
roadstead sleeps under the sun, dreaming of days when Dutch fighting turfed terrace below the lighthouse. From here, there is an
ships anchored to land the troops under General flulft, who marched unobstructed view of the Indian Ocean, but if perchance, through
to storm and capture Kalutara from the Portuguese. A hundred the kind offices of the lighthouse-keeper, you are conducted to the
years later, Thunberg, a Dutch scientist and traveller of note, whose top of the structure, your field of vision will extend from the head-
name is recalled in that popular tropical flowering-creeper land of Balapitiya to the jut of land at Panadura.
Thunbergia, wrote of Beruwala as a thriving port, "whither the Complicated revolving hexagonal frames of prisms and lenses .
cinnamon is delivered in from all the circumjacent tracts, and loaded blink in the gloom of evening and continue through the night to throw
from the warehouses into ships". a 20-mile beam of light to warn ships away from a treacherous
There is little hazard in guessing that the warehouses Thunberg coast, until they pick up the signal flashed "from either Galle or
wrote of are still there today, but to see a vessel moored in the blue Colombo. Looking landwards from the top of the tower one sees an
waters of the roadstead is now a rare sight. Even the few schooners extensive panorama of the western maritime belt and the hinterland
which used to call regularly and discharge rice and salt, no longer beyond it. Foot-hill piled on foot-hill, in serrated formation parallel to
supply the trade with these commodities, for they are now brought the coast, lie unfolded on a background of mountain ranges blued by
f;om the large towns in diesel lorries. distance. Brought into common focus in the background, on a cle,ar
day, the eye picks out Adam's Peak, celebrated alike for its
* * * * singularly prominent and striking appearance as for the interesting
religious associations connected with it.
By calling to mind that fighting ships, or cargo-carrying
vessels, once anchored in this roadstead, one is able to grasp the
impact of the social revolution which has since taken place. And yet
strange to say, despite the march of progress, not so very long ago
when the threat of <!nemy invasion forced army leaders to think in
terms of likely landings from water-borne craft, it happened to be
such insignificant details as these, crowded out from the pages of
history that helped to picture in broad outline and highlight a map
showing the spots on Ceylon's coastline where landings had been
made in the past, and were likely to be made again. It was my
privilege to compile this map.

* * * *
With a little time to spare a visit to the Barberyn Lighthouse will
help to strike another repetitive note on the impressions you carry
away of Beruwala. The rocky islet on which it is erected is a mile
off the coast. When the sea is calm, a boat can be procured to

162 163
 BENTOTA

If you had the power to look back 300 years, you would see no
tourist Rest House at Bentota, but the threatening cannon of a
Portuguese fort. This is called to mind by the name Parangi Kotuwa,
V used today to describe the adjoining gardens.

BENTOTA * * * *
Dominating the undulations and foot-hills nearer in, the humped, The Bentota Ganga served for many years as a frontier-when
wooded height named Haycock easily lends itself to identification. the Hollander was at Galle and the expiring power of Portugal was
The Dutch called it Hooyberg and marked it on their charts as an concentrated in Colombo. But apparently the former failed to see
aid to navigation. With their sources cradled in the forests which any strategic advantage in maintaining this Portuguese frontier post
clothe the slopes of Haycock, there run the streams and rills which when Kalutara fell into their hands. When or how the present Rest
wind down to form the Bentota Ganga. The two lattice-girder bridges House came to be erec.ted is anyb,ody's guess. The main part.of it
which span the estuary of this river at Alutgama, were erected in seems to be a pre-British building.
1870, prior to which all traffic used the ferry. Nevertheless, the antiquarian in search of visible reminders of
But why, you ask, is it called the Bentota Ganga? There is a the past at Bentota, will find something to interest him in the
suggestion that the name is a corruption of Bhimatittha, a pali word Government school nearby, a quaint building erected by the Dutch
meaning "fearful ferry". Some say that the "fear" was caused by a to serve as a rural church. Over the entrance there is a stone slab
demon which has long haunted the water-crossing, and inspires much bearing the inscription.
awe. Others associate it with the dangerous currents and eddies
reputed to have made the crossing most difficult and terror-inspiring Fecit
in the old days of travel. C:A:S:
A. D. 1755.
* * * *

The Bentota Rest House is sited on an acclivity off the left bank
* * * '*
of the river, and a short walk from it offers idy Ilic vistas of riverine
Despite the great pains the builder has taken to hide his identity,
waters meeting the sea. It never lacks its full quota of week-end
search has disclosed that he was a French or Swiss officer named
visitors, more especially when the breakers have ceased to lower
Claude Antoine Scoffier, who was Commandeur of a little Dutch
their heads and charge the palm-hinged beach like bulls, and sea-
outpost at Pitigala on the Kandyan frontier.
bathing is safe. The freshwater oysters which made Bentota Rest
An epitaph in Dutch, lettered on a slab of stone on the floor of
House famous are procured from the estuary. Sinhalese divers de
the old church, is a more pathetic reminder of the outpost at Pitigala,
tach them from the rocks at the bottom of the river with mallets.
Much depends on the time and season the oyster is taken out. When about 24 miles up the Bentota Ganga. It marks the burial place of
.the river is low, or the tide is out, they are not edible unlesS' washed Andrias Amabert, who was a Lieutenant of the Military, and
in salt water for at least two days. They are at their best if taken perhaps Scoffier's successor as Commandeur of the Pitigala fort.
out at mid-tide. He belonged to the French Regiment Du Flos, then under service
with the Dutch, and died of fever contracted in the interior.
164
165
 SEEING CEYLON

The epitaph disc_loses that he was buried there in. 1764, "and
awaits the blessed resurrection". Meanwhile, countless unshod feet
have rubbed contact with the stone, in an unintentio.nal endeavour to
blot another link with history out of memory. VI
Truly exquisite and delightful is a trip up the perennial waterway
we call the Bentota Ganga. The banks of the estuary are lined wi,th A DETOUR-THE SINHA RAJA ADAVIYA
a dark green forest of mangrove. When the tide gurgles out, it
uncovers a maze of slimy umbrella-shaped roots and smelly mud Those qualified to say so declare that this spreadi~g canopy of
intersected here and there by surprisingly clear shallow pools. These tree-tops .is the only remnant of virgin territory to re~mnd us of that
quiet recesses hold the secrets of the comings and goings of teal time in the beginning when Ceylon was covered with a mantle of
and gargeny duck, and of the loathsome bulk of the estuarine eternal green. All the other forests in the Island are of seco~dary, or
crocodile with hideous head, cold green eyes, horny plates and ridges. subsequent, growth. It lies away in the back-blocks, stretchmg fro~
Here big fish chase for food among the myriads of little fish that the boundary of the Kalutara District to the Kukul Korale m
seldom leave the maze, and in many an innocent-looking patch of Sabaragamuwa. This situation necessarily claims remoteness, and
mud a man could sink to his waist, like sinking into a bath of glue. explains why so very few have perhaps ~eard of this pri~eval
territory, and why fewer still have explored it. The very occasional
* * * * visit of a surveyor, or a forester, would indeed _be the _most
remarkable incursion it receives from the world that hes ou~side.
Some years ago, I went up this river in a lashed double-canoe. From these circumstances, the Sinha Raja tract has acqmred the
When we set out the water was as peaceful as a moveless pool and peculiar strangeness of new country. It rains there nearly every day
smelt of the early morning. To the lift of the paddle and downward of the year with an annual average of 150 to 200 i~ches. Tuer~ is no
thrust, the two boatmen strained back and forward in unison. But by dry season, and the trees, with straight unbranchmg boles, ~se as
noon a fair breeze from the sea sprang up, ana the canoes bounced high as 150 feet, spreading an ever-green c~opy through whi~~ the
to disturbed waters. Making for a village on the bank, the boatmen little sunlight which filters creates below a dim_and murky twihg~t.
secured and lashed, in upright position, three green The forest-floor, carpeted with leaves which come_ down _m
coconut fronds. There was no gainsaying that this make-shift sail never-ending fall the year round, opens into dark roomy aisles, with
was effectiv~. The canoes hissed up the river and tied up few a a scattered undergrowth of shrubs and saplings, the forest of
miles short of Pitigala before nightfall. tomorrow. Wooden lianas in fantastic loops climb upwards to
That night, coiled up in a portable long-chair by a campfire, compete with the trees for light and space, and spread their smaller
I heard for the first, time the strange tales told of Ceylon's dreaded vines on the ground to catch unwary feet.
primeval rainforests-the Sinha Raja Adaviya; to see which, we Unquestionably, there are many other striking phenomena
make a detour. The forest stands there today, reduced no. doubt in peculiar to Sinha Raja which are unique in a sensed, and never seen
area, but revealing still the splendour and luxuriance it has worn for in other wet or dry zone forests of Ceylon. It is only here that every
untold aeons, ~d hiding the legends and beliefs which generations plant and tree has the tip of its leaf drawn ~ut to a point: in effect, to
of men have woven around it. drain off the rainwater rapidly. There is the constant sound of
running water: the murmur of trickling rills, or the roar of larger
167
166
 SEEING CEYLON
THE SINHA RAJA ADAVIYA

streams dashing over rock barriers. Only at dawn and at dusk, when In the Sinha Raja forests, the poisonous cobra, the tic-polonga,
the diurnal and nocturnal creatures of this land of shades go in search and the pit-viper or nicli-polonga, are too common for an easy
of food, is there any sound of living things. At other times, all life is mind. A peculiar grotesque bat, with sharp teeth, huge ears, and a
silent but for the incessant tune of the cicadas, or other insects- flap which falls over its nose-may well be a degenerate species of
millionfold.
the vampire which is believed to have once inhabited the dark
With such a setting of weirdness, is there any cause to wonder recesses and caves of this old forest; the bat now found, they say,
that this forest has inspired a rule of fear? No villager who is native
hunts at night and sucks the blood from small vertebrates.
to t~e few remote hamlets scattered over its fringe will enter it by
At the time of which I write, there were sambhur in plenty.
ch01ce. In the gloom and darkness he senses that multitudinous eyes
Tradition holds that they retained their antlers for many years, with
are watching from the shrubs below and the tropical island of leaves
no limit to season for shedding them. There were wild-pig and
which forms the forest canopy above. He fills every nook and
elephant in large herds which kept moving about. The leopards of
com~r of this amphitheatre with the terrors of evil:.the spirits of
Sinha Raja were said to be big, powerful and fearless. Of bird-lif~,
demi-gods, demons, vampire bats, and mythic animals.
one can see but little, except in the scrub and thicket which lie off
Under the implacable Jaws of the wild, the killing of animals and
the edge of the forest where the chena cultivator has taken toll of
the eating of flesh within the bounds of Sinha Raja is taboo. Evil will
the large trees. Sometimes, from the forest canopy aloft, there comes
surely befall anyorie entering the domain if recently associated with
the cry of the Hom-bill, or the Barbet; and from the distance, at
anything unclean. To ensure protection against harmful influences,
ground level, the clucking cry of the Haban-kukula (Spur-fowl) in
the forest-dweller wears a kanya-nool, which he ties round his
ventriloquistic persistence.
arm, waist or neck. It is a thread spun by a virgin, and soaked in
turmeric, and charmed over charcoal embers and resin smoke. He
utters mantara to keep away wild animals, and equally to appease * * * *
the mystery of the forest as impersonated in Baedde Maehaelli, a
manifestation of the goddess Pattini. But of all the plagues which beset the traveller in this country
. Many a warning did I receive against setting up camp within the which is kept perpetually damp by rain, none are more to be
forest, when opportunity offered itself to live on the fringe. And detested than the land leech. Nowhere in Ceylon are they found in
often did this warning find echo in the.subconscious mind during the greater abundance, nor do they decry their prey with greater
eerie hush of night, in the lurid glow and the fantastic shadows thrown avidity. They drop from sapling and shrub on the body, and spring
up by the camp-fires kindled to keep off wild beasts, when the leaves sideways from the tall grass. Squelching boots, and scarlet patches
stirred to the breeze which blew over leagues of tree-tops over- on one's breeches, tell plainly of their ability to insinuate themselves
head, or two grating branches peeled off to a choking, sobbing moan. through the smallest meshes and interstices to suck blood froi:n the
But in this measure, all forests are evil. In the complex and , tenderest parts of one's body.
majesty of their unique community of plant and animal life one is Even the most potent charms against leech victimization, which
made to feel simple; and it is perhaps that simplicity which makes many of the bearers carried, were of little avail. Bloated leeches
one afraid of the gloom of the forest and its silence ; of the sudden. hung on their bare legs like tassels, and where they had taken hold
rustle of _feet; of the unseen eye of reptile or beast which is slinking near the ankles, appeared like bunches of grapes. The only partially
and peenng and the occasional shrill call or wild shriek of a bird or successful means of warding them off seemed to be frequent
animal which has been let loose in carnival or carnage. application of juice from a tobacco leaf mixed with water.
168 169
 THE SINHARAJA ADAVIYA

If you are anxious to be enlightened, or at least to reconcile

yourself to the legends, or the supernatural mysteries, and the and figured largely in old soldiers' tales of a week of hard work and
Baedde Mahaelli of Sinha Raja Adaviya, you must first learn to merriment. It must indeed have been hard work to carry out
manreuvres in a uniform of "red serge coat and woollen trousers,
attune yourself to the mind of the simple, sullen dweller in those
and shako or foraging cap with white drill cover which fell over
outposts of civilization which guard this virgin sanctuary. He will
behind to cover the neck".
never explain these mysteries, for they are too intangible for clear
But this spot is even more prominently associated with the story
reasoning; but if you will show an understanding sympathy, you may
of the Boer prisoners of war in Ceylon, some of whom were
glean from some of his thoughts a rich legacy of the past.
accommodated in the mud and wattle, thatch-roofed huts used by
In a simple belief, cradled in the misty ages, which he is heir to,
the Volunteers. The Boers abbreviated the name to Uragaha. They
all things, even if inanimate, are invested with life. And it is the
also cultivated a "succulent pumpkin", and showed their farming
influences of these shadowy, shifty powers, that he fears and
proclivities to advantage in a number of vegetable gardens laid out
endeavours to conciliate-powers which reside in every hill and
around the camp.
rock and rushing stream, in every spreading tree, and in the branches
Just over half a century has gone by since this camp, which was
and leaves of that tree. He believes that these powers generate
filled by men from afar, was abandoned, and .... "the place that once
fevers and disease; that they are the force which gives power and
knew them knows them no more". Scrub and lantana have blotted
spring to the leopard; which maddens the elephant, and gives venom
out the croquet lawns where many votaries of the game used to
to the snake.
assemble, while the large green which once saw exciting cricket
and football matches played against local teams, or was used as
* * * * the venue of many Boer athletic sports meets, is today in the
occupation of local colonists, They strive with much less energy,
These, and many other animistic taints, originated with his and therefore raise a meagre crop of vegetables from a soil which
ancestors; they have been kept alive by intimate contact with the was once shown to respond freely. White ants, and the fret of time
forests. If you respect these beliefs, even though you may not be and. weather, have removed all traces of the buildings.
prepared to give credence to them, you will appreciate why he
peoples the forests with billions of spirits and unknown forces-:--and *
even more perhaps in Sinha Raja Adaviya than the stars m the
* * *
heavens. There are still some aged and venerable villagers left in the
The beautiful country around Uragaha is too often neglected by locality who can point out the sites of the hospital and other
the traveller who hurries down the coastal road. Its grass-covered prominent buildings. They tell when cross-questioned which of the
downs, with woods and paddy fields hammocked in the declivities, rounded tops was called Ceylon Mounted Infantry Hill, and recall
are a favourite meeting place of sportsmen who would shoot that it was the advent of the Boer prisoner of war that brought them
Greenpigeon and Snipe in the season. the facilities of a post office, prosperity in trade and barter, and good
For a decade and two years from 1900 this open, rolling country, times.
four miles from Kosgoda railway station, was the venue of the The only building which stood then, and passing years have not
annual camp of instruction of the Ceylon Volunteers. It was then entirely destroyed, is the Rest House at Uragaha. Until recently, its
known as Uragasmanhandya-a name which inspired the first line chief attraction, other than the serenity of its country setting, was a
of a marching-song, Ta-ra, ra-ra Bumbiah.... Uragasmanhandiya! tasty "spread" of curry and rice. In other respects it is not Iikel_y to
detain the traveller long.
170 171
 AMBALANGOOA

many have realized that it was originally erected, and sanctified, to

serve as a place of worship.
This church, so characteristic of the village churches the Dutch
built, is rectangular in shape. The two ends terminate in simple
VII gables. The architectural artistry which provided the gable, was,
they say an inspiration of the Renaissance. It spread to Holland, and
AMBALANGODA was reproduced in her colonies abroad with every possible
variation. Massive masonry pillars support the roof on the two longer
Measured from the angle of the picturesque, the town of sides. Sections of half-wall span these pillars, and wooden rails fill
Ambalangoda itself has not the attractiveness of any of its rivals the opening above the wall. The general construction is typical of
further down the South Coast Road. It is typical of the roadside builders who preferred solidity to aesthetic qualities.
village grown to be a town from what was once a narrow street
which served as the business centre. In the dead hotness of this * * * *
Main Street everything seems so shabby. There are no proper shops,
but rather a medley of stores, boutiques and dingy dens, where In this church at Ambalangoda, so one learns, services were
humanity does business and lives massed together. Jostling crowds, regularly held in Sinhalese by school master proponents, and in Dutch,
during church and school visitations by the clergymen from Galle.
pestiferous hawkers, slow-moving bullock carts and hackeries
But what perhaps gives the greater touch of pathos to this
invade and clog it.
retrospect is the fact that the floor of this church is said to have
Happily, in more recent times, a wide modern by-pass has been
been at one time paved with several tombstones, com1~morating
provided for.the traffic passing through. Travelling down this artery,
distinguished men of Ceylon's Dutch community at that time who
. a white-domed dagoba which catches the sunlight fills the eye. It
were buried in the church. None of these tombstones, placed flush
gives form and climax to the otherwise sprawl of buildings. But
with .the ground, are now to be seen. An explanation may be found
Ambalangoda's true glory is in her rocks, her seascape. and her
in the suggestion that the floor was subsequently raised, and pa~ed.
sunsets. These beguiling attractions strike the only notes the town
Among those buried within this once hallowed but now desecrated
can offer, which tune in with what Richard Hakluyt wrote nearly
place, was the Count Jean Guillaume Du Bois De Lassosay, who,
four hundred years ago, when he observed that "this Ceylon is a
having retired from the Regiment of Luxembourg, of which he was
brave Island with towns very fruitful and fair to see"
Colonel Commandant, served as "Sitting Magistrate" of.
Ambalangoda during the early years of the British occupation of
* * * * Ceylon.

Tucked away behind the busy Main Street there is a Rest House
with sheltered lawns, and open verandahs, where the visitor may sit
* * * *
and take the air from the sea encompassing them. The bathing is as There is, however, one visible link left in this vestige of the past
good here as anywhere in Ceylon; in fact, nowhere safer. These to kindle a visitor's interest. On the outer side of the eastern end of
attractions draw motorists to the Rest House, and it is largely used the gabled wall is an inscription roughly chiselled on a stone, and let
as a weekend holiday resort. But of that host of visitors who have into the building about twelve feet from the ground. 01}ly a visit can
garaged their cars in the building provided for the purpose, how
173
172
 SEEING CEYLON AMBALANGODA

afford some idea of this inscription, of its pristine setting, and of how suit-the bikini.:._provided also that the modem cult of slimming was
the plain, yet substantial, moulding has been touched by the ravages in vogue. On the other hand they lived in an age when travelling
of Time's slow but steady hand. was done in palanquin sl)Jng on a bamboo pole carried by several
Translated to English, the lettering reads as follows: bearers.
Built by Adriaan Oostdyk Onderkoopman. Although this convenience permitted a traveller riding in it to
Superintendent of the Galle Korale. "both sit and lie down, and had at the ends and side~ curtains to
keep off the heat of the sun", the six or twelve bearers, which was
Onderkoopman means under-merchant, and this designation in the usual limited power provided for progression, necessitated
the Dutch Service was dictated by the fact that their administrative frequent halts. It was primarily in these circumstances that on the
organization was run on a strictly commercial basis. After the main routes several houses were built at the Company's expense
building was erected Oostdyk was promoted Koopman, one step for the purpose of "bathing and lodging". Sometimes these
higher, an o.ffice which was next only to that of Adrrzinistrateur of Rusthuyzen were "large and handsome".
the Galle Commandement. It is not uninteresting to note, in passing, Nowhere does sea erosion, which has been with us from. time
that the Commandement was used to denote the jurisdiction of an immemorial, attract greater attention than along the section of the
officer holding the rank of Con1;mandeur, which in this particular seafront south of Ambalangoda. The softer coasts between the main
instance extended from the Bentota Ganga to the Walawe Ganga, frame-(1/ork of rock and Jess resistant cabook, proclaim by outliers
and was bounded on the East by the frontier of the Kandyan of cliff, inshore reefs, and Archaean gneiss far out at sea, to what
kingdom. extent the mainland has been laved by currents deflected by the
Apparently, Oostdyk's duties as Superintendent of the cinnamon south-west monsoon drifts.
trade frequently took him to Ambalangoda, "Cosgoda", and
Bentota. Very likeiy for long periods he made Ambalangoda his * * * *
headquarters. Hence it is something rriore than mere speculation
which suggests that the Rest House at Ambalangoda, bereft of its These fragments of hard formation, which show where the land
modem additions, served as a hostelry even before the church was once Jay, have for thousands of years been the breeding ground of
built. Gull and Tern. In the north-east monsoon-when the sun shines
In that rare publication La.pidarium Zeylanicum, by Ludovici, hard but not too hot, and the air is as clear as a diamond-nothing
there is a reference to a Rust-Huys at Ambalangoda in the year dn be more beautiful than the sight of these birds flying out to sea
1735; but even so, the most imaginative mind will not venture to at dawn, in vast flocks or "strings", to fish all day and return at dusk.
associate the institution with the rare luxury of bathing in the open Hikkaduwa, in its rural setting, is another popular week-end
sea in perfect security behind a natural barrier of rocks which resort which offers quiet sea bathing, except in the stormiest
protects the bather from being carried out by dangerous currents. periods of the south-west monsoon. The bird watcher will find the
group of rocks lying off the lawn of the Hikkaduwa Rest House
* * * * ideal for studying the habits of the winged life which gathers here to
gurgle, c~eak and groan in the late afternoons.
The Dutch Vrouw and Mynheer might have turned an eye to Other features worthy of exploration off Hikkaduwa are the
the joys of surfing if they lived in the age of the two-piece bathing ruined temple, rendered famous by association with the one-time
174 175
 SEEING CEYLON

Poet Laureate of Ceylon, Totagamuwe Sri Rahula, and the

congeries of alluring inland lakes and wooded islets. One cannot fail
too to notice the tract of sunken plain traversed by the road which
once was sea. From this quagmire the people qig up coral, and make
good money turning it in_to lime, by burning. VIII

AN OLD-WORLD, WALLED TOWN

GALLE

Galle has been an emporium of foreign trade from the dawn of

commerce. The old-world fortifications which girdle the town
testify to its importance as a mart in modern times-first of
Portugal, afterwards of Holland, and later of Great Britain.
Originally an entrenched settlement in the lowland territory of the
Kandyan Kings, it was wrested from the Sinhalese in 1587 by the
Portuguese. The Dutch took possession of it after prolonged and
severe lighting, in 1640. It was ceded to the British forces in 1796.
But whereas history holds that the Portuguese discovered what came
to be called Point-de-Galle, the credit must go to the Dutch for
having made it. They decidedly gave 'this town a character which
the fret and wea_r of 160 years have barely touched, and the good
sense of the people who followed them has let alone.

* * * *

The most picturesque section of the fortifications is that which

faces the Victoria Park and the Esplanade. In the Portuguese
period it consisted of a single wall fronted by a deep which
extended from the sea to the harbour. The Dutch converted this into
a formidable line of defence within 24 years of occupying the town.
They called the central bastion, together with its cavalier which is
on a lower level, the Moon Bastion. It was raised over an earlier
Portuguese fortaleza called Conceicao. The two half-bastions flanked
at the end of the rampart to the harbour and the sea also occupy the
sites of two earlier Portuguese fortalezas which bore the names St.
Jago and St. Antonio. The Dutch named these Sun Bastion and Star
Bastion respectively. St. Jago was the scene of the most severe
fighting and carnage when the Dutch carried the town by force of
176 177
 GALLE

arms. Other features of this line of defence agaiRst approach

by land comprise the glacis or open space fronting the line of
fortification; a half-finished ditch in front of the structure known as
faussebray, which renders escalade difficult; also numerous
curtains and covered-ways for the use of the infantry, who took
their stand behind the faussebray.

* * * *
.Starting from the Sun Bastion and following the line of rampart
flanking the harbour, the next point of interest is Zwart Bastion,.
originally a Portuguese fortaleza called Sancta Cruz. The portcullis
18. Ccylons pnmcval rain fore\! a sccuon exposed by felling at this spot, known as the "water-gate", served to let people into, or
out of, the Fort when the town gate was bolted and barred.
Alcersloot Bastion the next in sequence, was originally called
"Sailors' Point". It was later named after the birthplace of William.
Jacobzoon Coster, the Dutch commander who stormed Galle with
his troops and captured it from the Portuguese. The name of the
bastion has been chiselled on .a stone at the spot. The inscription
also bears a date which, however, has no bearing on the date of
erection of the bastion.
Aurora and Point Utrecht Bastions commanded the entrance to
the anchorage. They were considered important strategic Points
since their cannonade would prevent the entry of enemy ships. Both
these forts were overhauled and strengthened in 1728, during the
19. Early squat meeting house (Dutch Church) administration of Governor Petrus Vuyst. His first act on landing at
Galle, says a biographer, was to clap a plaster over one his eyes to
show the people that he did not require two eyes to rule a land of
such small dimensions. So great was the terror he subsequently
inspired that the Council at Batavia recalled him. A magazine at
Point Utrecht Bastion, in perfect preservation, bears the inscription:
"A.J. Galle den 1st Zeber (September), 1787."
Aeolus Bastion is the only point on the western sea-face which
was strongly fortified by the Dutch. Clippenberg, Neptune and Triton
Bastions, with their bases washed by a heavy surf, were erected
about the year 1729, mainly to guard agairist escalade.

20. Ornamental linlel over main doorway of a Du1ch house * * * *

178 179
 SEEING CEYLON
GALLE

How very near we came to losing this spectacular heritage, When, however, that upstart city of Colombo built a southwest
which inspires the collective memory of the Dutch period of breakwater, the harbour of Colombo came to be more favoured as
occupation of maritime Ceylon, is told by Cordiner. Describing a a port of call for loading and transhipping cargo. All the lines of
tour he made in the company of Governor North in 1800, he writes: steamers running to Eastern ports and Australia gradually began to
".:.One hill, at only the distance of a musket-shot, completely call there. Hence it came about that the moving finger wrote the
dominates a part of the Fort. This might have been fortified, but it is word /chabod over Galle harbour, and today one sees there only an
also commanded by another. For these reasons a design was formed occasional freighter, or a perfectly empty sea.
to destroy all the fortifications of this place except those bastions It cannot be counted uninteresting to catch what glimpses we
which immediately guard the.entrance into the harbour." can of thosetimes when Galle was at the zenith of her glory, and
Happily this "design" was not carried out beyond an effort at Colombo was a lesser port of call off the arterial shipping route.
"clearing a distance of.700 yards on the land side of the ramparts on
the orders of H. E. the Hen. Frederic North". What is more, we * * * *
have also to some extent got past the heat and argument
Using an old map as guide and i!1_spiration, the eye can place on
promoted by conflicting ideas regarding the utility of these
this past no less than a dq.zen hotels. There are two off Church
monuments. Although demolition was discussed _several times Street, naired the "Old Mansion!' and "Sea View". Tradition
subsequently, the preservation of the Galle ramparts recently recalls that the former w~ owned and run by Henry Bogaars, and
became a Governmental concern, and the Fort was proclaimed an the latter by Angelo Ephraums, a brother of the founder of the New
Archaeological Reserve. It is thus safe, to remain an op~n corridor Oriental of our day. C. B. Bogaars ran the "Eglington" in Pedlar
into the life and thought of the past. . Street and the "New Mansion" in Middle Street. Other first-class
Colourful history has been written on Galle and its environs, on hotels were: "Loret's", named after its proprietor Eugine Loret, and
its wooded heights, and on the waters of its bay. Here, in centuries "The Parilion" in Rampart Street, owned by a lady, Mrs.
beyond connt, spice vessels were loaded, and fighting flotillas rested Braybrodc.e. Besides these institutions of style and pretension, there
awhile to replenish their stocks of water, food and fuel. were se~ral others of a class to meet the pockets of travellers of
There are people-just a few counted among the old~who will lesser rr.eans. .
tell you that less than a hundred years ago the harbour at Galle, in Arnitage Hill Bungalow, with cadjan-thatched roof, a few m1les
keeping with old traditions, was crowded with shipping at anchor. out of Galle and on the road to Wakwella, was what Mount Lavinia
Those were days of "wooden walls", of the "clipper" and is to tle transit passenger who disembarks for a few hours ~n the
Colottbo of today. It was much sought after for the sake of a
"paddlewheels". Besides the weekly gathering of P. & 0. and
pleaiant drive in a horse-drawn gig through the village garden~, and
French packets outward and homeward bound, there were always
for the "tea" served by the proprietor on the lawns which
several merchantmen riding awhile on these waters. Some were on
overlooked the coconut groves and moist green patches of paddy in
the China tea trade, others were racing through from Australia to
lower levels, round which the waters of the Gin Ganga laid a silver
catch the London wool sales.
trail as they moved to meet the wide ocean.

* * * * * * * *

180 181
 GALLE
SEEING CEYLON

To reckon that as many as 700 passengers landed on some one sees two parallel rows of slender wooden or rounded brick
"steamer days" seems incredible. But that is just what eyewitnesses pillars which converge in the distance up or down-street. These
have testified and supplemented by fascinating glimpses of streets pillars once fronted deep steops or verandahs and su~ported the
and bazaars thronged with sightseers who had perhaps come from low-pitched eaves of the houses on the ground floor which flanked
different parts of Europe and from Australia, India, the Far East, the road. .
and the Cape of Good Hope. Mixing and mingling with the They say that once upon a time the one diversifying feature in
indigenous crowds, they patronized the shops and the stalls. of the streets of Galle was the variety of bright colours for which the
Sinhalese and Muslim vendors whose delicate embroideries and the Colonial Dutch citizen showed special fondness. Today there is less
famous "Galle lace", so enchanting to the Western eye, were on colour, but one sees in thes~ old houses of Galle a variety of
display together with the most captivating ornaments of the silver- fan-lights and ornamental lintels over window or doorway which
smith's art in filigree, precious stone and tortoise-shell. indicate how the Dutch craftsman dispelled the sameness of the
No doubt then, as even now, the popular mementocarried away domestic architecture of the period.
from Ceylon was the ebony or coconut wood elep1ant and the The dominating architectural form which the Dutch used in nearly
miniature catamaran. Yet, unlike at present, in tho;e times the all the large buildings they erected in Ceylon was the gable. Evolved
passenger paid in gold. The amount of sovereigns whic~ flowed into from an inspiration of the Renaissance, it spread to Holland and
the coffers of the jewellers' shops and the hotels was if tradition was reproduced in their settlements abroad in every possi?le
speaks true, reckoned in tokens sufficient to jolt u~ the shares variation. Of this legacy of curve and scroll-work and mouldmg
of any hotels company, or dazzle the trader who reguiles the the best examples extant are to be seen in the stately churches
passenger in the busy Colombo of our day. presenting solid and substantial medieval lines, particularly the one
Howbeit, this does not exhaust the picture of Galle in austere in Galle built by the Dutch 200 years ago. Its peculiar scroll offers
outer completeness restrained by its blackened coral stone and an idea of grandeur and simplicity of line that is almost unique
crumbling stucco ramparts, sleeping under the sun and dreaming of in Ceylon .
days which had seen Mooris)l traders give place to P~rtuguese .If you would have the year& which hav~ gone _by broug~t closer
adventurers, Dutch merchants and British colonists. Str~e to tell, to you, enter this church of many memones which has w1thstoo_d
there is still more romantic poetry which can be squeezed l)Ut from the storms and vicissitudes of two centuries. History tells that this
the melancholy city nestling in the shadow of these walls. was the second church erected in the Dutch period in this station;
The distinctive character which the Dutch engineer b6itowed and popular opinion maintains that it stands erected on the site of an
on Galle has not changed much, and one may yet sense an otl-time earlier Portuguese Capuchin convent. The first Protestant church,
naturalness and absence of vulgarity in houses, churches and ~eets, generally alluded to as the Groote Kerk, built in 1640 knows
which both inspire and help the mind to remodel the individu" and its place no longer. If tradition speaks true the new chruch was a
co-operative legacies of the past. thank-offering by the wife of Commandeur Gasparus de Jong for
The roads are straight and narrow. From above, they lie 'jke the gift of a child. It contains a large number of massive tombstones
dusty rulers forming a grid on a flat landscape reclaimed from tie and mural tablets raised to Dutch and British rulers and me~chants
sea. Some of them carry quaint old-world names, such as Ley- who were conscious until the moment of their death that they were
Baan Street meaning "rope walk"; Great and Small Moderabaa) in positions of power and authority over this sea-girt coast. It also
Streets (Moderabaai meaning mud-bay); and Lighthouse Street contains a wealth of other historical and antiquarian interest.
which had an older name-Zeeburg Street. Looking down the last,
* * * * 183
182
 SEEING CEYLON GALLE

Another of the antiquities of Galle which Time is crumbling is the water used for domestic purposes. The sea has receded from some
old gate, once the principal entrance to the Fort. It is flanked by old exits, but the tide continues to run in and out of others. A similar
Dutch store-houses called packhuis which are slowlytuming to system, but much more limited in its scope, is extant in the
powder. The story of the conquerors who had held the gate against Mannar Fort.
invasion is told in two stones let into the wall over the entrance and Passing out by the old city gate, which is today framed in moss
exit of the gate-way. In the Dutch period there was but one on and fem, it takes some time for one to realize quite what an
which had been carved with a delicate chisel a shield charged with .enchanting picture the land and water around Galle make. A flint-
the monogram V. 0. C. (Vereenigde Oost-lndische Compagnie) blue sea breaks lazily on a crescent line of shore, round which sprays
with two lions as supporters surmounted by a crest showing a of small islands drift to form bays and promontories. These end with
chanticleer Standing on a rock, and below the shield the date ]669. the wooded headland called Rhumassala Kanda, which rises abruptly
The popular explanation of the crest is that the Dutch armorist, from the water's edge.
struck by the similarity in the expression Galle and the Sinhalese From ,a jut on Rhumassala, which is also called Buona Vista,
word gala, used a rock as one feature, and proceeded to duplicate there is a magnificent sweeping view across the harbour; it is a
his idea by adopting a cock (Latin: gal/us) as a further charge on wonderful place whereat to sit at nightfall, watching the lights
the crest. This crest came to be accepted as the Arms of Galle in the coming on, one by one, in the town and suburbs across the waters
Dutch era and belongs to a class known as "canting heraldry". of the land-locked harbour. By moonlight the panorama is uncanny.
Not far from the old gate is the old Government House; called There is a peace in the proportion of everything; the scene has tl--
Queen's House in the British era. Subsequently the building served quality of being breathless and phantom-filled.
as an office for Messrs. Clark Spence & Co.,. and is now the Gibbet is the name given to one of the small islands across the
busi?ess place of Messrs. Walker, Sons & Co. Over the doorway bay. It is completely deserted, but its privacy is said to be disturbed
leadmg on to Queen's Street there is a large stone slab on which the _by the ghosts which its name gives rise to. The Portuguese and the
date 1683 and the figure of a cock have been inscribed. The Dutch are believed to have used it as a place of execution. Not far
significance of the latter has been explained earlier. from Gibbet Island there is a sequestered inlet called Closenburg, a
The inclusion, over two centuries ago, of such a modern favourite resort for bathing and surf-riding. It lends its name to the
accessory as a water-borne sewage system in town-planning must once-famous century-old residence built by Captain Bayley, the agent
be considered extraordinary. Yet this is what the Dutch colonial of the P. & 0. line, in the days when Galle was supreme.
engineer did when he planned the Fort of Galle. The greater part of
the walled town being below the level of the sea, he utilized the * * * *
simple expedient of harnessing the tide at its ebb to carry its refuse
away. The end of the headland south-east of the entrance to Galle's
Little was known of this vast network ofbri~k-lined drains which harbour is named on medieval maps Santa Baaiya. It is a popular
lay from six to twelve feet below normal ground level until and ideal spot for picnickers. From a reservoir here, ships in days of
an epidemic of bubonic plague, in 1922, compelled attempts to old obtained a'supply of fresh water when they touched Galle. Hence
segregate and exterminate the enormous rat population in these its modem name Watering Point. Looking across the open ocean
sewers. These. sewers, despite decay, together with the auxiliary from this rocky headland, sheer and devoid of sandy foreshore, one
honeycomb of house connections, function to this day to carry off sees the two rocky reefs very appropriately called by sailors "the
Whale" and "the Bellows". Many a vessel which risked entering
184 185
 SEEING CEYLON

'the harbour in the south-west monsoon "bumped its bottom" on

these reefs, and is said to have ended as a wreck.
There cannot be many readers who have heard of Edward's
Pill_ar (resembling in the distance the Victory Column in Colombo)
IX
which c_rowns the summit of Rhumassala Kanda. Its presence,
black with age, has given rise to much speculation by the few who
GALLE TO MATARA
ha~e seen it. Actually it is a masonry column, over sixty feet high,
which was erected by a Mr. Edwards of the Survey Department
The road which skirts the crescent shore of the Galle harbour
many years ago, to be subsequently used as a trigonometrical
rises slightly as it reaches Rhumassala and traverses a valley formed
station. The writer climbed it, using a series.of ladders, in 1921, to
by another contiguous range of hills called Talpekanda. The terrain
make some observations, and vouches for an exquisite view, from
is unusual, and sufficiently so to inspire another version of the
the su_mmit, of the harbour? Galle town, and the surrounding country
picturesque legend related earlier which ventured to explain the
reaching way back to Adam's Peak (Sri Pada).
supernatural manner in which the wooded heights round Galle came
The impressions which Rhumassala offers in the realm of
into being.
legend_ ea~ well be summed up in the one word, devastating! The
This second story holds that in a remote age a Sinhalese King
oldest impinges on abysmal depths of time, and draws on the Rama
commanded a yodhaya, or giant, to bring some medicinal herbs
and Sits legends of Ceylon. Apparently, when Lakshman was
which had been prescribed for the Queen. After long search, he is
wounded, and a medicinal herb was required for his cure, Hanuman
supposed to have found two hills in the southeastern region of the
was sent to the Himalayas to fetch it. On his way there, the name
Island which contained all the herbs required. Using his
and natu~ of the plant escaped his memory; whereupon he snapped
extraQrdinary strength, the yodhaya hurriedly slung the hills into the
up_ a po~io~ of _land from the Himalayan massif, and carrying it
two baskets of his pingo, and beg!ln the journey back to the Palace.
twisted m his tail dropped it off Galle. He then went to Rama and
Being _so overjoyed by his find, he failed to take the precaution to
asked him to seek for the herb himself.
strap the loads securely. As aresult, when he reached the village
To this day, believing that Rhumassala is a fragment of the holy
we call Unawatuna, the hills slipped out of the baskets and remain
mountain, sanyasis continue to search for the plant Sansevi, or the
there to this day.
tree of life and immortality, brought in this strange manner to save
Lakshman's life. The Ceylon traditionalist gives credence to this
* * * *
myth when he tells you that many valuable medicinal herbs are to
be found only there! The reader will recall that this is identical with
And so the traditionalist believes that the valley through which
the legend told concerning the summit of Ritigala-kanda.
che road passes represents the path which the yodhaya walked on
while carrying the baskets hung on the two ends of a pole balanced
on his shoulder. Rhumassala and Talpekanda are the fragments of
hill he was carrying. What is more, the rustic story-teller will explain
to you that when the loads dropped out from his pingo, the giant
shouted out: Onna Vatuna! which, rendered in English, means:
"There! It has dropped." Hence, apart from accounting for the
186 187
 GALLE TO MATARA
SEEING CEYLON

presence of the two hills and the valley, the legend goes further to private collectors, and a few more are in the Colombo Museum.
explain how Unawatuna got its name. Most of the bits sold by enterprising purveyors, especially the
If you possess the temperamental gift of seeing things which so-called Dutch chests, are turned out of old wood and plentifully
others are denied, you will, they say, when you pass this gap at the covered with modern brass made into patterns which are old.
hour of midnight, catch a glimpse of a gigantic shadowy figure, with Should you be the adventurous type of traveller with zest for
legs astride the Galle-Matara road, striving desperately to lift the exploration, you will find something out of the usual to reward you if
two hills on a pingo! The story has passed down from father to you walk to Unawatuna Point, at the Matara end of Rhumassala
son-which is how tradition lives. Kanda. The strange tales which will be told you of the ancient Devala
nestling in this superb panorama of sun and sand and rocks should
alone recompense you for the occasional discomforts of the walk.
* * * *
Nonetheless, when there remember to ask to be shown the "Cave
Unawatuna, like many another suburb of Galle, is rich in relics of of the Imprisoned Sea-Serpent".
Dutch times, and seems to have largely been lived in by people who Not far from the Devala you will find a cliff overhung by a large
disliked crowds but had no wish to leave the town far behind. slab of rock. From immeasurable times the restless ocean waves
Barthfield House, and a few others which hold evidence of having have been scooping a cavern under this cliff. It is large and deep,
been built massively, with spacious gates and pillared verandahs, and into it, during the south-west monsoon, mountainous waves ride
are pointers to those times. One of these houses near Waggalmodera, in with tremendous velocity. At times, when wind and wave are
reputed to have been the country seat of the Commandeur of Galle, favourable, you hear shrill and hissing sounds, weird and
has even the ruins of a swimming pool, certainly larger than any sometimes siren-like, caused by the air in the cave being forced
existing swimming pool in Ceylon today. It shows-traces of having through holes and crevices in the imprisoning slab-rock. The
been built with bric~ and mortar, and has masonry steps leading gurgling beat of water on the cliff, and the suppressed hollow and
down to water level. Tradition holds that a golden couch, or sofa of vibrant sounds which rise from the cave below, combine to produce
Dutch pattern, floats on rare occasions in this pool. Few have an eerie clangour. With fantasy to help you, you will find sufficient
actually seen it, and none have attempted to seize it, for the story material here to understand how legends are inspired.
runs that it vanishes, should such an attempt be made ! Nearly all the way from Galle, until one reaches Hambantota,
the road coquets with the sea. The prodigious work of erosion has
cut the coast into innumerable bays and estuaries flanked by thrust-
* * * *
ing peninsulas, or by long fingers of cape. For six months in the year
This story of the vanishing sofa calls to mind what fine Dutch the waters in these bays lie sleek and innocent. At other times of
furniture and china must have filled the spacious houses of old in storm, the water boils itself into frightening spectacles of foam
this unsuburbanized part of Galle, where fact and legend set and spray.
fittingly intermingle. There must necessarily have been many of
those round and long chairs of ample proportion, in which the * * * *
Burgomaster and his expansive spouse took their ease without
Near the level-crossing, just before one gets to Weligama, there
abdominal compression after a full meal of curry and yellow rice.
is by the roadside the so-called Kushta Raja-a great stone figure
But not much of genuine Dutch furniture remains today in the open
cut in a niche which is conspicuous to persons proceeding tQ Galle
m~ket. Soine fine, even if rather solid, pieces are treasured by
188 189
 SEEING CEYLON GALLE TO MATARA

but may well be passed unnoticed by those making for Matara. The Valentyn, the Dutch historian, tells that King Dharrnapala set up
image is popularly explained as that of a Sinhalese king or sovereign a fortification at Matara with the aid of the Portuguese, just over
prince. He was, they say, miraculously cured here of a painful skin 400 years ago. Nonetheless, the interesting relics of redoubt,
. disease by obeying a divine command, received while in a trance, fo bastion and rampart to be seen there today are memorials of the
subsist entirely on "the transparent liquid and innocent pulp of the Dutch. This cumulative evidence suffices to show the importance
coconut until thrice the great moon shall have given and refused her of the centre as a seat of the spice trade in Dutch times. Nowhere
light!" in Ceylon will be found a town inore appropriateiy fitted to the
And so to Weligama, the "queen of beaches in Ceylon," where purpose of intensifying the contrast between the past and the present.
the bathing may be sometimes dangerous owing to currents but where On the right bank of the Nilwala Ganga, a short way from the
there is no fear of sharks close to the shore. Chaotic outspills of bridge, there stands a small stone fort of five bastions, known as the
rose-red iron-stone or cabook cliffs, described on old maps as "The Redoubt Van Eck. It is named after Baron Van Eck, known to fame
Ant Heap", have contributed to the one-time name given to the as the Dutch Governor who sacked Kandy in 1765. Today this
sheltered waters off Weligama, namely "Red Bay". By the sea interesting relic is more popularly referred to as the Star Fort, and
stands a typical Dutch Rest House which is reputed to put up a jolly desecrated as an official residence and a P. W. D. store. ,.
chicken-fish-egg-and-vegetable curry, with sambols-the very Behind the grim old ramparts stretching from river to sea on the
remembrance of which should bring tears flavoured with chillie to left bank there lies the old town, with its narrow streets and old time
your eyes. Incidentally, later history has been written on what was houses. Conditions here appear as primitive as at the date when the
once a deserted island that fronts the broad sea-shore off the Rest Dutch Burgher mynheeren smoked their long pipes, sipped their
House at Weligama. From amongst the greenery that crowns it, Schedam, and went for their noonday siesta. But whereas this old
peep the tall doorway and windows of what to many must be a fort area of Matara appears to have stood still while everything
castle of romance. It will long remain associated with the name of around it has been marching on, it is not devoid of a peculiar
Count De Mauny. fossilized atmosphere which cannot fail to appeal to the stranger
The broad Nilwala Ganga, which flows calmly and placidly who enters its environs.
through Matara, lends sublimity to the landscape of this green and
pleasantly situated town. Matara has many claims to public * * * *
recognition, but none greater than the fact that it has produced a
number of distinguished men, among them "the greatest Ceylonese The building of greatest antiquarian interest in Matara Fort is the
of all times"-C. A. Lorenz. That Matara enjoyed this reputation .old Dutch Church. It bears a date showing that it was repaired in
1769, but there is evidence of its remoter antiquity in the tombstones
for the intellectual superiority of her sons even in the days of
which pave its floors. Standing on the ramparts over the archway
Sinhalese Sovereignty is well ~nown. It was Digby who wrote:
whi<;h is the old entrance to the Fort, one sees a wonderful
"although some doubt may rest on the tradition which makes it the
panora~ of land and sea. Near the sea-shore is a small island
birthplace of Kalidasa, there can hardly be any doubt that the men
round which the breakers roll threatening to drown it in ocean
of Matara always carried away the palm for literary merit. Even at
waves. It has for long been Poulier's Island, but was originally
the present time people entertain a pious reverence for the
called Pigeon Island.
learning of Matara."
Turning the eye southwards, a wide expanse of blue sea stretches
away to a distant skyline with Dondra Head nearer in, thrusting
* * * *
190 191
 SEEING CEYLON

itself into the waters. To your left you see the red cliffs Brown's Hill
called after John Dennis Brown, who was A.G.A. at Matara in the
eighteen forties. On Ptolemy's map you will find these cliffs
described as the Orneon Headlands. Further inland, Nayiman
Kanda rises like a solitary sentinel from an interminable stretch of X
paddy fields, and beyond that tier upon tier of hill ranges, until the
view in that direction is shut out by the towering heights of Gongala. DONDRA-CITY OF THE GODS
In the shadow of this mountain range nestles that most delectable of
all hill-station Rest Houses, namely Deniyaya. The four-mile drive from Matara to Dondra is diversified by
a delightful picture of luminous blue waters framed between a
boundless horizon and a foreshore washed by the everlasting tide
and swell of the Indian Ocean. If you spare the time to explore the
thriving though small and dusty townlet you eventually pass through,
you will go back to describe that too in three dimensions: firstly, in
terms of its 160 feet high octagonal-towered lighthouse which
:illays the cares of mariners sailing off Dondra Head; secondly, of
the fact of your having stood on the-"Land's End" of South Ceylon
with nothing but sea between yourself and the South Pole; and lastly,
of the discovery that you have visited a place which has long been
sacred to numerous gods.
Dondra, in literary form, is Devinuwara. This means "the City
of the Gods". To see it dressed in full panoply of religion and_
festival, you should time your visit for the auspicious week in the
month of the Esala moon (July-August); and you will then picture
the sacred city thronged by large crowds, both religious-minded and
in carnival mood. They have come en masse from miles beyond the
confines of the Matara District to fulfil vows and to tender offerings
at the many shrines dedicated to deities. In no other part of the
Island perhaps is the early place of Hinduism so plainly traceable
through later Buddhist tradition.
At festival time, i_n daylight and darkness, for ten whole days, the
rhythmic drumming, to the accompaniment of the haunting,
melancholy tunes of the temple pipes and conches, composed hardly
stops. Once each day perahera processions of acrobats, dancers,
superbly capa.risoned elephants and bearers carrying silver fans and
umbrellas, announce their advent from the temples by the firing of
gingals, the cracking of whips and the loud noise of tom-toms. As
the procession wends its way round the square bearing the symbols
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 SEEING CEYLON DONDRA

and insignia of ~he gods, the people show adoration in clamorous It is in a gorgeous eastern setting such as this, pervaded by a
shouts: the Buddhist devotee in the vociferous "Sadhu" and the witchery and weirdness which no pen may ever hope to describe~
Hindu using the refrain "Aro-hara!". that the Ceylon devil-dancer steps in to complete the illusion of a
When the perahera has passed by and re-entered the res'pec- veritable carousal of unhallowed revels. Suddenly there is a terrible
tive temples, the massed throng, children and grown-ups of every howl fromoutside the ring of spectators, and a puff of flame floats
age and size, tum their attention to the fair and carnival and wander up. Then, with a wild yell, a figure of horror leaps into the light
down the long line of stalls which are gay with cloth, toys, brass and scattering the crowds to right and left. It is clothed in black, and
hardware. There are frequent stalls for sweetmeats, aerated drinks wears a terror-inspiring mask, also black with fan-like twisted ears,
and tea. Ring-swings creak as they hurl their cradles laden with large protruding eye-balls standing out like the eyes of a lobster,
humanity round and round; while a steam merry-go-round, hanging lip, grinning frontal teeth and enormous canines curling out
encircled by a sea of moving heads waiting to board it, whacks out of lhe mouth like a pair of sickles, between which lolls out an
a familiar barrel-organ tune as the ring of grotesque animals pass enormous red tongue. In its hands this demoniacal figure carries
round bobbing their heads, and their riders, up and down. There is flaming torches, and every now and then with a strident yell and an
little shoving and jostling, even though all are out to secure the infernal relish it crams the torches into its mouth, wolfs the flames~
maximum shock effect of the spirit of carnival. and, rolling its white eyes, leaps high in frenzied ecstasy.
This is the votaries' impression of the principal of the eighteen
* * * * devils belonging to a lower class who are usually propitiated in
Cey Ion. Higher and higher this demon springs, and in doing so draws
But it is nearing midnight, so we leave this merry throng in order nearer and nearer to the rj.ng of spectators-continuing to eat tht:;
to watch another survival of antiquity. In the open space of a flames. He suddenly cease~, crouches like an evil, shapeless shadow,
coconut-tope off the precincts of the temple, a surging animated and finally falls in a shud~ring heap to the ground.
crowd presses round a dim circle of light. Only the fitful glare of Thereafter the dance goes on. Other demons follow him into the
torches, helped by the flicker of lighted wicks floating in a number lighted arena, most of them represented by masks of the same
of shallow vessels containing coconut oil, help to make the darkness diabolical variety. Their dances are on a methodized system of
visible. The tom-toms throb, responding to the exertions of a massed sameness, carefully preserved in writings and by tradition. It is nearly
body of men naked to the waist, with shining beads of perspiration ~oming when the ceremonies end and the spectators giddily
running down their bro.wn skins, their ruffled black hair falling over struggle homewards.
their faces .
Shrill notes of the pipes rise and fall in desultory attempts to * * * *
blend with the rhythmic beat of the drums, which, always in unison,
break occasionally from slow to quick time. The jingle of bells, the So much, tben, for the flavour of this strange townlet when in
oppressive notes of the conch-shell, and the vibrant ring of cymbals festival mood. But, perhaps, you are seeing Dondra when the
combine to create a deafening clangour. The atmosphere, infused pageant has passed by and when it lies empty and neglected. It is
with the nose-pinching odour of smouldering wicks, is rendered doubly the better time to inspect what remains of its ancient temples, and to
obnoxious by combating fumes of bulJling incen~e. cooked food, learn its interesting story.
and heavily scented flowers. The guide who takes you to the bare and windswept headland
will point to a submerged reef and say: "You see there the resting
194
* * *
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 OONDRA
SEEING CEYLON
it Dinewar. He mentions an idol of pure gold of the size of a man,
place of the War God's stone barque. It sank beneath the waves with rubies which shone like stars for its eyes. He observed that
when no longer required!" That is the earliest tradition of how the there were 500 nautch-girls attached to the Temple to dance before
"City of the Gods" came into being. This god was Skanda the gods.
( or Kartikeya}, who, having descended from heaven to the "Sea of
Milk", landed at Dondra Head, tired out with a long voyage in a * * * *
miraculous raft of granite, and thence made his progress to
Kataragama, where his shrine now stands. From other sources imagination pictures decorated colonnades
The sunken raft is, however, not the only token enshrined in and gopurams, a huge central pagoda raised on elaborate. arc~es,
tradition to hold this story. Nearby are the remains of a very ancient and a gilded roof showing against a blue sky far out from. sea,
temple, of which some carved-stone columns remain. It is known twinkling as it caught the sunlight as though the sky was upside-
as the Sinhasana, or throne, where Skanda is stated to have sat to down.
receive the homage ~d adoration of the people before he proceeded But how, you ask, has such a magnificent spectacle, with its long
on his journey to Kataragama. centuries of glory, vanished to all purposes without a trace? The
answer lies in the pages of comparatively recent history. In 1587,
* * * * when the Portuguese sought to create a diversion during the siege
of Colombo by Raja Sinha II, the destruction of this triumphant symbol
According to yet other traditions the City ow_es its name to a and renowned place of pilgrimage in Ceylon evidently appealed to
magnificent kovil which stood off the present market-place. It was them as .a deed which would produce both temporal and spiritual
built, theysay, in a remote past, and was dedicated to Vishnu benefits. The disaster which subsequently overtook the far-famed
(the god of the colour of the blue lotus) whose identity was for temple was swift, unforeseen and complete.
many years merged in the god worshipped as Upulvan. Obviously Landing from ships which set out from Colombo, the task forces
the lesser deities of the Hindu pantheon gradually came in for their entered the gates without resistance. The Pagoda with the glittering
share of veneration and contributed towards making it the "City of roof, its gopurams and colonnades, was overthrown. The images in
the Gods." wood, in clay and in metal were demolished. Its gold and. silver,
But for a.few stone pillars and moonstone steps, there are no and gems of fabulous worth, were plundered; and all its buildings
other ruins of this celebrated kovil dedicated to Vishnu. All that one were levelled to the ground.
sees is an insignificant, ill-kept devala, and, standing on grounds This explains why the magic of Dondra lies today in words, just
adjoining it, a Buddhist temple known as the Kiri Vihara. The dagoba words with wonderful associations, and nothing much else to show
is believed to have been erected by a Sinhalese King, Dappula II, for the hold it has retained on national sentiment. That is why, on~e
over 1,500 years ago. By the very contiguity of their positions the a year by the holding of a festival, the City of the Gods squeezes out
shrines are symbolic of the manner in which one religion overlapped romantic poetry from the melancholy which has overtaken
the other. ancient glory.
So actually it is only when the few references made to this City
in the Mahavamsa are strung together with travellers' tales, that
the grandeur that was Dondra makes sense. Ibn Batuta, the
famous Moorish traveller, visited the spot in the 14th century, calling
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 A MYSTERY CAVE

so disposed, study the archaeology of the country and glean

knowledge of the arts and customs of its early peoples.
But if none of these interests appeal to you, you can browse in
Rest House verandahs at Hambantota and Tangalla, watching the
XI serried ranks of waves topple one another in the surf and, after their
sally, go foaming back again into the sea. Swimming, paddling in the
THE HO ...... ~MANIYA! A MYSTERY CAVE water, building sand-castles;collecting shells or fishing, are other
pleasures which await young an9 old who spend a sunny day on its
The Hambantota District, into which we cross near the 114th beaches-and above all, that of gettingfull satisfaction by lazing
mile from Colombo, is, I suppose, the most popular low-country 'and lying in the sun.
holiday ground for those who seek escape from the boredom of the
office or the estate. It is conveniently reached, caters for many * * * *
interests, and is comparatively inexpensive.
Everywhere in this south-eastern administrative d"ivision of Begin your tour by seeing the Ho ... o-Maniya! I ask you. Had
Ceylon which has a hundred miles of seaboard and stretches a I said blow-hole, you might not have given much thought to it-but
considerable distance inland, there are to be found traces in plenty Ho ... o-Maniya!-It spells mystery!
of the ancient occupation of the country. As a separate principality, At Nakulugamuwa, off the 117th mile on the South Coast Road,
under the name of Maha Ruhuna it attained great splendour and a minor track branches off making for the coast. I do not vouch that
prosperity-so much so, as to have its chief city, now the it is motorable, but having covered a mile, or a little more, you arrive
insignificant hamlet Magama, known to geographers of the West. on the seashore which reveals a sheltered bay with its entrance
A wilderness of jungle has since crept over the face of the dominated by picturesque cliffs. They call the spot Vaelle-kaele,
country and brought tranquillity to these plains. In jungle breaks there meaning- "the jungle on the seashore". Nonetheless, this stretch
are scattered ruins of palace and pleasure-garden -Where, if of beach is a.veritable hive of industry. Fishing-nets and boats, and
legend may be trusted, kings and queens and nobles held court twenty various other types of fishing gear lie scattered about, telling too
centuries ago; while thickets clothed with weed and undergrowth plainly that the prosperity of the inhabitants of the nearby village
occupy the sites of temples and monasteries. Many of these grim depends entirely on what the bay and the fishing-banks further out
glens are still sealed to the sight of the visitor. Here, and in the caves have to offer. Here, no doubt, one may glean many thrilling tales of
in hills where saintly arahats meditated, leopard and bear prowl, the sea-of life and death struggles with the elements pitted against
deer and wild-boar have their runways, and the lordly Ceylon frail outrigger canoe and sail...but we follow a guide who waits to
elephant roams. take us to one of the flanking headlands .

* * * * * * * *

Hence today the Hambantota District is par excellence the An enormous crowd, collected apparently from nowhere, has
sporting country of Ceylon, where you may lie in wait at a water- gone on before you, and form a live wall on the further edge of the
hole for "Spots" or "Bruin" or Wing-duck and Peafowl or Snipe. cliff. Hoo ! They shout, and again Hoo ... o! Ho . .. o! The sea will
Here too, if you would rather, you may leisurely watch or not brook ridicule, they declare. But what is this you now hear?
photograph the wild life of Ceylon in a National Park; or if you are Could it be a cry from a hundred lusty throats? No! This sound

198 199
 A MYSTERY CAVE

seems different. The hoarse gurgling roar gathers in volume-then,

suddenly, a pillar of water churned to a dazzling whiteness gushes
out somewhere up the cliff and for the moment you stand aghast.
Up ..... up, it rushes, attaining maybe even as much as 60 feet in
height, then, standing vertically poised for a split second, ....... it falls
back in a glistening veil of spray. It is the only discovered blow-hole
in Ceylon.
To watch this spectacle the better, you go nearer, and then
perhaps, impelled by that elusive something which always seems to
draw one as near the edge of a cliff, as caution wfll permit, you
venture a little further. Below, you see a deep fissure which
runs down the precipitous side to meet the incoming waves. The
subterranean cave below the cliff, and the vertical tunnel it
connects up to, are but incidents. Leaving it at this, we retrace our
steps, and pass down the road to Tangalla, the nearer of the two
principal townships of the Hambantota District.

* * * *
Some folk associate the name Tangalla with a legend, and
declare that when a holy sanyasi sat to his frugal midday meal on a
rock, the rock was miraculously turned to gold. Ran-gala means
the "golden rock". The Buddhist shrine which at one time occupied
the central position of the mound overlooking Tangalla Bay was,
they say, built on th~ spot singled out in this strange manner by the
gods.
Others again say that the anchorage .at Tangalla was in days
long past sheltered by a rocky arm which jutted into the sea and that
Tangalla means ."the projecting rock". Be the derivation of the
name what it may, this townlet, because of its location and the fact
that it rises from the sea into "high cliffs, is plethoric with views. It
exhibits one of the finest bays in Ceylon, four miles from the Tangalla
point to the extreme point of land, called Rekawa, opposite. The
foam-crested breakers whi_ch stretch over a line joining these
terminals of the are of foreshore, tell of extensive and dangerous
reefs hidden below the water. Nevertheless, we are led to believe
200 201
 SEEING CEYLON TANGALLA

from the charts of old that a narrow channel nine fathoms in depth leading to the verandah. It bears the following inscription in bold,
gave access to an anchorage which is described as "safe when the familiar characters :
south-west monsoon blows".
DOORMYN
The Dutch discovered Tangalla Cove. The British too used it, opgebouwt
and their fighting-ships and merchantmen often took shelter behind A.J. 1774
the reef. There is nothing to suggest that in the early days of Dutch
maritime rule there was any more than a small godown and a Some residents hold that this inscribed stone was removed from
handful of the Company's servants in this station. The latter was the fort when it underwent renovation and was later set up in its
not intended to hold the territory against an enemy, but rather to present position. If so, this is a clue to the exact date of the building
collect the taxes payable on paddy and to organize supervision over of the fort. On the other hand, the Rest House too is a structure
the capture of elephants for which the district was famous. dating to Dutch ~imes, later used by the British as a residence for
But in the dark days of 1760-61, which were overshadowed by the Commandant of the station. Leaving the tantalizing question
what has come down to be known as the Matara Re~llion, the whether theinscription refers to the building now used as a Rest
Dutch learnt their lesson. When their organizations once again spread House or to the fort unanswered, we wander away to seek out
over this maritime belt they concentrated on better schemes for other buildings of a contemporaneous age in the town.
holding their outposts. What remains of this in Tangalla is the :rwo of these, the Court-house and the residence of the District
ubiquitous Dutch fort. Judge, witness to architecture typically Dutch. The gables and the
In type and plan the Tangalla fort differs from many of the other verandahs are characteristic, and strangely, the structure used as a
forts associated with Dutch times. There are no massive ramparts. Court-house bears striking resemblance to the usual type of Dutch
Instead, four main wa!Js enclose a space likened to a rhombus, church. There is nothing to show whether or not it served such a
rising sheer upwards to.a height of nearly 30 feet. From two oppo- purpose in bygone days.
a
site angles of this structure pair of bastions, considerably lower in Today, as in the yesterdays and possibly for many tomorrows,
height and terminating in a point, add to the defensive aspect of the the scarcity of water will link the inhabitants of Tangalla-in a corn"'
fortification. There is little in interior feature to convey any idea of mon bond with their forbears. In the centre of a little pond at the
what it looked like in the past as the structure has undergone foot of the mound on which the Fort stands, the Dutch built a well.
On each side of the embankment leading to it across the pond they
considerable alteration in modem times to meet the requirements of
a country gaol. planted rows of suriya trees to diffuse shade. Today that the well
has outlived its utility would be unfair, for even today during the
evening hours it is the rendezvous of the women of the town each
* * * * armed with a pitcher for water, and of many a young spark who
drives a water-cart thither.
As you enter the Tangalla Rest House, an object which will
In type of construction this well is certainly unique. When the
obviously catch the eye is a stone slab let into the topmost step
pond is filled by the rains the water percolates from below the
202
203
 foundation and maintains its level within. When the drought sets in,
and the pond presents an aspect of mud cracked into fantastic
pattern and baked to cast-iron hardness, the well exposes a
charcoal bed. It explains the process of filtration resorted to by the
builders. XII
If the design courted flattery, it is offered in sincerest form
by a replica of modern construction in the twin-pond adjoining. MULGIRIGALA
Neverthe~ess, unlike the proverbial Chinese tailor who, on being given
an old pair of trousers for pattern, faithfully reproduces the patch on There are many scenic pleasures which await the visitor who
the new one he works, the designer of the modern well forgot can spare the time to tour the hinterland of Tangalla: but, before
to reproduce the most important feature in the imitation-the proceeding to sort these out, let me suggest to those who have made
charcoal filter bed. up their minds to late on the beaches, some means by which they
may retri~ve the lost art of small enjoyment. When the tide goes
out, get your feet into a pair of rubber or rope-sole shoes, and
explore the sandstone and coral reefs off the Tangalla Rest House.
On first impression the reefs when exposed at low tide will seem
to be large expanses of brown-coloured mud. But looked at close~,.
this dr-abness caused by lichen and sea-weed disappears, and you
wiH very soon find yourself exploring bluegreen rock pools of
various sizes and depths where many oddities in the form of corals,
fish and shells, will help build you an all-colour scenic picture of
memories both vivid and bizarre.
The corals necessarily take first place. There are innumerable
varieties, some so brightly coloured and arranged in tiers that they
appear as if they were exotic blooms in a garden. Those shaped like
mushrooms are soft and jellylike to the touch; others such as
the branching and stag-horn fern varieties are spongy, but hard.
Should you closely watch, you will actually see them relaxing and
contracting as tht vast armies of coral polypi feed on minute
floating organisms.

* * * *

Like the corals, the small fish which live in the pools seem to
rival one another in displaying brilliant prismatic tinting. They dart
about in an incredible range of hues, sometimes blue, sometimes
red, and often striped, or mottled. Among the many odd creatures
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 SEEING CEYLON MULGIRIGALA

you come up with in, these reefs are starfish, by no means rare, up its apparently precipitous slope, and that in, the hollows beneath
evil-looking reef-eels, and the needled-slug which keeps its hold on overhanging boulders quaint and beautifully situated cave-temples
rO(;ks and can inflict much damage if its pointed quills break and find shelter..
find a way into one's body. There is also the loathsome-looking On one of many frequent visits to this institution three decades
sea-slug or beche-der-mer, which was once largely exported by ago, I was confronted by an apparently new rock-vihara in which
Ceylon to China, under the name trepang. very old images and frescoes were receiving the touch of modem
But what possibly will excite most interest and be most popular art at the hands of mason and painter. Recasting impressions of an
with children is the profusion and variety of shelis in the pools and earlier visit, I felt sure that this cave was not there ~efore. Enquiry
recesses. These include cowries in many sizes, turban- and led to the story that for centuries it lay walled in and hidden so
ear-shells and the rather colourful shells of clams. There are certain effectually that the secret of its existence was not detected. Its
seasons when the strand on the entire coastline from Tangalla existence had been recently d'isclosed, they said, to the late
eastwards and northwards is literally covered with beautiful shells.
incumbent in a dream.
Compared with this vast and untried field which invites collectors,
Rejecting the supernatural aspect of the story, which, in defer-
resident naturalists who have given their attention to the marine
ence to the feelings of the monk, I did not pursue, the circQmstances
testacea of this Island are few, and rare.
in which the entrance to the cave came to be walled inspired a
The Buddhistic glory of the Tangalla district is its several ancient
temples. Mulgirigala, 13 miles from Tangalla, is one of the most fascinating trend of conjecture. Might it not be possible that reports
flourishing and picturesque of these. Tradition preserves the belief of the signal measures taken by the Portuguese to defile these an-
that King Kavantissa founded this temple in the year 120 B.C. cient sacred places had been carried to Mulgirigala long before their
Whether the Sinhalese chronicles allude to this or not depends on expeditions ventured so far south? Maybe then, in good time before
the identification of Samuddha Vihara which the King is recorded to they arrived, the relies and treasures of Mulgirigala lay cunningly
have built with Muhundgiri or Mulkirigalla. But need we go into hidden in its vaulted chambers whose entrances had been camou-
such intriguing speculation? It is certain that the institution has an flaged. And maybe-following up this sequence of presumption-
antiquity which few monastic establishments in the West can lay the Portuguese saw nothing in this mass of gneiss to distinguish it
claim to. The singular eminence on which it is sited rises 300 feet from the many similar though less striking outcrops peculiar to the
above the level ~f the sea, and is crowned by a milky white dagoba vicinity.
which scintillates in the mellow glow of a rising and setting sun.
* * * *
* * * *
With the advent of the Dutch, the "mountain monastery"
To get to Mulgirigala one has the option of taking two routes: apparently once again sprang to life, and what remained unnoticed
either the Tangaila-Wiraketiya or the Beliatta road. Both are
and unidentified by the Portuguese came under, the Hollander's
motorable and traverse delightful country where the monotony of
special attention a few years after they took over the maritime
paddy-field and coconut gardens gives way to open stretches of
government. They unwittingly paved the way for far-reaching com-
rustling citronella grass which is largely cultivated in the district. On
reaching the foot of the hill one notices that several terraces break plications by calling the hill Adam's Berg, thus confusing it with

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 SEEING CEYLON
MULGIRIGALA

Adam's Peak. Through ary extraorcLinary delusion the temple came commentary proved to be the Tika, or literary text of the
to be associated with a story that it was the grave of Adam Mahavamsa, a metrical chronicle written in Pali verse which set
and Eve! out in chronological order the history of Ceylon-from 543 B.C. to
Albrecht Herport, one of the early Dutch writers, who served as A.D. 1758.
a soldier in Ceylon in 1663, wrote of it: "One sees also still at this Nearly one century and four decades before Tumour made his
day the image of Adam formed of earth, of remarkable size, lying discovery of infinite interest which centres itself round this great
on the hill .... " And so, for a century and more, the idea held sway mass of rock, Johann Wolffgang Heydt, a traveller and historian of
that in the images and inscriptions at Mulgirigala was to be found repute, made himself thoroughly acquainted with the place. Assisted
remarkable testimony to the truth of th~ early part of the book of by Arent Jansen, an artist, many drawings and sketches of the rock
Genesis! The monks, for obvious reasons, appear to have fostered arid its many features were obtained, whioh Heydt used to illustrate
the delusion. Matters were however brought to a point by a visit, in his notes.
1766, from the Dutch Governor Imam Williem Falck, who Heydt's descriptions of the cave-temple at the foot of the rock,
questioned the monks. It was he who shot ,the bolt on the strange or the Pahala Maluwa as it is called, and of.the path along which
story. one climbs up the stone steps with their protective iron railings
leading to the upper terraces, are impresions which await the visitor
* * * * even to the present day. They are all the more welcome since it is
not always easy, without hurting religious susceptibilities, to obtain a
But let's make the journey up this sacred hill, beginning at the minute idea of the interior of these cave-temples. On the. topmost
base of the great rock. Here we find the temple buildings entwined terrace the visitor looks down a fissure, nearly two'."thirds the height
and enclosed with rocks and rocky caves. Steps, more or less of the rock. Even this has not escaped Heydt's attention, for he
uneven, now carry us to the flank of the rock, passing here or there recounts the leg~nd, told to this day, "that a snake once sprang from
a small but artistic dagoba built over the ashes of former Priors of a tree up the Berg and in a moment had made the great fissure tin
the institution. this tremendous rock".
From -~the
\ . first terrace the path steeply rises to the mighty The view in the early morning, or the. late evening, from the
cliff itself and leads to a flight of steps cut out of the original rock. summit of Mulgirigala where the dagoba stands, is very beautiful.
Climbing up these, we reach the second terrace, virtually the court- When I last saw it, the sun was throwing long shadows. From a
yard of a cave-temple hidden in the folds of an overhanging shelf of chena fire at the base of the rock a column of blue smoke ascended.
rock. This cave is both an image-room and the potgula, or library. Flocks of paroquets were wheeling over the _smoke, and in the dis-
The importance of this library came to be made known by Mr. tance the sea was a transparent line of silvery haze. In such set-
George Tumour, a one-time member of the Civil Service. In the tings, who would gainsay that Mulgirigala truly deserves its glory-
Introduction to his Epitome of Cingalese History, Tumour says: both of romantic beauty, as well as of antiquity?
" .... by the kindness of the Chief Priest of Saffragam, I was enabled
in 1872 to obtain a transcript of a commentary from a copy kept in * * * *
the Mulgirigalla Vihara ...... the work had not been before seen by
the Chief for any one of the priests of either of the two establish- Intruding on my thoughts, from behind me came the pad of bare
ments which regulate the national religion of this Island .... " The feet. Turning, I saw the incumbent monk beckoning. He led me to

208 209
 SEEING CEYLON

one of the recently discovered caves of the Aluth_ Vihara in _the

Uda Maluwa, or upper terrace, which-was undergomg restoration.
Its shelving ceiling of rock and its images displayed an unbearably
brilliant compound of colours-,-scarlet, sea-bl~e, old g~!d, yellow
and white. Glancing around, I noticed somethmg famihar wo~en XIII
into the design of a makarotorana, in the nature of oma~nt. Looki~g
again, I found it was the monogram of a popular cncket club m KATUWANA FORTLET

Colombo! . )
"Where did you get that idea?" I enquired of the sittara (pamter If you motor out twenty miles from Tangalla, on the road which
as I pointed to the device with a curious mixture of laughter and passes Walasmulla and Kira.ma, you will be on your way to discover
reproach. It transpired from his answer that he had recently a little-known Dutch fortlet which recounts many a stirring tale. It
re-decorated a cricket pavilion, and was so t~ken up by the stands on a low round hill, and overlooks a river which bends round
gold-embossed characters, that he thought he would copy them. its base.
Whether the design is still there or whether my remo~seless
To the east of this hill there lies flat country covered with low.-
condemnation of the manner in which the sittara had ex~rc1sed ~n
jungle and thicket. This matted curtain hides from view the few
individual discretion had effect, I do not know. Ichabod. What _is
there which is not today being done in the name of ART 10 small villages which have saved the tract from being described as
absolute wilderness. On the south and west, similar type of country
restorations!
stretches into the distances; but to the north, there lies a forest-clad
I
mountain range on whose side, in the bright mornings of the
north-east monsoon, each tree stands clearly defined. In the hot
weather this range shimmers in the heat and looks more mirage
than land; and in the wet months of May-July, it looms vague as a
bank of cloud.
In all these vagaries of mood this great irregula~ rampart
separated the plain where the Dutch held sway from the realms of
the Kandyans. It was the one object visible from the fortlet that
mattered, for from its heights there dropped the only track which
for miles on either side of it gave access to the plains. From this
pass might issue at any time a force of nimble Kandyans who would
swarm over the plains, plunder whom they dared, and generally
regain their hills successfully. 1
But so long as Katuwana Fort stood (Cottane, as it is called on
Schneider's I 50-year old map of Ceylon) the invading forces could
not venture far from the pass fo~ fear of their retreat being cut off.
210 211
 KATIJWANA

districts further down in the seaboard. Katuwana was the outer-

The plain might be plundered, the peace of the Sinhalese in Dutch mo_st outp?st of the Company thrown far behind their sphere of
territory wrecked, but the country could not be conquered. a::t~ve tradmg. To hold it might prove hard, but to regain the districts
which would fall with it, iflost, would prove a hundred times harder.
* * * * Early in the morning, when the jungles vibrated to the calls of the
Ceylon jungle cocks heralding the dawn, the fortlet awoke; and when
And so a small band of thirty fair-haired, sun-tanned Dutchmen the sun rose splashing its beams on the Company's flag hoisted to
lived in this little fort set amidst a sea of jungle. Theirs was a life of the flagstaff, it also showe_d the, garrison fully armed, and spread 1
exile indeed, a life little better than a prisoner's-but it was all part out over the battlements so as to make a brave appearance. In the
of a big scheme, and somebody had to do it. Their only amusement Kandyan camp, a stir could be observed, and the smoke of a score
was shooting the deer and peafowl which abounded in the of fires floated up lazily into the still air.
neighbourhood. Maybe they sometimes sauntered out into the
neighbouring village, and enjoyed the shade of the coconut gardens, * * * *
and the cool open spaces of the paddy fields; and sometimes
perhaps they tried fishing in the river, but the catch was doubtless , No forward movement, however, occurred until about eight
small, and the fish bony. o_ clock, :"hen a tremendous outburst of the drumsand the firing of
Came a day in March, just before the hottest time of the year, gmgals signalled that the force had got moving. By nine o'clock
when the sentry gave the alarm. The g~son were at supper but all the village across the river was occupied, and the Dissawa, mounted
jumped to their stations and lined the battlements. Way up the on an elephant, rriade a leisurely survey of the fortlet. Keeping out
mountain they saw a great line of torchlights winding like a serpent o~ shot he made a circuit around, .and then returned to the, camp as .
down the steep side. It grew longer and longer, as more and more leisurely as he had come. All through the blazing heat of the day the'
came over the crest and poured into the gully down which the path Kandyans waited, but when the sun cast long shadows, and the
descended; the throbbing of war-drums roared a challenge to the Green-pigeon began to whistle in the trees, there came from the
watchers on the walls: Kandyan camp a small body of men who advanced to the river's
bank and requested: "Peace, to cross and speak ?"
* * * * Perm~ssion being granted, they moved on, up the cleared slope
of the hill, and stood opposite to the south-west bastion. They
Arnaud Van Weerde, the Commandant of the fortlet, did not feel demanded surrender. The Commandant, returning no answer at all,
much anxiety for that night. He was confident that if the Kandyans looked long at the messengers, and shook his hea.d. That night the
meant to attack they would almost certainly spend some time in siege began.
reconnoitring first. So after an hour or more the garrison retired to
rest, leaving six men on guard. * * *
. The Commandant, however, stayed up late leaning on the breast-
work of a bastion, watching the glowing bonfires of the Kandyan F~r a week h,?stilities were confined to an interchange of shots
camp. "I wonder if they mean business," he thought. That the fortlet at fairly long Mnge, but the nights were devoid of repose: The
could hold out, he had no doubt. But the importance of his trust Kandyans~ in relays, spent the night tormenting the watchers in the
weighed upon him, for on his tenacity depended the safety of the
213
212
 KATIJWANA

SEEING CEYLON
himself the question: What hope was there if the Kandyans attacked?
fortlet by feigning attack. After straining their ears for an hour or There seemed none .... there was none.
more for any sound but the song of the frogs and crickets, the weary And in a flash that brain which ached and burnt, kindled
watchers would seek rest, but only to be aroused by another false an inspiration. If the Kandyans attack we are lost, he soliloquised;
attack which would send them flying to their posts. They had faced therefore, if we are to be saved, the Kandyans must not attack.
a week of this incessant jar which wrecked their nerves before they With white face and staring eyes he gave his order: the gates were
were made to face the real attack. to be opened wide, and all were to leave the walls, save one sentry.
The Kandyans corning out in force to attack were halted by this
The push was made in the early dawn and the invaders rushed in
strange occurrence. After long discussion, they retreated. Later the
with great bravery. Planting light bamboo ladders, they swarmed up
Dissawa came out himself, and ventured nearer the fortlet than he
the 15 feet high walls while another party kept up a hot fire into the
had ever done before. He too went back to his camp convinced that
fortlet-caring little whether- they hit friend or foe. But apparently
there was some trap and that it would be better to wafr until the
the small garrison in armour were more than a match for the force
Hollander callad off the bluff.
of Kandyans who were bare-bodied from the waist up. The next Then came the evening. "Light a bonfire so that they may see
four days saw five attacks, one of which was delivered at midday the open gate," ordered Van Weerde. So 'all night a great glow lighted
when the heat of the sun was almost unbearable to the men in the gap in the wall. No attack came that night either.
armour. But when the sun rose again, the weary watchers saw the
Dripping, blinded by sweat, the garrison fought furiously along Kandyan forces in retreat up the face of the mountain and over the
the breast-work, firing, striking, thrusting with pikes, and even pass. An hour later, they heard the trumpet of the relieving force
grappling the hot bodies in their arms at the top of the wall. At the sounding across the plain. "How did you hold out after our powder
end of each attack they all lay down on the ramparts, some on their was gone?" asked the leader of the relieving force. Van Weerde
faces, some with their arms thrown back above their heads .... and replied: "By Faith alone."
gasped and sobbed for breath, until the hoarse voice of Van Weerde Such is the tale told of the stratagem which time and again saved
Katuwana, and obstructed efforts to root out this thorn bush which
roused them again to take their places.
so effectually prevented designs upon the rich paddy lands behind
it. But the odds seemed ever to be against the Hollander holding this
* * * *
fortlet. On another occasion, early in the year 1761, in the dark days
overshadowed by what historians call the Matara Rebellion the
Casualties, fatigue, and the sun began, to tell day by day. Eleven Kandyans marched against Katuwana in very great force. They
of the defenders were dead. Four were sorely wounded but yet erected a battery and mounted four guns, which they fired
kept their tum of watch and continued to fire their guns. Of the continuously for two days at the fortlet, and were fired on in tum
other fifteen men, few were sound, and on most days malaria, the with grapeshot and bullet from within the walls.
scourge of this countryside, laid hold on some of them. Powder was On the third day, a white flag fluttered from the ramparts. The
running short, and the water in the well within the fort was low and Kandyans sent an envoy to the gate of the fortlet, and he returned
muddy. It had become a question not of "How long can we hold with a report that the Hollanders would surrender on, condition that
out?" but rather of "Can we last the day?" And Vgn Weerde posed no harm befell them. Accepting these terms, the Dissawa and a

215
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 SEEING CEYLON

body of followers entered through the open gate. The gallant

defenders were ranged out before them. One by one, they were led
away to the jungles and were never seen again. XIV
Six Javanese, and a piper and drummer, were spared this fate,
but were carried away captives.
THE URUBOKKA DAM AND THE GIRUWAS
* * * *
On the road to Hambantota, with Tangalla left two miles or more
One 9ay, a few years ago, I found myself in Katuwana having of
behind, the vegetation of the country seems to change. But, course,
crossed the Urubokka Ganga, which flows by it. After a scramble it is common knowledge that we are crossing the barrier, into.what
through a barrier of prickly undergrowth, I came upon a crumbling is called the "Dry Zone" regions of the Island. From the beginning
rampart. Proceeding along its base I arrived at a gaping breach: it of time, while the wet storms hissed down the country beyond a
was the gate:..way of old. On al_l sides rose the picture of crumbling b.arrier range of mountain known as Rammaeli Kanda, seen in the
rui~ and desolati_on. Climbing on to the ramparts I found giant trees distance, the Hambantota plain on the leeward side has been left
had sent their roots into the crevices of built-up rocks, and held dry. From May to September, it is swept by a land-wind pasted of its
them in iron grip but in fantastic disorder. moisture, which steadily grows stronger and hotter.
Through the trees I was able to catch a glimpse of the It happens to be the "aquatic predecessor" of the British, and
surrounding country. The massive mountain frowned down-it had not the old Sinhalese engineer with his wise practice and
doubtless changed little. A setting sun showed in outline of light and experience in the construction of ingenious works for irrigating the
shade the deep ravines and stony defiles, and the narrow path which country, who is responsible for the chef-d' oeuvre in matters
wound its way up and up, and lost itself in the country beyond- irrigational in the stretch ofcountry between Tangalla and Ranna.
where in bygone days, trouble always was a-brewing, and mysteri- For the reasons stated earlier, in striking contrast to conditions in
ous plots fermented. the Hambantota D~stricti th~ Matara District, which lies over the
Rammaeli Kanda barrier, is a luscious wet-zone country, and
perpetually green. Drawing their waters from perennial springs on
the mountain-side, the rivers flow to the seaboard near Matara
irrigating vast tracts of fields as they flow, and even at that, run to
waste. It seemed very apparent that could but some of this water
be turned into the Hambantota side of the mountain range, it would
maJ<e a world of difference to human habitation in the dry-zone
region. This was exactly what the Dutch did about the year 1787.
The man responsible for this engineering masterpiece was
Lieutenant and Land Surveyor P. Foenander, a zealous officer
in the Company's service, whose name also stands frequently
associated with the many reports concerning tanks and irrigation
schemes, the restoration or construction of which was undertaken
216 217
 SEEING CEYLON THEGIRUWAS

very largely by the Dutch about this period. What he actually did But let's get back to Urubokka Dam and the channel. These,
was to dam a tributary of the Nilwala Ganga, near Urubokka, to and many another costly work in the District, were, with the
lead the water along an artificial channel, two miles in length in deep departure of the Dutch, allowed to faH into decay. A heavy flood in
cutting, and to drop it, as it were against the laws of Nature, over the year 1837 over-topped and breached the dam. In later British
the mountain-top into the Hambantota District. times the entire scheme was restored, and to this day is. an
important auxiliary to the agricultural possibilities of the Giruwa Pattu.
* * * * Kalametiya Kalapuwa lies in the stride of the traveller who is,
following the South Coast Road. It comes into view at the 138th
To appreciate the full significance of the undertaking and the mile and few indeed can fail to notice the vast shallow lagoon,
difficulties involved one must have access to a large-scale map of surrounded by swamps with succulent subaqueous plants, which
the district. From the point where the water breaks over the saddle lies between the road and the sea. By far, it used to be, and perhaps
in the range, it rushes down the mountainside, and is trained into a still makes, a wonderful bird-watchers' paradise. Even in the dry
river, once called the Giruwa Oya, which meandering between foot- months of July and August there is no lack of many and varied
hills and skirting the base of the Katuwana Fortlet, sought to reach forms of bird-life. Going beyond the chequer of black Cormorant
the sea near Ranna. Presumably for the reason that it now owes its and white Egret, one may pick blue and purple Coot, Herons and
perennial flow of water to the Urubokka Ganga, which flows through Divers, the blue Rock-pigeon, and flocks of reddish-brown
the Matara District, the Giruwa Oya has lost its ancient name. On Whistling Teal which float motionless on its rush-covered margins
modern maps, this river too stands described as Urubokka Ganga. watching for the human intruder.
References to this unique irrigation scheme are many. Governor If you give ear you will find your attention arrested by the
van de Graaf says in the "Instructions" left to his successor: "In the repeated mewing calls of the light-coloured Jacanas with their
Matara Dissavony a great deal of water was turned some years ago . pheasant-like tails. Take a look at their toes: you will notice they are
from the Matara river into the Giruwa. This occasions a double enormously lengthy, built so that they could distribute their weight
benefit. In the first place it supplies a dry trace of country with over a wide area. Thus has Providence enabled them to walk on the
water, and in the second place as there is not so much water as round floating leaves of the lotus plants in order to spear at and pick
formerly in the river of Matara, the land situated below the outlet is their food.
in proportion less exposed to inundations."
* * * *
* * * *
tsut it is when the North-East Monsoon blows, and the
Lee's Translations from Dutch Records afford us the informa- immemorial migrant flights of birds from Siberia, Northern India
tion that the work cost FI. 20,482/s. 11/d. 8 (RS. 50,000). The figures and Asia set in, that Kalametiya becomes one of Nature's show-
strike a strange note of precision-but we pass over to review briefly places. At such times one sees Pelican and Flamingo, Painted Stork
the results of the scheme. Over 8,000 acres, so it is said, were laid and Wild Duck of many varieties (Garganey, Pintail, Shoveller) and
open to irrigation. The owners of the lands paid 2,995 amunams of hundreds of other migratory visitants who add their contribution to a
paddy to the Government in addition to "the usual tenth," by way of wonderful pageantry of birdlife. The blue and purple Coot are the
recovery of the money which formed the initial outlay. bane if the villager who cultivates the neighbouring paddy-fields.

218 219
 SEEING CEYLON

THEGIRUWAS
They claim a heavy toll when the crops are ready for harvesting,
and have accordingly been called Goyan kapana Kittha, which history and the battle over sites seems to be repeating itself over the
means "paddy reaping coot". case of the Walawe Reservoir, which will be sited a few miles up
the river, near Embilipitiya.
* * * * The World Bank Report of 1952 condemned the new project,
_and expressed grave doubts about its intrinsic economic merits. But
Before we get to the estuarine waters of the Walawe Ganga we there seems little doubt that visitors in a few years to come will be in
um up the road branching off near the 140th mile-post, which leads a position to sift both ancient and modem history on the battles of
[O Embilipitiya, Ratnapura and Colombo, in order to see the the sites against the background of a deep water reservoir which
Liyangahatota Anicut. This barrag~ trammels the Walawe about will spread its waters over a surface area of I 0,000 acres. It is now
15 miles up-river, and is a must if you would complete your se~h under construction.
for something to see in the Hambantota District. One evening, in the dry weather of 1927, I was driving along the
The large and important controlling feature, which checks the old Embilipitiya road which ran hand in hand with the channel from
magnificent volume of water coming down the river and turns it into Liyangahatota. The light was just about to give way to the greyness
two channels on the right and the left bank for irrigation, is at all of dusk. As I rounded a bend, my bearer, seated in the front seat of
times an imposing picture. Yet naturally, it becomes an entrancing the car next to me, flung up his arms and shouted ... A/iya!
spectacle which will linger Jong in memory if seen when the river is With a clatter of small stones which were flung under the
in_ flood. Long before reaching the site, you hear in the jungle mudguards and thrown fan-wise in splinters as braked, the old Ford
stillness a ceaseless muffled roar of rushing and tumbling waters, came to a dead halt.
and on approaching it, see it in solid mass spread like an elastic We were held up there over forty minutes, but were enthrilled by
carpet woven into fantastic patterns, spilling over the dam. one of the most spectacular unrehearsed displays of elephant
From the bed of the river below, there rises a blanket of spray, acrobatics that have perhaps been given any man to see. The herds
rainbow-tinted by stray beams of sunlight. Two sluices above the of elephants who in the heat of the day had browsed in the cool of .
dam control the flow of the water down the channels. the high forests found off the left bank of the Walawe Ganga, were
making for their night's feeding in the chenas off the right bank of
* * * * the river. The channel, in this particular section in deep cutting, might
normally have seemed an obstacle barring their way. But it
Long-forgotten reports show that much ink was splashed in the certainly was proved to be otherwise. It was an unforgettable sight
process of settling conflicting opinions on the advisability of building to see them, males, females and babies, slide down the one side of
this anicut at Liyangahatota. Apparently there never was an anicut the channel balancing on their bottoms, and slithering up the other
at this spot in ancient times, whereas at Rambevihara, a few miles side-the less agile being helped by the more sturdy. They crossed
down the river, there is a ridge of rocks extending across the bed the road more or less in file, keeping apparently strictly to their herds.
which bore traces of having been used to tum water into an old I counted that day over 80 elephants.
Yoda-ela found on the right bank. The scheme to irrigate the track- Today, in this, as in other parts of the country, Nature has
less jungle on the left bank of the river which came much later steadily been giving way to the needs of an exploding population.
proved the importance of the site which ~as eve~tually selected o~ The forests have dwindled into little scattered pockets and few,
that occasion. I.call this to-mind merely to show that this page of if any, elephants haunt this reputed Elephant Road, which connected
220 the East and the West Giruwa Pattus.
221
 SEEING CEYLON

. In the ti11_1e of which I write there were wonderful possibilities

~oo of watchmg herds of elephants on any moonlight night, sporting
m the Kattakaduwa Wewa, three miles from Ranna. Bahun, a well-
~nown tracker and a notability of his day, used to arrange machans
. m the trees, far parties who came miles to feast their eyes on
xv
Natu~e untrammelled-something a newer generation is not
penmtted to see. MAHAPAELAESSA-WH;ERE ELEPHANTS
GO TO DIE

Even in these days of easy and quick transport, when drawn by

wanderlust ~any satisfy that urge by venturing off the beat~n track,
the region which lies off the left bank of the Walawe Ganga near
Liyangahatota-where the waters of the river cascade over an anicut
and break the jungle quiet with an incessant roar-is less visited
and less known than many another Ceylon back-block. The motorable
road which hugs the right bank of the Walawe and leads to
Embilipitiya and beyond, bifurcates to cry a halt at Liyangahatota.
But there is much which allures, beyond the motorist's grasp.
So come, wander with me on foot, and I shall tell you of my
impressions of this region when I trekked over it nearly three
decades ago.
A game-track on the right bank, leading up-river, took us over an
erratic course. To right and left, a maze of other tracks, worn c!ean
of undergrowth by generations of wild beasts, wound devious ways
to a~I points of the compass. Nevertheless, through this intricacy of
passages our guide piloted us along until at length, after having
covered two miles, perhaps a little more, we once again stood on
the bank of the river.
Just discernible amidst the giant trees growing on the farther
bank we spied a little settlement standing in a clearing. They called
the settlement Baedigantota, which translated into English means:
"the jungle-village by-the river". Two unpretentious huts, and a
population of seven-counting man, woman and child-represented
its meagre claim to recognition.
A reverberating Hoo . .. .oo attracted one, and then another, of
the handful of inhabitants. Two men setting out in a crude dugout
double canoe helped in stages to take us and our belongings across
222
223
 SEEING CEYLON MAHAPAELAESSA

the river. While the crossings were being made, our tent erected, The first warning of the presence, of elephants came to us just
and camp equipment unpacked, we took a closer view of this before dusk: shrill squeaks which seemed to carry from far away.
far-flung link, cast up by a receding wave of civilization. But as twilight descended ~d as the night wore on, the air vibrated
The cobs of Indian corn and the ears of kurakkan spread out in with the magnificent trumpeting of many herds. If we but knew the
the compounds of the huts to dry told too plainly that these people habits and the noises of these tenants of the wild wastes as the
depended entirely on the produce of the chenas for their chief source jungle villager does, it would have been possible for us to interpret
of sustenance. In like manner, a banana plantation nearby for certain the four distinct cries which he assigns to the elephant-
suggested their only meagre source of money, procured from the low throat growl of anger, the victorious bellow as he proclaims
adventurous Coast Moor traders.to whom distance and isolation is his sovereignty, the distinct note of alarm, or the low moan when he
no deterrent when a bargain can be clinched. But apart from this is in pain.
evidence, which recalled in abstract form the age-old feud to grow However, to our untrained ears all was babel and confusion.
food localized in these jungle regions, the fever-laden swamps had They were very near, so f!!UCh so that we heard the breaking of the
also exerted their evil spell. Two doleful-eyed children, clad in their jungle, and the splash of water a~ herd after herd invad~d the river.
native nothingness and exhibiting distended bellies, mutely proclaimed As we sat in silence listening, the tumult gradually died down, the
that the dread malaria had them in its grip. vibrant trumpeting seemed to recede and was soon hushed by
Adding to this picture of woe, Kira, the spokesman of the small distance. Some lonely chena, or may be a ripening paddy-field many
community, focussed attention on another aspect of their hard, miles away, no doubt held the sequel to this silence.
bitter fight by pointing to a thatched shelter built high up on the
forked branches of a tree. Perhaps one has to hear his tale to * * * *
believe that during certain seas.ons (in the times of which I write)
the entire population of the settlement had to take shelter and pass The shifting scene carries our minds to a primitive watchhut,
the hours of darkness in this primitive tree-top abode. Although we where perhaps two, perhaps more, villagers sit guarding crops, soon
only occupied our camp for one night, we readily appreciated the to be garnered, from the inroads of elephant, porcupin~. and wild
wisdom and necessity for such precaution. boar. Scorning the thick thorny hedge which girdles the fields, there
enter the marauding herds. Cries and the noise from the beat of
* * * * gongs and blank reports of guns are of no avail. The moments are
pregnant with menace. There seems very little which caI1 be done
In country which is more or less dry for a great part of the yea:i to turn the onslaught.
it is not surprising to find all wild creatures hugging a river-stretch As is often the case, it is desperation, and the impulse to hurt
where they can slake their thirst. That, however, does not appear to where all else is ineffectual, that finds resort to the gun loaded with
be the only explanation why the vicinity of Baedigantota was once ball or slugs. There is a loud report and a thud, and away scuttles
described as the d_ensest elephant-populated tract in the Island. An the lumbering mass.
old-time surveyor gives us another reason. On observations drawn May be occasionally one animal drops in the thicket near by, its
in the course of his work he marked off on a map, a hundred years career ended. More often, the ariimal carries away the missile in its
ago, a large area on the right bank of the river and called it "Salt body, and a gaping wound which, aggravated by the persistent
Lick". To this he added a legend: "Where wild animals gather in attention of swarms of flies, takes weary weeks to heal. So
large numbers."
224 225
 SEEING CEYLON MAf{ApAfil.AESSA

sometimes, among the trumpeting herds returning to their forest train, and so, just as much as the elephant is Maha Eka, the bear is
fastnesses in the small hours of the morning, there may be one or Camara/a: the gra~dfather; the leopard is Vedda, the wild thing;
~~re animals in mortal agony, seeking- out some remote spot in and the w1!d boar 1s Kalu-gedia, the black lump. If he refers to
which to die. This opens again on to the often discussed, but still water he wlll use the tertn Gangula; if to fire, the tenn Ratta.
intriguing, question: Where do elephants go to die? How~ver, to get back to the elephant death-place-the animal
Village legends tell that in the depths of the rain-sodden forests had possibly been dead two weeks. A pack of jackals scurried from
of sabaragamuwa, there stands a mysterious spot where these o~e comer of the glade whither they had dragged the putrefying
majestic denizens retire to end their days in lonely grandeur. This hide; the bones, gnawed clean of all semblance of covering, littered
hoary theory seems an ideal peg on which to hang a story ... but no anothe~ corner beneath a shady tree. But we were left curious as to
man has yet discovered this elephant.cemetery: So leaving much to !<
what 1ra was sear~hing for_ and occasionally bending over to pick
fiction, suppose we pick out a fact, namely that when sick or wounded, up. Discreetly keeping our distance we waited his return. The hand-
the wild elephant craves for water, and makes for some jungle- ful _of leaden bullets and slugs, chippings of rusty iron and bolts,
bound grove near secluded river or spring. which he held out for us to see, told their sorry tale of sufferings-
It was Kira who told us in the cours(i of conversation that the before the random shot brought further torture, and a lingering death.
wounded animals in these regions foregathered near the springs of
Mahapaeleassa. We persuaded him the following day to actas guide * * * *
and to take us to the springs and elephant death-places he referred
to. There was no road, hardly even a path, from Baedigantota to our Continuing our exploration we came upon many another spot in
objectives. Consequently, scratched by thorns, bitten by colonies of these glades w~ere the bleached bones of elephants strewed the
red-ants, and collecting an unseen army of ticks which remained to grassy c~et. D1d some urge, other than its sylvan seclusion, draw
wreak vengeance later, we fought a way through tangled land ~hese animals to Mahapaelaessa? We thought we found the answer
dividing a labyrinth of open glades which are in these parts called m ~ne of the man~ pockets of this vast stretch of glade, in a spring
paelaessa. wh1c~ gushed out m plenty. What is more, the moment we dipped a
. Suddenly the air seemed to take on a heavier and heavier smell hand mto these waters, we quickly pulled it out. The water was too
of putrefying flesh. We called loudly on Kira to stop a while: turning hot to keep the hand in!
oh us, he raised fingers to lips, and in whisper gave expression to the . Alth_ough long abandoned by man-for, if legend speaks true,
words "Maha Eka." Anybody not new to Ceylon jungles knows this ~~nng was used by the saints known as arahats who lived in
that he meant the elephant, literally "the big one", for the jungle the nmety and more caves _found in a rocky outcrop which we today
dwellers talk in a language different from that heard in town or rural call Karambagala-there 1s every reason to think that elephant and
village. b~ffalo, leop~~d, bear and other wild animals, appreciate some
hidden be?ef1_qal properties peculiar to these thermal waters. To
* * * * support this view, Kira cold us a story. .
. We noticed that the marshy margin of the spring was littered
In the belief that the wild woodlands are tenanted by unseen with ~o~s. and b~anches, although, strangely, no large trees stood in
gods and godlings without number, he considers that ordinary words the vic1mty. Kira pointed out that the reason for this was simple
and expressions are inauspicious, and might bring misfortune in their enough. The logs, he said, were brought by the elephants from some

226
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 SEEING CEYLON
MAHAPAELAESSA

distance and strewn on the margins of the spring so that they might Occasionally from a distance there floated in the plaintive wail of
find safe footing when they approached it. To prove which, he said the spotted deer.
that not long before our visit, a less cautious member of a herd of . My c~mp-bearer and I had turned in to get some sleep and I was
elephants evidently did not realize the sense in this precaution, it Just about pulling the curtain of a camp-cot around me, when a scream
sank into the muddy slush and, unable to hoist itself out, it died a which froze the blood rose out of apatch of forest behind the camp.
lingering death. The facts of this story were later verified from the Up .. _-up it rose, in a series of dreadful shrieks as if coming from a
proprietor of a taxidermy establishment near Tangalla, who was soul m great agony of torment... reaching out to a crescendo, it
said to have removed some bones of the unfortunate elephant. d~opped ~o clucking, strangling sobs, which shortened in length and
died off man eerie Hoo . . .oe.
* * * * _I jumped out of bed petrified, and gazed fearfully into the black
voul beyond the embers of the camp--:fire expecting at any
So we ask ourselves: was this old or sick or wounded animal mome_nt to ~~e some strange apparition materialize. An uncanny
lured by some therapeutic properties in the water? and were those calm, mtens1f1ed beyond measure, dropped pall-like on the scene.
other wounded or old animals which died in the vicinity, making for Hearing a movement behind me, I turned ... and there, with his
these springs or hugging the sheltered groves to occasionally drag mouth agape, and terror strong upon him, stood my camp-bearer.
themselves to the spring and drink of its waters ? He appa~ently was trying to scream, but no sound left his lips. As
We may not answer-but most decidedly, for some reason, time the tens10n broke, I sensed rather than heard him mention one
was-when Mahapaelaessa and its environs used to supply material word ... Ulama!
in plenty for the visionary who would seek evidence of the death- Gradually, into my dazed brain there soaked in the many tales I
places of the noble monarch of Ceylon's forests. Whether it still had heard of the blood-curdling cry of the "Devil-bird." It was Kira
does is for you to find out. who, the next day, told me this story: "In a lonely forest hamlet
there lived in a thatched hut a hunter and his wife. They had a littl~
* * * * s_on, the apple of his mother's eye. It so happened that one day, at a
time when game had been scarce, and food short, the hunter
One other experience associated with the environs of returned home empty-handed, hungry, and in a vile and irascible
Mahapaelaessa stirs the memory. We were camped near that mood. His little son was alone in the hut when he entered and
prehistoric upheava! of stone called Karambagala, referred to seeing him, a diabolical thought seeped into the mind of the h~nter
earlier, which seems to have haphazardly burst out of this.bleak ... When his woman returned later to the hut, he threw a chunk of
tangle of grassy glade and scrubby plain. The country lay burnt and flesh at her and said: "Here! get this cooked."
blistering in the throes of a prolonged drought. Evening had made Canying out her husband's behest, the woman, while stirring the
way for a hot, sultry night, and the air seemed like a scorching breath. pottage she was preparing on the fire, suddenly came upon a little
The least sound vibrated in the stillness. The rustle of unseen finger, and a horrible thought struck her. : . "Where is my son ?" she
feet told that even near the camp the scrub-jungle was alive. The shrieked. Realizing the tragedy which had been enacted, in a fit of
incessant nocturnal hum of the cicadas was occasionally broken gri~f and sorro~ the woman stuck the handle of the wooden spoon
into by a more distinct note-the rolling chuckle of the Night-jar which she held m her hand at the time into her head, and rushed into
which came down mournful and soft, and the call back by its mate. the forest rendering a series of unearthy cries ... "Ape-putha-
Koo-00-00 !
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 SEEING CEYLON

The gods, taking pity on her, turned her into a bird, which to this
day hides in the thickness of the jungle away from habitation, and
emits its heart-rending wail. On its head it b~ars a spoon-shaped
crest. XVI
There are slight variations in this legend, as told in different parts
of the Island. The bird associated with the legend is called the U Lama RIDIYAGAMA AND HAMBANTOTA
in some areas where the Sinhalese predominate and Ulalena in
others. The Tamils of the Akkarayan country between Mankulam A great deal of old-world history and romance is interwoven
and Elephant Pass, and in the Akkaraipatru of the Easten Province, with the Ridiyagama Tank, which draws its waters from the Walawe
call the bird Pay Kooroovi- "Devil-bird." Ganga, and lies a mile off the river on the left bank. The tank is
There are two birds, apparently, whose cry fits the legend -the easily reached by taking the motorable road which turns inland from
Crested Ceylon Hawk-Eagle, (Ceylon, and Legge) indigenous to the main road at Ambalantota.
the low-country jungles, and the Forest Eagle-Owl of the up- In the pages of the Rajavaliya, a book which chronicles
country and mid-country, The former has the more pronounced crest happenings in the stirring past, we read that when King Gajabahu
and is noted for its Hoo-oo! which ends in a piercing wail. Dr. R. invaded South India, he was championed by his fosterbrother Nila,
L. Spittel, in his book Far-Off Things, has as near as it is possible to whom he largely owed his victory. Nila, as the story goes, was
to do so, put the conundrum on a scientific plane. Nevertheless, the the son of the palace laundress, and when yet a child is said to have
phantom of the Ceylon jungles is constantly being pin-pointed, and surprised one and all by moving a heavy iron club lying under the
will no dmbt continue to excite controversy time and again in the royal bed, which could only be lifted by ten men. Nila Maha
future, as it has done in the past. Yodhaya! .everybody exclaimed, and, true to this sobriquet, it was
this lad, grown into a giant, who terrified the South Indian King into
submission by squeezing water from an iron bar, and oil out of sand!

* * * *

In recognition of his services, Nila Maha Yodhaya was on his

return granted a large tract of land in the Wala we basin-then known
as Ruhuna which he peopled with a host of the captives he had
over. One of the villages named Ridiyagama, which was established
in this manner, was until recently occupied by a clan of washermen
who bore the ge-name: Ramhotisabhapatigamage, meaning: "Land-
lords sprung from the chief of the War Council."
The village lies today buried beneath the waters of the tank to
which it has passed down its name. The descendants of the
champion who possessed the lands which their great ancestor had
received for his services nearly twenty centuries ag~said to have

230 231
 SEEING CEYLON RIDIYAGAMA AND HAMBANTOTA

been a stalwart and unruly race-have sold most of their heritage Ha!llbantota, the one remairiingtown in the district, is heralded
cheap to land speculators who were alert enough to foresee the by stretches of horse-shoe dunes, and, from April to August, by
pcpularity which would accrue to the region with the building of the broad reaches of baked clay marked here and there by the bleached
tarik. Their grants they alleged, were washed away by one of the bones of dead buffalo and neat cattle. The Saints forbid that the
periodical inundations of the river, but their ge-name, coupled with legend should come true which declares that these "walking dunes"
the traditional tale I have unfolded, was sufficient to confirm the of Hambantota, built by sand waves, will roll on inland until they
truth of their claim. merge with the sacred hills of Kataragama !
The bund of the Ridiyagama Tank, which is over a mile' and a At the south-west end of the town, the sand has indeed very
half in length, testifies to the labour of the Irrigation Depart111ent steadily moved forward and in the course of a few years covered lip
spread over a period of six years. Its waters offered the prospect of several streets and houses. Many attempts were made to arrest its
irrigating 7,000 acres of hostile land covered by a stunted jungle progress, but with feeble success-until an Assistant Agent of the
which had tried vainly to bind itself to a dry sandy earth against the Government, named King, introduced a thorny shrub which did some
thrust and drag of the wind. From the few huts which stood there service. Subsequently, C. A. Murray, another resident Agent of
not two decades ago to fix the position of Ridiyagama Village, there Government, conceived the idea of stopping the menace by planting
has grown to be a thriving colony which has converted this land into palmyra palms. They came up very well in the dry sand with little
a granary and garden of south Ceylon. tending and this grove has decidedly stopped the advance of the
dunes which threatened to bury the town.
* * * *
* * * *
Before we pass from this interesting region, we stop a few more
moments to examine a living tradition of how another clan living in At the time, about 40 years ago, the dunes were the one source
this region acquired a ge-name of curious origin. It connotes an of wholesome drink water available to the town; and it was very
unbroken descent compared with whose antiquity the most renowned usual then to see a string of maidens, chaperoned by mothers and
peerages of Europe are but the creations of yesterday. aunts, go in procession every morning and evening to get a supply
The story goes that during one of his royal progresses, Sri of water for domestic needs. The proceeding included digging holes
Parakrama Bahu VI had his rest disturbed by the croaking of a about 3 to 4 feet deep and, as the clear ~tream of water trickled into
frog, night after night, as he lay in one of his encampments in the the hole, collecting the precious supply into a brass or earthen pot
woods of the Hambanto.ta District. None in the royal train could Who could gainsay that while engaged on this pursuit the news
destroy the frog, which lay concealed in a pool. A countryman, of the town was discussed threadbare? Doubtless, the gossips
however, undertook to shoot the animal and, guiding his arrow only told their tales, and the penned-up Muslim maidens took every
by sound, transfixed the frog. The Sinhalese Locksley was rewarded opportunity to look about them to catch a glimpse of some dandy.
with the significant title: Sabda-vidda Ambagaha-pokuna admirer who kept following at a discreet distanc~.
Rajapaksa Mudali-ge, which mea~s. "Chief Rajapakse, who shot The palmyra palms, they soon found, absorbed all the fresh
by sound in the mango-pool". The name was borne.by his descend- water which the dunes had from time immemorial conserved for
ants, who enjoyed large grants of land which went with the name. the people living in this arid town. Three or four wells were sunk to
remedy this, but the water was brackish, and no longer was one
* * *
232 233
 SEEING CEYLON MAHARUHUNA

reminded of biblical scenes of other days and other dimes, as for the village population by what occurred in the Southern Province
instance that of the beautiful Rebekah giving drink to Eleazar of within his recollection in the eighteen-fifties. It would appear that an
Damascus! But happily today, for the peace of mind of the tourist, it absurd and utterly groundless rumour was spread that a f<?reign
is good to know that the town draws on the bounty of the Walawe man-of-war was about to bombard Galle and do unheard-of-havoc
Ganga for its domestic water. in the southern seaboard. Upon this several town and village folk
Today, as it was even so in the long past, the importance of abandoned their homes and, taking with them an ample supply of
Hambantota reposes in its natural salt-pans, or lewayas. Around salt and little else, fled into the jungles. They duly emerged a few
the town and in the district there are a number of these natural, days later and were much laughed at for their pains!
shallow depressions where an abundance of salt of the finest On the summit of the wind-swept mound behind the Hambantota
quality is naturally fonried and procured without any outlay other Rest House, and overlooking the bay where league-long breakers
than the cost of the organization for gamerig the annual harvest. roll, there stands a Martello tower, the origin of which has given rise .
Sea-water finds its way along narrow creeks into these shallow to much speculation. This tower is vaguely and popularly believed
basins. The fierce sun blazes down. The water rapidly evaporates, to be a relic of Portuguese occupation which later served bath the
and a beautiful white sheet of salt is seen where once was water. Dutch and the British. It is all the more interesting therefore to read
When the salt has reached a certain stage of maturity it is collected of its origin in a diary of a journey from Trincomalee to Hambantota
and stacked in godowns, and eventually transported to various parts along the coast, made in 1806, by Sir Alexander Johnston, who at
of the Island. the time was acting as Chief Justice.
Since, as it so happens, excellent salt is readily to be had every-
where in Ceylon, people scarcely realize how important the
* * *
nearness of the salt-lagoons must have been considered in ancient
and medieval days. The Dutch used their possession of the The diary reads: "Hambantota was reached at 11 a.m. on
salt-lewayas of Hambantota as a diplomatic weapon against the Monday, the 17th (November; 1806 ). The entire journey from
Kandyans. When relations got strained, they cut off the supply: as Batticaloa, 158 miles, had taken six days. Went to look at Mr.
for instance in 179 l. Smythe's house the Collector built at his own expense ... went over
In the earlier part of the last century, when the last Kandyan the tower built by Captain Goper of the Engineers. Saw a brig about
King was at war with England, and, traffic being at an end, only two miles off at 4 p. m. with no colours."
such salt as could be smuggled across the frontier found its way to Two interesting facts are disclosed: first that the early
his dominions, the sufferings undergone for want of it were Collectors, or Government Agents, appointed in British times were
extreme. obliged to put up houses in their respective stations at their own
expense; and secondly, definite proof that the Martello tower dates
* * * * to early British times.
That many battles were waged on these desert plains of
Thomas Steele, another Assistant Government Agent of the Hambantota remains undisputed. The last of many a stirring
District who took a praiseworthy interest in local antiquities encounter carries back to the month of August in the year 1803.
and Sinhalese literature, and whose reports make wonderfully The Kandyan forces had made a descent on the station. On some
interesting reading, illustrated ho"'.' high a value is set upon salt by rising ground near the town they erected a battery, with five smaller
234 235
 SEEING CEYLON

ones along the beach. The small garrison defending the station was
placed in an entire state of blockade.
A spirited sortie, by Ensign Pendergrast who was in charge, is
but an incident crowded out of.the pages of history. The Kandyans XVII
were compelled to evacuate and retreat to the interior.
The scenery around Hambantota is not without interest, but is TISSAMAHARAMA AND KIRINDA
certainly not attractive. The Government Agent's house, the Courts,
the Kachcheri, and the Rest House with its unique view of endless If you would carry away a correct perspectiv~ of the v~st
land and sea, stand on the hot bare cliff near the Martello tower- unpopulated spaces in the southern dry zone or wish to fortify
looking on the one hand to the ridge of palmyra-covered, drifting yourself with pleasurable anticipation of cooler places all you have
red sand-dunes, and on the other to the heavy breakers thundering to do is to stand in the verandah of the Hambantota Rest House and .
on the white crescent of shore. look northwards. In the early morning, or the late evening, you will
But, in reality, one never sees Hambantota--0ne feels it. Maybe, see in the remote distance, rising high above the apparently intermi-
you yourself have sensed this when lolling one late evening on the nable stretch of jungle plain bounded on the one~ide ~y the o~ean,_ a
verandah of the Rest House under a sky of blazing stars; or when a mighty range of mountains. Its lower slopes are 1~van~bly veiled m
moon, dark yellow, was rising in the east. Some have traced this cloud and vapours. Its peaks of crystalline rock glitter m the mellow
mystery to its harsh night-smells of cooling earth mingling with the sunlight and stand out in serrated contours, suspended between earth
tang of the sea. Yet others to its day-time odours of sweat, and heaven, on the horizon fifty miles away.
dried-fish, and dust. Through this stretch of plain, an arterial road leads past the
foot-hills and the offsets of the girdling range of Upper Uva, to
terminate at the Pass of Haputale. But before we trundle across
these plains towards the distant peaks which rise to a height of six
thousand feet or more above sea-level, we have much more in this
unlimited flat sandy plain to explore.

* * * *

The trace of the old road to Uva, long since abandoned, can yet
be easily picked out from the Rest House verandah, cresting a s~all
range of hills which lie just outside the town. T~e n~w road skirts
the lewayas and runs through scrub-land which 1s reheved only by
large Palu and Tamarind trees. The Palu has a le~t~e~ leaf and
yields a small luscious fruit which turns yellow when 1t 1s npe. These
fruits are much relished by bear, who climb the trees to get at them.
They also fatten the wild boar-very plentiful in this district-who
get a share when the fruits ripen and fall to the ground. '
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 SEEING CEYLON TISSAMAHARAMA AND KIRINDA

Cacti, in many various forms, naturally flourish in the windblown, There Clark sat until daylight, listening to the monotonous drop
hot plains-largely through their adaptations to resist the heat and of rain in endless rhythm, and such other night-sounds of the
prevent abnormal evaporation of their moisture secreted in the jungles, which seemingly had taken on a new note. Overhead the
leathery coverings which protect what might be termed the leaves. breeze played over leagues of tree-tops. Occasionally it set up an
In fact, most of Hambantota's vegetation possesses thick gum, or eerie moan caused by two branches grating as they swayed in the
latex adaptations for protection . wind.
There, is a tradition, narrated by the folk of Hambantota who Breaking through the incessant hum of insects and the
secure tht';, 1 ving by gathering jungle fruit and firewood, that there consonance of sounds set up by the cicadas, there occasionally rose,
is a certa1. ,rig le creeper in these parts which produces symptoms the call of the spotted deer, and more rarely the deep bell of the
of daze if trodden upon. To put it in the very words of the story as it sambhur. When his radium-'dialled watch told him it was nearing
was told me by a pundit of Hambantota: "The person who treads on sunrise, he heard the trumpeting and squealing of a herd of elephants.
this creeper gets bewildered, and losing ,his way in the jungles With the first streak of dawn, there came the blaring cry of the
wanders about somewhat in the fashion of the love-sick Athenian peacock.
swain and nymphs commemorated in A Midsummer Night's For the next two days-so Clark told me-he wandered, climb-
Dream. There is no reason why we should not credit this report", ing trees and rock outcrops in order to orientate himself by fixing
adds my informant, "for isn't it told that the Romans of old spread some permanent object ahead in order to avoid going roun4
certain herbs under their festive boards in order to produce hilarity in circles. He could get no direction from the sun as the sky was
among the guests whose bare feet were allowed to rest on, or touch overcast, and it continued day after day to rain intermittently. The
them." cloudy nights were equally unhelpful as they blotted out the stars.
Apropos this subject of losing one's way in the jungles and He plucked off and ate jungle berries to keep off hunger-and when
wandering bewildered, there was a fellow-officer of mine to whom ravenously so, shot and devoured the flesh of some birds, uncooked!
this really happened. H. 0. Clark, one time Survey Officer and The third night, Clark's matches gave out, and he was denied his
jungle wallah par excellence, and a friend decided to spend a only comfort-his pipe. That night, he felt so weary and tired that
Christmas vacation in these self-same south-eastern jungles. he strapped himself to the branch of the tree with his cartridge belt,
lest he doze and fell off his perch. In the noon of the next day, much
Leaving Tanamalvila Rest House, they crossed the Kirinda
to h~s relief, he found himself on a P. W. D. road, and later learnt
Oya with some difficulty as the river was swollen by rains, and
that he was two miles south of Wellawaya. All through his
thereafter parted. The friend went off with the tracker, while Clark
peregrinations he was under the impression he was making for
detoured to explore some of the glades in the vicinity, which are
very appropriately and commonly known in these parts as Yaka- Tissamaharama, and the coast!
baendi-divulana, meaning "glades created by the devil himself." *
The rain, which had stayed off during the afternoon, very soon
* * *
began to fall in buckets. Protecting his precious box of matches and Yes, the Ceylon jungles are the very Devil's glades at times.
"baccy" to best advantage, Clark says he took shelter under a tree. They can even be cruel and inhospitable. They rule by fear, and he
There was no response to the shots he fired to draw attention. Came who tells you that he does not fear the Ceylon jungles masks his
darkness, and giving up hope of being found, he scrambled up a tree true feelings. Why then this fascination to visit and roam over them?
to spend the night in its fork. It is difficult to define its lure, but there are many to testify that if
238 239
 SEEING CEYLON TISSAMAHARAMA AND KIRJNDA

you fall to it, you will ever be a slave to its elusive charm. helping an intrigue between the Queen and his brother; accordingly,
Possibly this explains why you find yourself at Kirinda, one of .losing control over himself, he gave order that the go-between should
those far-flung settlements set back on the fringe of civilization, be put to a painful death by immersion in a cauldron of boiling oil.
where the P.W.D. road from Tissamaharama comes to an end. Off The Ministers of State were horrified: the subjects of the realm
the sea-shore, there stands a cliff, with a group of boulders piled were terror-stricken. What is more, it would appear that even the
one atop of the other in grotesque confusion. It beckons to the gods were annoyed. By way of punishment they caused the ocean
visitor to view the country from the summit. On reaching the base to flood the land, and tradition holds that roughly fifteen miles width
of the cliff you will find a flight of crude steps cut into the rock of coast-line (a yodun) of the King's realm were washed away.
which offer an easy approach to the summit, To adequately Moved to penitence, Kelani Tissa thought out some means by
describe the panorama unfolded would be impossible. Suffice it to which he could atone for his sacrilegious act. He planned as a
say the scene is wonderful-forlorn, as it is majestic. sacrifice something which he considered would not only bring
The attention of any spectator if first captured by the glistening forcibly to the minds of his subjects the sincerity of his repentence,
white dome of the Maharama, a stupa built, or more probably but would also propitiate the gods.
completed, by King Kavantissa, which is one of the oldest and most He built a boat of gold. He provided it with food and water to last
sacred places of Buddhist pilgrimage. There are besides this Great a month, and therein he placed his eldest daughter, the peerless
l)agoba three others in this ancient city we call Tissamaharama: prin~ess of the realm: Bearing an inscription which made known to
these are the Sandhagiri, the Yataala and the Gem Dagoba. All the all that it contained a king's daughter, the boat was cast adrift.
dagobas were no doubt originally faced with bricks, and plastered Many days later, a fisherman roaming the sea-coast spied a
and otherwise embellished, having probably finials at the top, of gold strange craft cast ashore at a spot called Dovera, near Kirinda.
or other precious metal. All but the restored Great Dagoba are still Coming nearer, he beheld the princess and forthwith carried the
in ruin. news to the King of this southern kingdom.
On a gentle slope between the Gem Dagoba and the Yataala is This King, Kavantissa, married the maiden who had been brought
the grandest group of all the monoliths, for this is the site of the to him so romantically by fate, and named tier Vihara-Mahadevi.
ancient palaces. Near it is an octagonal granite block ten feet in On the summit of the diff there stands a dagoba built on the ruins of
girth and eight high, which is, according to tradition, the post to which one which was erected as a thank-offering for the safe voyage of
the royal tusker elephant was tied. Marks on one of the faces are the princess. The royal court-of-arms (the sun and the moon) cut
pointed out as having been worn by his chains. on a boulder nearby, commemorates this story and marks the land-
But we return to Kirinda, to the lovely seascape, the massive ing place.
stretch of sand-dunes, to the silvery stretch of barren, shore. It At Gotimbaragodaella, two miles inland from Kirinda,.there stand
0

cannot be counted strange that such a setting has been selected for the crumbling ruins of a maligawa, or palace, where Kavantissa is
that romantic myth which appears in the legends of many nations- said to have officially welcomed and wed the princess; and finally, a
of a princess or dame of high degree who arrives from a far-away medley of ancient monuments at Magul Maha Vihara-near
shore to meet a king who is waiting to welcome and wed her. Palatupana in the Ruhuna National Park-which.mark the spot where
More than 2,000 years ago, there reigned over the western part the happy pair sojourned after their marriage.
of Ceylon, a King called Devanampiyatissa. As Kelaniya was his Vihara-Mahadevi bore the King, in time, two sons, Gemunu
capital, he was also called Kelani Tissa. It so happened that this and Tissa; each was destined to be the Lord of Lanka, one after
King thought he had good reason to suspect a monk of the temple of the other.
240
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 XVIII

IN THE RUHUNA NATIONAL _PARK

With so much archaeological evidence to show that Tihawa -

to use the old name for Tissamaharama-was the residence of
royalty, of a considerable monastic fraternity, and once had a large
population of lower degree, there can be no doubt that tradition speaks
- truly when it claims that the entire tract of land from Tihawa to
Kirinda was once intensively cultivated, and that it was the locale of
operations and events of a cultural past.
Even today, in the areas not reclaimeH and which lie covered
with jungle, there is much evidence of pristine fertility afforded by
traces of long-abandoned paddy fields, and the noble tamarind and
other trees which mark the sites of extinct village gardens . The
source of all the fertility thus extensively evidenced was then, as it
2-1 Por,;st E:iglc Owl
is even today, the Kirindi-oya, which flowed past the old capital.
I have ventured in an earlier Chapter to show that in this dry-
a
zone tract there could be no water sufficient for the needs of large
concentrated population and for cultivation, except it be on a tank
:!4_ /\ villu 111 rhc N:11io11:1I P:,r!..
system which husbanded the flood waters of the river and streams
during the short intensive rainy season. It was perhaps the two very
remarkable natural anicuts of rack called Mahagal-amuna and
Kudagal-amuna, spanning the bed of the Kirindi-oya, that inspired
the ancients and led to the construction of the other artificial anicuts
to turn the water from the river into the channels which linked the
river to the tanks.

* * * *

Mahagal-amuna, or the "great-stone dam," has been utilized as

the foundation for the iron bridge spanning the Kirindi-oya,
constructed by the P.W.D. in 1928-29. The surface rock has all
been blasted and all trace removed of this remarkable natural anicut.

242 24 -~
 IN THE RUHUNA NATIONAL PARK
SEEING CEYLON

TheKudagal-amuna, or the "small-stone dam," was about aquarter beautiful, for although what was once the bed of the tank was
of a mile upstream from the larger ridge of rocks across the river covered by forest-trees, the outline of the great natural.hollow which
bed. Here too, the surface rock has been quarried and transported formed the Lake is distinctly visible, and the bund is perfect... .. "
for metalling the new road. Both these features have therefore now It was the sanguine expectation of this Governor, notwithstand-
ceased to exist. ing a great deal of adverse criticism, that the reconstruction of these
The modem topographical maps of the area depict four large
works to irrigate the country would restore the vast tracts adjoining
storage tanks in the environs ofTissamaharama. The oldest of these
the Kirindi-oya to the position they held in ancient times. Surely
is Tissa Wewa. It lies in a shallow valley opposite the Rest House
and must have been built before the first century A.D., for history the efforts of the early British pioneer, directed in the face of
tells that a King named Ila Naga improved the appearance of the opposition, to convert the chosen haunt of denizens of the wild waste
work in the 38th year of the first century. The other three larger into an expanse of rice-fields eight to ten miles in length and of
reservoirs in the city are today called Yodakandiya Wewa, considerable breadth-might be classified today as an achievement
Sitharawila Wewa and Yoda Wewa. The familiar Wiravila tank-a fully as worthy of record as the greatest deeds which the
protected sanctuary for birds which travellers on the Wellawaya
Mahavamsa and the other chronicles have saved from oblivion.
Road keep a look-out for-is a part of Yodakandiya Wewa.
All these ancient irrigation works appear to have remained in
good orderuntil the end of the 12th century. Thereafter the histories * * *
make no reference to Tihawa. Following on the disruption of the
village communities, and due to continual neglect by a population Leaving Tissamaharama and Kirinda, let us now cross over to
too small and apathetic to keep the works in repair, all these tanks another region equally old in story which has added to legend and
were-possibly breached. Speedily and inevitably, the waters which history, the spectacular result of Wild Life protection carried out in
were once controlled stagnated. In time they spread miasma and
Ceylon. We call it the Ruhuna National Park-over one hundred
pestilence where they had previously brought plenty, and over all
and fifty square miles of territory, where animals in the wild state
undoubtedly, the malarial fever fiend reigned supreme.
At length the city, which had dwindled into an unimportant behave in an unconcerned manner and have ceased to take alarm
settlement, was perhaps totally abandoned. The beds of the and flee at the sight or scent of man.
reservoirs, the embankments, and the former fields as well as the In this tract of country, forgotten for a thousand yearn, during
site of the magnificent capital-city, then became gradufilly overspread which time the jungles came and hid the relics of a past civilization
by a thick mantle of forest and scrub-land-the habitat of buffaloes, from the sight of man, there today roam the elephant and the sambhur,
elephants and bears. It seems clear that this abandonment must the leopard, the bear and the wild-boar, while in sensuous and ever-
have been the gradual process of several centuries.
changing form herds of the beautiful spotted deer ( Cervus axi_us ),
* and innumerable smaller game congregate to sport and graze after
* * *
browsing away the hot hours of the day in the shade of some
When in 1859 Sir Henry Ward, the then Governor of this island, overarching jungle arbour. Owing to its accessibility, its educational
visited Tissamaharama, he was sufficiently impressed by the ruins and recreational aspects the Ruhuna Park is by far the most popular
of Tissa tank to record that: "even in its present state it is singularly

244 245
 SEEING CEYLON IN THE RUHUNA NATIONAL PARK

venue for holiday seekers and Wild Life enthusiasts. As many as .wallowing..:._wamed of your approach by the persistent harsh cry
15,000 people now visit it annually and the two bungalows available of the Plover: "Did you do it! Did you ... do it! Did... you ... do .. .i~!"
for the occupation of visitors at Buttuwa and Yala are in constant There is a saying that the eggs of the Plover, when eaten, induce
and considerable demand. watchfulness and that the female bird sleeps with her legs in the air
to prevent the sky from falling down and crushing her young!

* * * * * *
Whereas today one visits Ruhuna travelling by car or jeep, time
* *
Seated concealed behind a tree, and facing any one of these
was when, flanked by two walls of treacherous thorny scrub, one villus, a visitor may with luck watch a strange world enjoying its
with difficulty took a car along a sandy track, only as far as freedom. In mast of these water-spreads there are crocodiles in
Palatupana. Within the "Reserve"-as it was then called-the plenty Moving as though too lazy to make the attempt, their scaly
visitor travelled on foot. That being so, he covered less territory but bodies emerge from the water and c,ome to rest on the bank
saw more; and I would fain tell you of a trip made into this lonely with jaws agape, still as the proverbial Jog. Yet on the slightest
waste of thicket and scrub in mid August ( 1926) four decades ago,
disturbance they lift their heads, Listen for a moment and scuttle
long before it came to be intersected by road and jeep-track and
back to the water with a wonderful display of agility. It was Wattuwa
invaded by the spate of visitors one nowadays runs into.
who told me that whenever a crocodile's mouth opens, its eyes close.
Shortly before we reached the Palatupana Circuit Bungalow,
A dark patch in the distance shows up plainly against the grassy
we fell in with Wattuwa, who was to guide us through the labyrinth
slope. As it moves, one recognizes a sounder of pig busy ploughing
of paths and game-tracks which threw a strangely woven net over
the ground in search of succulent yams. The resonant bell of a
our ventures further inland. Short of stature yet lithe and sinewy,
sambhur draws one to look in another direction. In its wake there
there was much which showed he had spent the greater part of his
lifetime close to Nature. "This evening we will go to Vila-palawewa," . comes a wonderful vision-a noble animal moving down to the water
he said. We agreed. in stately fashion. Many herds of deer, timidly yet gracefully, break
A vila, sometimes also called villu, is a topographical feature away from the screening jungle and, gradually increasing their pace,
peculiar to Ceylon's dry arid wastes. It is a natural depression with make for the welcome water. The spreading antlers of a buck will
gently shelving banks and holds up the collection of rain water which occasionally show up as he raises his weighted head, pricks up his
drains into it. Soon after the monso9n rains, the water spreads to the ears and utters his shrill bark of warning to the herd.
fringe of the matted forest and undergrowth growing on the
highland, which holds it within bounds. In the drier months, it is a * * * *
gradually diminishing Iakelet fringed by a wide band of grassland,
toned down by a water-side fringe of reeds, which rise out of a But there is another persistent cry which rings out both morning
quaking foundation. and evening, and vibrates over these jungles and plains. Like the cry
A few scattered villus, most of them dry in August, and vast of a quarrelling cat, set in a variety of keys and cadences, Aaow!
expanses of open glade formed the main feature of Vila-palawewa. Aaow! screech the peafowl from their perches on lofty tree-tops.
Naturally, it is in this type of country, in the cool hours of the day, Possibly, a single specimen with magnificent outspread tail, from
that the denizens in far-flung back-blocks congregate to graze. which a hundred eyes appear to scintillate in the rays of the sun,
It is not unlikely that the first to catch your eye will be a wild proudly struts over the green sward bordering the jungle, for your
buffalo or two, rising out of a muddy pool in which they have been special delectation. Why do we speak of the long feathers which
246 247
 SEEING CEYLON IN THE RUHUNA NATIONAL PARK

come out of a peacock's back, as its tail? Examine the bird and you. hither and thither by far-off invisible winds, you will be gripped by
will see clearly that his real tail is composed of short strong the silence, the loneliness, the emptiness which twilight drops like a
feathers, which support them. Village lore has it that peacocks dance pall on these far-flung jungle regions. Yet, time was, when during
in the, morning and evening to pay obeisance to the Sun God. the particular months of the year mentioned, a concourse of fisher-
Peahens conceive at the noise of thunder, hence their love for rain. folk lay ambushed on the fringe of jungle off this cove in the evening
hoping that it would be a clear night, diffused with the silver glow
* * * * from an unclouded moon ..
On a stump standing out of the water, you see a Darter sitting If conditions proved ideal, there soon broke into the stillness the
motionless, with outspread wings. Perhaps another is swimming sound most agreeable to the strained ears of the "turtle-gangs",
nearby, with its snake-like head and neck just visible above the caused by hundreds of "Hawk's bill" flapping their way on to the
surface. A few Egrets, maybe, are spearing at frogs and small fish beach and preparing holes in the sand for the reception of their
which splutter In the ooze on the margin of the water, while a pair of numerous ova. .
Black Storks, with long white necks, sedately wander about on a After sufficient grace had been allowed the turtles to their eggs
similar pursuit. Hardly noticed among the reeds, a Pond Heron, undisturbed, at a given signal the "turtle-gangs" strung along the
with shoulders hunched and head pulled in and dorsal feathers drawn shore made a simultaneous onset on the marine reptiles in an
down to cover neck and wings, endf?avours to avoid observation. endeavour to tum as many as possible on their back: the turtle
Still, one has to remember that it is the South-West Monsoon, defends itself with great fury, and bites severely, as many a turtle-
which blows in August, and that if you would carry away a vivid catcher knows to his cost. Yet eventually, many lay on the beach
picture of endless varieties of feathered inhabitants which people unable to regain their freedom, with their fins securely tied together
the villus and lewayas, you must choose a time after the first rains by twisted bark of jungle trees used as ligatures. From the accounts
of the North-East. I will not venture to describe the scene of riot of witnesses, there apparently followed as satuinalian a scene as
and colour that will await you as you gaze on clouds of grey barbarism can conjure.
Wagtails, of many 'species of Crane, of Pelicans floating on reed- Seemingly, as it were by the waving of a magic wand, isolated
covered expenses, of Duck and of vast numbers of other water- beacons of orange flame burst out hither and thither over the
fowl-all splashing, diving and screeching! foreshore, and smoky lights rose in a dense cloud into the moonlit
night. Lifted on stout poles passed longitudinally between the
* * * * tethered fins and breast-plate of each turtle, the reptile was carried
to, and suspended over, the blazing fire until the dorsal plates or
When at Palatupana, you will miss much by not seeing little known
scales on their disk became heated, and curled up; these were
cameo of beauty-a semicircular cove of golden sand nestling
immediately stripped off, and passed on to purveyors who supplied
behind a laterite headland ending up in a little island which has been
the raw shell to the flourishing tortoise shell industry for which Galle
designated on our maps Amaduwa or Turtle Island. On the broad
was long famous in the past. After subjection to this treatment the
fore-shore of this cove the ocean's waters lap idly and with great
despoiled turtle was liberated and allowed free egress to the sea.
effort from the middle of November to the end of February.
So cruel a practice is happily something which the past has
Here, when the persistent evening cry of the Pea-fowl and of
buried, and the inclusion of Amaduwa or Turtle Island into the Ruhuna
bird-life has died down, and a setting sun has gilded the solitary
National Park prevents recurrence. The annual turtle fishery was
chain of dunes and tinted the sky with pink whirls of cloud driven
248 249
 SEEING CEYLON

regularly farmed by the Dutch Government, and was a source of

revenue to the British in the early half of the last century. Yet
paradoxically, tht>re is a sequel to this story of the past which is as
strange as fiction.
XIX
* * * *
SERMONS IN STONE
Although one would naturally infer that instinct would prevent
the same turtle from revisiting the place of its former despoliation, If you would picture the parcel of country in South-East Ceylon
the fact is stated to be otherwise: "this was fully ascertained," writes which is today the Ruhuna National Park, as it showed up in 1560,
Bennett, "by a Dutch gentleman who had charge of the district in you haye a clue in the map of Cypriano Sanschez, the Spanish
1794, arid to satisfy his doubts upon the point, caused brass rings cartographer. He has made a note on it: "Kingdom of Yala deserted
suitably marked, to he attached to a fin of a certain number, and in and uninhabited for 300 years because it is unhealthy."
1826, the fish renter of the district brought me one of these rings .... the In an earlier Chapter reference was made to Alexander Johnston,
renter positively affirmed that the same tortoise had to his knowl- who when acting Chief Justice, travelled on circuit from Trincomalee
edge revisited the cove for thirty-two successive years."
to Hambantota in 1806. His entrancing travelogue in manuscript
When you are sickened by talk about Ceylon's fauna being
reveals that in his day, as even now, the section of road from the
exterminated and wish to revitalize your desire to preserve it; when
you feel you would like to court those elusive pleasures which Kumbukkan Oya to Yala lay "through thick thorny jungle with every
Nature alone, in its magnificent wild state can kindle; and if you now and then fine breaks in it like amphitheatres, and every now
would rejoice while doing so in the sensations of a slight element of and then large rocks covered with jungle".
danger, which-after you have braved them -reveals rich It would seem surprising t~at very little mention is made by Sir
memories ... then go to the Ruhuna National Park. You will be Alexander to wild animals-except for such pithy statements as
wonderfully contented with your visit if you remember to avoid a "saw a flock of wild buffaloes", or "the servants ported they had
festival season and a holiday. The number of cars and buses, and seen four elephants". Yet there seems no cause for surprise at this,
the crowds of people in the Park on such occasions, greatly reduce when one contemplates the picture he reveals of how they trav-
the power of blending your thoughts with Nature around you, and elled. While he used the time-honoured palanquin-hoisted on two
feeling that empathy your surroundings call for.
horizontal poles, carried by four bearers in front and four behind-
. he apparently had with him, besides the large company of bearers, a
party of musicians, "who kept up an incessant din with pipes and
tomtoms" all the way. The party, we are given to understand, also
consisted of a large escort both civil and military, as the following
extract shows: "At Kumbukkan Oya the Kutcherry Mudalier of
Batticaloa who attended us all the way, left us and we were met by
a Mohandiram of Pallota Panie with his retinue. Before we arrived

250 251
 SEEING CEYLON
SERMONS IN STONE

at Yala, nine sepoys and a naique from Hambantota relieved the

justified the Dutch in their time erecting a battery at Palatupana and
sergeant of the Malay (troops) .... who left for Batticaloa with their the British erecting "a small but well built fort". Johnston found this
tomtoms and flags." fort occupied by "eighteen Malay as, a Havildar naique and Subidar''.
* * He mentions that there was no trace of the Dutch battery. The
* * British fort, in the words of Johnston, stood "on the high ground off
It seems interesting to remind ourselves that according to Sir the coast and is said to have been capable of mounting several heavy
Alexander Johnston's notes, the journey from Batticaloa to Yala guns and to have been erected for sea defence." Howbeit it is
had taken four days and often involved travelling at night with "choolo interesting while speculating on these defences at Palatupana to
lights". On a rough reckoning 2 1/2 miles appear to have been note that until recently there were the remains of another fort on the
covered in one hour of actual travelling. site of the earlier British post-its rampart and bastions much over-
Here is Johnston's description of Yala as a village: "Two or three grown in jungle, the foundations of which were laid by Governor
huts, ten or twelve Veddah families in the woods who serve the Brownrigg about the time of the "Uva Rebellion" (1817-18). The
Government in many different ways." He mentions the fine trees slow but steadily expanding belt of sand dunes along this coast has
on the bank of the Yala River (Menik Ganga) "called in Cingalese buried all those relies of war.
Coombuk Gas", and the birds and monkeys. In juxtaposition, the
observation, that "four coolies had a fever last night when they came * * * *
in".
We have so far but taken a glimpse over the rim of history as
Describing the country between Yala and "Pallota Panie" .
associated with this coastal belt of country we today call the Ruhuna
(Palatupana), Sir Alexander mentions the large paelaessa near Yala,
National Park. The most wonderful of its monuments are very very.
called Anduoruwa-wela, which he calls "Andunumoa", and the tank
old. They are the many quaint outcrops of rock, Homeric in their
called: "Villepola-wewa with a village of five or six houses which
outline, which burst out in monochrome relief from the jungle-clad
were deserted." Concerning Palatupana, he says: "There were three
plains. It is only when you know the story man has woven around
houses inhabited by who cultivate fields in which are yearly
them-their legends and traditions-that they really make sense.
planted twenty ammonoms of seed." The old Dutch Road which Sir
The first of these outcrops to give form and climax to roving eye
Alexander followed in this section of the route lay between the
is today commonly called 'Elephant Rock'. It rises in a majestic
present road and the sea-shore. This old route has been delineated
pinnacle to a height of 526 feet-is visible from a great distance and
on the one.,mile-to-the-inch topographical maps. is strikingly picturesque. A luminous sky gives it definition, and from
many a vantage point in the middle-distance you have the illusion of
* * * * pin-point sharpness. The village guide who was with me when I
first saw it, said: "That is Akasa chaitya vihara", which means "the
In describing the next stage of his journey from Palatupana to temple with the sky-borne dagoba". I looked at nothing but a bare
Hambantota, the traveller through whose eyes we are picturing this worn-down granite rock which stood in an eerie stillness, its summit
country as it was 158 years ago, has much to say of the chain of precipitous and inaccessible. In my mind's eye, I saw its pinnacle
Lewaycis or "salt pans"-and of squads of sepoys detailed in those crowned by a milky-white dagoba.
times "to prevent the Candians from stealing the salt". Such Leopold Ludovici--one time surveyor, and later editor of Lorenz's
apparently was the importance of this precaution that it even paper The Examiner-<:limbed this-rock using staging and ladders
252
253
 SERMONS IN STONE
SEEING CEYLON

for purposes connected with the trigonometrical survey of lh~ bared breasts: from these peaks flows a streamlet appositely named,
Island, in the latter half of the last century. The ruins on the summit and to this day called Tambara Aro-meaning "stream from the
proved that there must have been a timber stairway which provided breasts". These twin peaks were possibly last climbed by the.
access to the top in pre-Christian times. surveyor who did the topographical mapping of the surrounding
country in 1921 . The summit of the higher of the two peaks is 1OOO
* * * * feet, the other 50 feet less. They were described as affording a
Kakavanna Tissa, who ruled over Ruhuna in the 2nd century
magnificent vantage point, extending on the north to the blued
B.C., is credited with the foundation of the extensive ruins spread
outline of the Haputale hills in the.background, and the dull purple
over that rocky outcrop we call Situlpavuva, three miles north of
Akasa chaitya. Inscriptions on the spot bear out that its ancient blob of Monaragala against it; on the south, to an embayed coast-
name was Cittalapabbata one of the most celebrated viharas of line marked by a white line of foamy surf and the Little Basses
ancient times. The hundreds of rock-caves-many of them bearing lighthouse poised between shore and horizon.
inscriptions and evidence of having been lived in; the numerous The Little and the Great Basses carry history very much father
"kemas" or artificial rock waterholes; the disintegrated ruins of as back than the land-forms we have been discussing. These oceanic
many as ten thupas (dagobas built over relies) and the reference by outcrops, comprising two lengths of submerged reef off the south-
inscription to meditation halls, all go to prove that Situlpavuva was a . eastern coast of the island, own their importance today primarily to
renowned cave monastery establishment, in long past times. Pilgrim the fact that they are the bases for two lighthouses erected in the
bands to this day brave the jungle trek to the site, to pay tribute to its second half of the last century. Tradition however links their
sanctity and its reputation of having given to this country in ancient importance to a story as old as Time-pointing to these rocks as
times many monks of saintliness and learning. being rertmants of an ancient city called Sri-lanka-pura, the strong-
In dense jungles across the Menik Gang or the "Kataragama hold of a prehistonc King called Ravana. Hence to this day, the
Ganga" as it is also called, some miles north-east of Situlpavuva and .traditionalist refers to these fragments of land as Ravana-kotte "The
in the heart of the strict Natural Reserve, stand two rock outcrops fortress o~ Ravana", and explains that the tints in the sky at sunri.e
called Mandagala and Dematagala. Very few have visited these
hill-tops pocked with caves and pre-Christian inscriptions. Of
.
and sunset me but the reflections of the seven brazen battlements
of the city over which the ocean, waves now roll, scintillating to the
Mandagala, an ancient monastery with many inscriptions which range rays of the sun. How sombre and majestic a strorighold it was; how .
in date from the second century B.C. to the fourth A.O., I have long a siege it withstood; and how valiantly it was defended against
written much in my Ancient Irrigation Works-Part Ill. Here one the, attacks of Rama, who sought his beautiful wife Sita held
sees and feels the impressive beauty of prandeur and ruggedn~ss captive by the King, are facets which belong to another story. What
rarely found anywhere else in low-country Ceylon-low, barren pm- concerns us is that they say the mighty waters of the ocean
nacles of mother rock, weather-beaten for centuries, but appearing rushed over the capital by the act of the gods to punish the impious
today as if flung in a pre-historic age by a giant hand. Ravana. They buried "twenty-five palaces, and five hundred
Dematagala, represented by twin peaks, pictures to the
thousand streets!"
imagination a dusky woman of Amazonian girth reclining with
255
254
 SEEING CEYLON SERMONS IN STONE

The story is every night repeated, in calm weather or foul, by the regions-there are several ruinstrewn boulder groups of great age.
flash of light, warning ships on the high seas off the submerged The adventurous visitor to these parts has the opportunity here of
coast of Ancient Ceylon. The fisherman bears out the legend from exploring many caves which had been lived-in in the past, provided
his experience that while on the one side of the submerged reef he has by now accustomed himself to the haunting odour they
which skirts the south-eastern and the western coast, he can find exhale through occupation by bats. You will find one such cave-
bottom, on the other side his longest line is of no avail. 'Ravana- gloomy and desolate, but intensely exciting to explore with its
entrance in the northern face of the highest boulder in the Magul-
baemma' he calls it, meaning "Ravana's Ridge"
maha-vihara site, two miles north of Palatupana. A narrow door set
in an enclosing wall of ancient origin permits no more than a glow to
* * * * penetrate the vaulted recess. The eerie stillness is rendered weird
by occasional confused noises proceeding from innumerable bats
Getting back to Elephant Rock, and taking a south-westerly course flitting round like ghostly shadows. Bears and leopards have been
from that point, you will soon find yourself at the beach and over- known in recent years to have shared this lonely shrine room where
looking a heaving sea. Here you will come upon another jumble in the past saintly monks meditated and to this day a disintegrated
of rocks called Patanangala. The anchorage you gaze over was image of the Buddha reposes.
probably used from earliest times, for in the pre-Christian era King At Silavakanda, Pimburamalgala, and Gonagala-all nearby-
Kavantissa built the Patungala Vihara-identified by its ruins and you h;we caves with katara or "drip-ledge" chiselled to keep the
inscriptions, but conjuring a brighter picture than is reflected by the rain out; lithic inscriptions in Nagara script; dagobas in ruin; and
sum of its stones. similar vestiges which tell of a vanished kingdom. There is more if
~ I recently.saw this anchorage in the blaze of noon-day, with a you will follow up your exploration of these sites by dipping into the
metallic empty sky above, from which there poured down the pages of Historical Topography of Ancient and Medieval Ceylon
direct rays of a molten sun. The vagaries of monsoon and the by the late Dr. C. W. Nicholas, or speculate on the translations of
calling of the sea, had perforce changed it for a while into a many of these lithic inscriptions still to be found on these sites, whicli
fisheries harbour. Innumerable out-rigger canoes were drawn up on have been annotated by the patient author.
the beach away from the water's reach at highfide, while quite a
number of mechanized boats bobbed to the play of waves in the
roadstead which open~ into the steel-blue stillness of an endless
open sea. The smell of fish permeated the settlement inshore, with
a heaviness which caught the breath. We leave the fisher-folk to
their heart;. breaking calling and get back to our "sermons in stone"

* * * *
Clustered around Palatupana-the modem form of the ancient
name Palutthagiri, rendered famous in the ancient chronicles as a
fort~ess and battle ground where the Sinhalese were always on the
defensive' and. met the Chola forces which had penetrated into these

257
 ENGELBRECHT OF YALA

camping in. His staccato cries to the team of oxen harnessed to the
wagon, and the sharp clap of his long whip which he whirled over
the black-tipped horns of the span, still echo in my ears.
XX
* * * *
ENGELBRECHT OF YALA Well, if you did not know H. E. Engelbrecht, here is his story:
He was a_Free Stater, and a scout-rider under General de Wet, and
Early in 1899, about 150 square miles of country in the eastern was brought to Ceylon in sad and dour mood, as a Boer prisoner of
area of the Southern Province between the Kumbukk.an Oya and war in the latter half of 1900..... There came the 31st ofMay 1902-
the Menik Ganga were constituted a Game Sanctuary. Appai:_ently, the great day the 5poo simple and unsophisticated Boer warriors
as soon as restriction was placed on shooting within the Sanctuary, held captive in Cey Ion were looking forward to; terms of peace had
the area adjoining it, west of the Menik Ganga, was shot over by a been signed in Pretoria and their deliverance was near. Difficulty
succession of visiting sportsmen, mostly foreigners. Game was however lay with a small band of "irreconcilables" at Diyatalawa,
harassed to such an extent as to render it almost invisible. who sturdily declined to purchase freedom by a declaration which
recognized King Edward as their sovereign. This number
This led to the marginal fringe between Yala and Palatupana
eventually dwindled down to five, and in September 1903 the
being declared a Reserve with permission granted only to re~idents
Secretariat at Colombo issued a communique notifying these five
in Ceylon to shoot over it. For nearly three decades thereafter, the Boers that if they would not take the oath of allegiance or make
map of Ceylon designated what is today the Strict Natural Reserve, declarat~on, they would be free to go anywhere they wished to,
the "Yalagama Sanctuary", and the area west of it, the "Resident within the Island.
Sportsman's Reserve". So well was the inviolate character of the Notwithstanding, there was a snag in this ostensible gesture of
Sanctuary and Reserve maintained that in 1909 an observer wrote: freedom. Two of them were told they would only be paid their
"A decided increase of all kinds (game and animals) is disti.nctl~ monthly allowance at the Kachcheri in Jaffna, and were compelled
apparent, one of the most satisfactory features being the almosl to go north. One of them in similar circumstances was forced to go
entire disappearance of the former wariness and timidity. The sigh1 east, as Batticaloa was made his paying centre. The remaining two,
which included Engelbrecht, found themselves assigned to
of a human being no longer sends the herds headlong pnder cover....
Hambantota in south Ceylon.
and at all times of the day they may be found resting or feeding in
the open." * *
It is in this setting I recall Engelbrecht-a most unforgettable
* *
character of our times. Maybe there are yet a few others left who The anguish and tribulation of exile proved too much for four of
can call up a picture of this hard, sun-burnt Boer, who drifted about these five Boer captives. Engelbrecht thus.came to be the last
these jungles at Yala, in the latter half of the second decade of the captive Boer prisoner of war in Ceylon, and the ,only one who
present century. Once every month he forsook his jungle domain refused to make declaration or take an oath. He continued to eke
1111d wns 10 be seen driving into Hambantota for "pay and out a miserable existence in Ham~antota, living in a shanty which
11111v1iun111j" in the tented wagon he used for travelling and the then Assistant Government Agent of the district had given him,

259
 SEEING CEYLON ENGELBRECHT OF YALA

and on an allowance of Rs. 1/25 a day, paid monthly by the Kachcheri plains imagining that he here heard the dead voice of his dear
Shroff. In 1905, as a result .of a change of Revenue Officer in the African Veldt, so symbolic to the Boer of space and freed~m.
district, Engelbrecht was denied even the concession of a roof over
his head. He was sued by the owner of the shanty for arrears of * * * *
rent, and ejectment. In proof of his keen powers of observation a well-known
The case evoked considerable interest-both from a point of resident sportsman in his day recounted how on one occasion the
Jaw, and from the disclosures made in the evidence Jed. It was old Boer was entranced by a leopard he had shot in the 'Sports-
argued in Engelbrecht's defence whether this action against an man's Reserve'. He walked round the carcase, studied its many
alien enemy was maintainable. The Commissioner of Requests (Mr. peculiarities, then gesticulating descriptively remarked: "Ah! Mr.....,
Schrader), observing in his judgment that he saw no law which this the son, you should have shot the father! He was a thief-two
prevented the defendant suing or being sued, proceeded to declare months ago I had the one hundred goat. .... today I have not one."
that it was the Assistant Government Agent and not the Boer who In another instance, spotting an elephant, he exclaimed: "Aaaah!-
engaged the 'tenement'. He held that it was only the notice to quit That Old Pistol... .. see, see his stump of tail!" Looking, one saw a
that was justified -remarking further, that an allowance of short stump of a tail, poised horizontally, and bearing a resemblance
Rs. 1/25 a day was barely sufficient to enable Engelbrecht to pay to the weapon which helped the lumbering mass of animal to its
for food, clothing, shelter and washing. He suggested the only name. I was entranced on a recent visit to hear a tracker refer to
remedy-representation to the Government. the same animal, possibly, as Walgekota-Short tail.
Public opinion once again stirred itself in the interests of this None may cavil over Engelbrecht's agility with gun or rifle. He
unrelenting Boer prisoner of war..... Questions were asked in the was indeed a great marksman and was known to have once shot
House of Commons as to why a captive prisoner of war was sued and killed a leopard in the air, when the brute sprang at him from a
for house rent when it was the duty of the Ceylon Government to
house him. About this time, Governor Blake was travelling to pride, was considered unique.
.
tree. His collection of freak antlers, which he showed off with great

Colombo on a circuit from Badulla via Hambantota. He stopped his As may very well be expected Engelbrecht was visited by Many
car near Engelbrecht's shanty and sent for him. Said the Governor: 'sportsmen' at Yala with permits to thin out game in the Sanctuary.
"I hear you are the Boer prisoner of war in Ceylon; why do you They generally came in parties, and were wont to leave cases of
refuse to take the oath?" Came the answer: "I hear you are the empty champagne bottles behind! These bottles, some of which were
Governor of Ceylon; I wish to keep your friendship ..... not lose it ifl used by the 'Keeper' to store his kerosene oil, had-as we shall
tell you why." The Governor continued his journey with an unsolved see-a fateful turn for him in his life.
problem on his mind. By way of appeasing Whitehall, and maybe in
recognition of his straight-forward and independent spirit, Engelbrecht * * * *
received a congenial Government appointment as 'Game Sanctu- Came the first world war-just fifty years ago,
ary Keeper' at Yala. He still remained obdurate on the question of when German cruiser Emden in a mysteriously elusive manner was
taking the oath, and found escape by roaming these sun-scorched sending ship after ship flying the flag of the allies to the bottom of
260 261
 SEEING CEYLON ENGELBRECHT OF YALA

the Indian Ocean. What baffled everybody at the time was where room for three months. He never once heard the note of a bird such
this Raider--cut away as it was from all bases--obtained fuel, food as he loved to hear in the jungle, and was unable to distinguish night
and water, Behind this hangs a deeply moving story which is based from day.
on facts narrated to me by Lucien Poulier, veteran lawyer and sports- Engelbrecht's release after three months without any trial, and
man of Tangalla; who befriended Engelbrecht when he was left his reinstatement, were virtually an admission that the auth?rities
adrift in Hambantota, and was both patron and adviser to him. had been too hasty. Somebody had bungled, and bungled badly. He
A minor official of the Government in Tangalla sparked a lost most of his belongings as they were stolen in his absence, and
rumour that Engelbrecht, the Boer who had not taken the oath of he carried round a tale of suffering, hoping he would be able to get
allegiance, was surreptitiously supplying cattle to Captain von Muller, relief in a law suit for damages-.his lawyer had to shatter this hope
the Commander of the German Raider. The rumour-~onger gilded as DORA (Defence of the Realm.Act) was then in force. A few
his story by suggesting that some of the crew had landed at Kirinda years later,--on the 25th of March 1922, he died while being
in the night and had indulged in carousal-witness the empty carried from his camp to the hospital at Hambantota-desperately ill.
champagne bottles in the heart of the jungle. The story spread like
wild-fire, as such rumours do, and it got to the ears of Military
, Intelligence in Colombo. *
* * *
A Colonel, two N.C.O's and an armed guard hurried south to
il)vestigate. They interrogated the Rest House Keeper at All Lucien Poulier could do to retrieve the fair name of which'
Hambantota. "What Sid" said he, "This all false-I know. Engelbrecht was very jealous, ended in failure. The authorities proved
Engelbrecht not a man that type.''. Nevertheless, the Colonel very difficult and would release no information-maybe they did
proceeded with his squad to Engelbrecht's jungle camp, and lo, there not want to lose prestige. His opportunity however came thirteen
')

he found the empty champagne bottles! The explanation offered for years after Engelbrechfs death, when the new Emden visited
their presence was discounted. Engelbrecht was atrested and Colombo in 1931 , and Captain Withoeft, who had been second in
whisked off to the military 9etention barracks at Kandy without any command to Captain von Muller in the famous Raider, was in
opportunity to make any arrangements for the safety of his command of it.
belongings or to consult his lawyer. In the course of an address during his visit to the Rotary Club in
Colombo, Captain Withoeft described the daring exploits and
* * * * . gallant behaviour of his erstwhile Commandant, von Muller, towards
his captives and casually remarked: "We left your b~autiful Island
The story of his imprisonment is pathetic in the extreme. He alone. There was no point in attacking a small Island."
demanded a trial, and refused to wear prison clothes. The Warder And here is the epilogue: Taking his chance, Lucien Poulier
hit back by declining to give him his own clothes on the plea that the forthwith wrote to Captain Withoeft and placed Engelbrecht's case
rules did not allow this. So Engelbrecht remttined naked in a dark before him. His posthumous vindication of the fair name of a
262 263
 SEEING CEYLON

straight, sincere and brave man was complete on his receiving the BIBLIOGRAPHY
following reply: AMBALANGODA Brohier, R. L . JDBU, Vol. XXI. No. 4. 1932.
Lewis, Tombstones and Monuments, p. 204.
Raven-Hart, R., History in Stone, 1964. pp. 169-171.
DE KOMMANDANT Inscription at: JDBU, Vol. I, p. 177; CALR. Vol. II, p. 245;
DESKREUZERS EMDEN; MLR, Vol. 11, p. 75; Vol. VI, p. 285; JRASCB, Vol. XV, pp.
271-272.
Trinkomali,
5th February, 1931. DARBERYN IDBU, Vol. XXil. No. I, 1932.

8ENTOTA Heydt'ti Ceywn, 1744, Trans: Raven-Hart, 1952,p.30

Dear Sir, Brohier, R. L., JDBU. Vol. XXI, No. 4; 1932. Raven-Hart;
R . History in Stone, 1964, pp. 171-173.
With many thanks for your kind letter I may Inscriptions at...MLR, Vol. I, p. 72: Vol. VJ, pp. 285-186.
be allowed to inforril you that the old Emden never JDBU, Vol. IX, p. 78; CALR, Vol. I, p. 243;
Vol. II, p. 59; Ceylon Examiner, 27th Oct. 1891.
received a supply of cattle and there never was the 1..ewis, Tombstones and Monuments, p. 148;
least cOhnection with your beautiful Island or any- JRASCB, Vol. XV, p. 276; Vol. XVIII, p. 31.
where else.
COLOMBO Percival, R., Ceylon, pp. 97-123, 1803.
Cordiner, (Rev.) J . Vol. I, Ch. II. 1807.
I am, Sir, Pridham, C., Ceylon. Vols. I & II, 1848.
Yours very sincerely, Street Nomenclature, Orientalist, Vol. II, 1885-86.
Ferguson, D.W., "In Dutch Times". Lit. Register
(Signed) S. WITHOEFT to Tropical Agriculturist, Vol. XXIV, I 904-05.
Skeen, George J. A., Guide to ... 1906.
Engelbrecht's mortal remains lie buried in the cemetery at Denham, E. B., "Town of...", pp. 125-156,
Hambantota, off the main road and bordering the. sea. A simple Census Report 1911.
Jn Early British Times, Lewis, J.P.,, 1920.
inscribed stone marks the spot. Here the rhythmic heat of the Gratiaen, L. J., "In the 17th Century", CALR,
sea waves on the shore, and the soughing winds of the open spaces Vol. VIII, pp. 285-94; Vol. IX, p. 115, 1923.
keep sounding a continuous dirge to the last man in 5000 Boer Perera, (Fr.) S.G., "The City of. .. ", 1505-1656
Ceylon Hist. Association paper No. 8. 1926.
prisoners of war, who would not compromise, and had found Reimers, E., "200 years ago", Plate's Annual,
eternal release. 1933.
Hernu, P.A.J., "The Port of...n, Ceylon Trade Jnl..
May, 1950.
Raven-Hart, R., History in Stone, 1964, pp.187-190,
217-221. 226-228.

DEVIL BIRD fennent (Sir) J. E . Ceylon, Vol. I, p. 167, 1860;

Natural History of Ceylon, pp. 246-247, 1861.
Taprobanian, Vol. I, pp. 36-38. 1885.
Taprobanian, Vol. I. pp. 72-73. 1886.
M.L.R., No. 12, pp. 272-77. 1893.
Spittel, R. L., Sp: Z. Vol. XIII. pp. 315-321. 1926.

265
264
 BIBUOGRAPHY
SEEING CEYLON

DONDRA
MAGAMA See Tissamaharama.
Batuta, lbn, JRASCB, 1882, Extra No., pp. 1-60
Rhys Davids, T. W., JRASCB, No. 16 (1870); MANDAGALA Nevill, H., MLR. Vol. V. 1891.
No. 17 ( 1871 ).
Sp. Z., Vol. Vlll. Pt.30, 1912. MATARA Welsh's Military Reminiscences, 1830, MLR.
Paranavitana. (Dr.) S., "Shrine at Devinuwara", Vol. II, p. 372, 1888.
JRASCB.1948.
MLR, Vol. Ill. p.300, 1889.
Amerasekara, CALR, Ps. 30, 1912.
Reimers, E., "Old Matara and Rebellion",
Raven-Hart, R., History in Stone, 1964, pp. 126-129. 1760-61, JDBU, Vol. XV, Nos. I, 2, & 3. 1925.
ENGELBRECHT Heydt's Ceylon, 1744, Trans. by Raven-Hart, 1952.
Brohier, R. L., The Boer Prisoner of War in Ceylon, JDBU, Raven-Hart, R . History in Stone,, 1964, pp. 163-167
Vols. XXXVI, No. I to 4; XXXVII, No I, 1946-47.
MOUNTLAVINIA Petet, T., CALR, Vol. Ill. pp. 142-143, 1917
Pridham, C., Ceylon, pp. 599-602, 1848.
Dulling, MD. H. H.,The History of... , Col. 1922
de Vos, F. H., JDBU, Vol. I. Nos. 3 & 4; Vol. II, p. 151, 1914.
Bingham, P. M., History of Public Works, Vol.11,
Weaver, "Fort of... " Aloysian, 1913.
pp. 54, 55, 1922.
Pieris, (Sir) P.E., Dutch Power in Ceylon, Col., 1929.
Raven-Hart, R., History in Stone, 1964, pp.175, 176
Anthonisz, R. G., The Dutch in Ceylon, pp. 54, 64,
173, 184, 1929:
MULGIRIGALA -Pridham, c .. Ceylon, pp. 596-97, 1849.
Brohier, R. L., New Lanka. Vol. I, No. 2, 1950;
Historical Map of Galle, 1946. Ferguson; Donald, JRASCB, Vol. XXII, No. 64, 1911.
Heydt'.f Ceylon, 1744. Trans. By Raven-Hart, Brohier, R. L., JDBU, Vol. XX. No. I, 1930.
1952, pp. 32-47 etc. Heydt's Ceylon, 1744. Trans. Raven-Hart, 1952.
Raven-Hart, R., History in Stone, pp. 151-157, 1964. Raven-Hart, R., Histary in Stone, 1964, pp.
102-129.
IIAMBANTOTA
Pridham, C., Ceylon. pp. 587-88, 1849.
Steele, Thos. Notes attacbed to translation Kusa RUHUNA Raffel,Douglas. In Ruhunu jungles, Colombo, 1959.
Jataka, pp. 232-240, London 1871.
Nevill, Hugh, Taprobanian, 1886. SINHA RAJA ADAVIYA Baker, J.R., JRGS, Vol. LXXXIX, No. 6, .1937.
Buultjens, J. W., (Pamphlet) 1925. De Rosayro, BCGS, Vol. 8, Nos. I & 2; 1954.
Brohier, R. L., Alexander Johnston's Diary of a
Tour, JRASCB, Vol. XXXVI, No. 98, 1945. TANGALLA Pridham, c., Ceylon, pp. 592-594 1849.
Raven-Hart, R., History in Stone, 1964, pp. 64, 65. JDBU, Vol. XIX, No. I. 1928.
Raven-Hart, R., History if! Stone, 1964, pp. 63, 129.
KALUTARA
Percival, R., Ceylon, pp. 125-130, 1803.
Brohier, R. L, JDBU, Vol. XXII, No. I, 1932; TISSAMAHARAMA Steele, Thos., Notes annexed to trans. of Kusa
Vol. XI, No. 4, 1951; Urban Council Silver Jubilee jataka, pp. 232-240, London, 1871.
Souvenir. pp. 12-17, 1948. Parker, Henry, "Reports of Arch: Discoveries at. ..", JRASCB,
Reimers, E., Past and Present. Urban Council Vol. VIII, No. 27, 1884.
Silver Jubilee Souvenir, 1948. Raven-Hart, R.,History in Stone,' 1964, pp. 63, 69.
Heydt's Ceylon, 1744, Trans. by Raven-Hart, 1952,
pp. 23-26. 30. TISSA WEWA Raven-Hart, R., History-in Stone, 1964, pp. 15,
Raven-Hart. R., History in Stone, 1964, pp. 164, 166, 175. 18, 26.
KATUWANA
Brohier, R..L .. JDBU. Vol. XVIII, No. 4, 1929. Y ALA Brohier, R. L., Alexander Johnston's Diary of a
Heydt's Ceylon, 1744, Trans. by Raven-Hart, 1952, Tour, JRASCB, Vol. XXXVI, No. 98, 1945.
pp. 56, 57. '
Nicholas, (Qr.) C. W., Adm: Report of Warden Wild
KUSHTARAJA Life for 1951 to 1954.
"Statue of. .. " Cumming. C. F. Gordon, Two Happy Years in
Raffel, Douglas., In Ruhunu jungles, Colombo, 1959.
Ceylon, Vol. 11, pp. 194-195.
C!!ve, H. W.. Golden Tips, 458-461. Raven-Hart,R., History in Stone, 1964, pp. 69, 280.

266
267
 SEEING CEYLON

MISCELLANEOUS
8ENNET1', J. W. Ceylon; and its Capabilities, 1843.
BROHIER. R. L. ..Legacies of the Colonial Dutch Engineer"
1949

CAVE. HENRY W. The Book of Ceylon, Vols. I, 11, Ill, 1908, and
Ceylon Govt. Railway, 1910.

CORDINER, (REV.) JAMES Ceylon, Vols. I & 11, 1807- ..Tour by

Governor North", Vol. I pp. 167-347.

CUMMING, C.F.GoRDON Two Happy Years in Ceylon, Vols. I & II, 1892.
FORBES, (MAJOR) Eleven Years in Ceylon, Vols. I & II, 1840. Part III
HAECKEL, ERNEST A Visit to Ceylon (especially chs. YIU-XV),
1883.

KNIGHTON, W. Forest Ufe in Ceylon, Vols. I & II, 1854.

LEWIS, J.P. In Vol. 11, History of the Public Works ADAM'S PEAK
Department, Old Port.r and Military Post.r,
pp. 1-36, 1922.

SELKIRK, (REv.) JAMES Recollections of Ceylon, 1844.

SINGH, ST. NIHAL Ceylon New and Old, 1928.
STOREY, H. Hunting & Shooting in Ceylon, 1907.
SUCKLING, (CAPT.) H. Ceylon-by an Officer of Ceylon Rifles, Vols.
I & 11, 1876.

SKINNER, (CAPT.) Fifty Years in Ceylon, 1890.

TENNENT, (SIR) J. E. Ceylon, Vols. I & 11, 1860.
WILLIS, J. C Ceylon, 1907.

268
 Introduction
I
The origin_ ~f the sacred character of this mountain-peak, its leg-
ends and trad1t1ons, and above all the deep impression it has made THE LORE OF THE PEAK
on a I:irge number of visitors to our shores, have severally been the
occasion of many papers read before learned Societies the world On the slopes of the range of mountains crowned by tht
over, and ha~e fr~m time ~o time been given in an overwhelming pinnacle we call Adam's Peak there lies a tract of country which
number of articles m magazmes, pamphlets and news-sheets in many for the best of reasons is described on the Island's maps as the
lands and in many tongues. Peak Wilderness. It affords impressions of primeval forests, dizzy
Many faiths have draped the pilgrim trails with traditions which precipices, rushing, brawling waters and rugged grandeur. If you
are as old as Time, and have invested the primeval forests which would court acquaintance :with such thrills, you must wander afoot.
surr?und the peak, its dizzy precipices, its rushing, brawling waters When the "Big Monsoon" bursts, and the great rushing wetwind
and its rugged grandeur, with legends so hoary that history knows wails and shrieks overhead, the Wilderness of the Peak groans and
nothing of them. moans in agonized complaint. All the mists and fogs and rain driven
I venture in the following pages to tell you of the many routes to up from the plains are checked by this mountain rampart.
the P~ak-over all of which I have rambled: some of them fully, The cloudy vaporous curtain is apparently quite impervious -it
some m parts. is dank, cold, desolate-and for months no adventurous spirit would
roam this domain by choice.

* * * *

But when, with other characteristics of the north-east monsoon,

the long shore-winds blow down. the western coast of the Island,
when the days begin to get hot, and the nights are cloudless; and the
mbonlight is singularly agreeable, from the sheltering plains in and
around Colombo one's eyes longingly rest on Adam's Peak and the
Peak Wilderness. It is during such seasons that the mountain range
is frequently seen in the distance-gold and blue-deepening to an
infinite depth of indigo.
And so, while in the early months of the year all Colombo, lured
by cooler climes, flies to the hills, the pilgrim throng wen9 their way
to the "Holy Mountain"

* * * *
270 271
 SEEING CEYLON THE LURE OF THE PEAK

They say that, dating to eras which cradle the early childhood of it is inferred that he means 'the way of Adam' and 'the way
the human race. mankind commenced to meditate on the sublimities of Eve'.
of nature. Such thoughts in turn, awakening the instinct of worship The same writer goes on to say-"the ancients have cut some
i~pelled them to do homage to the mountains and the sun. thing like steps, upon which one may ascend, and have fixed in iron
What more natural than that religious interests should from pins, to which chains are appended, and upon these, those who
earliest times have concentrated on the majestic cone, which, ascend take hold". Of these chains there are ten in number, the last
withstanding the vagaries of monsoons, was at one season wrapped of which is termed "the chain of witness" because when one has
in storm and thunder-clouds, and at another stood silhouetted, arrived at this and looks down, the frightful notion seizes him that he
wonderful and gigantic, on a distant skyline-veritably an emblem will fall and will recite the words: "I bear witness that there is
of hope to cheer the desponding soul. no God but Allah and t_hat Mohamed is his Prophet.."lt is not
Small wonder then, that from a period far down the corridors of improbable that he followed the ancient route from the Kandyan
time, individuals began to identify a hollow in the lofty rock which capital, descending by yet another ancient pathway on the Ramapura
crowns the summit with their national faith. Brahaman and . slopes of the mountain.
Buddhist, Chinese and Gnostic, Mohammedan and Roman Catholic
Christian, thus invested this relic with religious beliefs, and gathered * * * *
in the past just as much as they gather now annually around this
A tradition suggests mat the pilgrim path from Kandy, through
object of common adoration, to unite in peaceful worship.
Gampola and Ginigathena, called in olden times the "Kadiligama
But from this story of the past, briefly told, we turn to a
High-Way" was cleared' by Patri Raja, the Prime Minister of
question often asked at the present season-how best can one get
to the Peak? Wijayabahu 1: :
The long stream of people who used this road have long passed
* * * * away, and like many ancther vestige of ancient times the very
trace of this. renowned route, long abandoned, lies hidden in
There are many jungle paths meandering round the labyrinth of entanglements of tnicket and scrub or merged into the, many paths
hills clustered at the base of the sacred mountain. Many and varied which trail across the flourishing tea plantations of lower
are the accounts which traveller and pilgrim have left describing the Ambagamuwa.
routes which permit ascent to the Peak. If many of these old-time Yet, its story is in.dehbly chiselled on two weather-worn rocks at
accounts which have been published are not to be accepted as highly a spot called A/r.uru-ketu-pana, literally "the letter-carven rock"
coloured, climbing up in the past must have been far more difficult off the 28th milestone on the Nawalapitiya Ambagamuwa Road.
than anything we of the present day are called upon to do. The inscription dates back to circa A.D. 1100 and runs into
Yet, set against this is the indisputable fact that what in the light several hu'ndred letters. If you choose to venture more deeply into
of modern times would be considered a journey presenting little the story it tells of the past, you will learn that it owes its origin to the
difficulty was apparently in days gone by a formidable undertaking. monarch who reigned at the time the road was built, and that the
A traveller in the person of Ibn Batuta affords us a fourteenth writings on storre enjoin the inhabitants of certain villages in the
century impression of a journey up the Peak. 'There are two roads," vicinity, as also the generations who will follow, to look after the
he says, "on the mountain, leading to the Footprint; the one is known comforts of the tired pilgrims who may pass along the route.
as the way of 'Baba', the other as the way of 'Mama','' by which Nevertheless, a few more centuries perhaps, and rto trace will

272 273
 SEEING CEYLON THE LURE OF THE PEAK

be left of this valuable heritage, unless something drastic is done to holy river which takes its name from the icy coldness of its waters.
conserve_ the site. Today, only a very few pilgrims, if any at all, Here the pilgrim will stop and bathe and put on clean white apparel
follow the route which was at one time the "Kadiligama High-Way". before continuing the journey to the Peak.
Apart from the old road through Ginigathena and the branch Across the Sita Gangula begins the actual climb, up ... up ... over
which joins it from Kitulgala, four other recognized pathways lead a rough surface which has but recently been converted into a series
to the summit of the mountain. There is one ascent up the Central
of steps. These steps are so very irregular in height that if anything,
Province slopes and three on the Sabaragamuwa side.
they make the climb more fatiguing. For some distance there is n<
The former, which is linked with Maskeliya, is attended with few
special feature. The ascent lies through gloomy forests, the ve~
difficulties and owing to the fact that it is also the shortest approach,
is generally favoured by the visitor. The pilgrim, who is prone to atmosphere of which is impregnated with a mysterious feeling o
associate merit with the difficulties he has to undergo, prefers the awe and sanctity.
other routes. We emerge from the gloom, at length, on to a rocky ledge, on
A few practical details will doubtless be welcomed by those who one side of which a number of ambalams (wayfarers' resting places)
may be lured to make closer acquaintance with these paths but yet have been built. This rock, which marks out the base of the cone of
remain undecided as to which route to mke. the Peak, is called by the Buddhist pilgrims lndi-katu-pana and by
Travelling along the ascent known as the Maskeliya-para, one the Tamils Usimalai.
leaves the car near the Dalhousie tea factory. The climb really be- An early legend asserts that the Buddha when on earth sat on
gins a mile farther, where a suspension bridge spans a mountain this rock mending his robe. Mara, the wicked tempter, noticing this, '
ravine defined by steep banks. Not far from this point is a large caused a flood to rush down the mountain-side. To his wonderment,
cave formed by a mass of overhanging rock. The Maskeliya-para is when the waters reached the spot, they parted and ran on either
believed to merge into the old Kandyan route at this point. side of the rock. To mark this incident the pilgrims as they pass on
their way to the Peak make an offering of needles and thread. The
* * * * needles are stuck into the soft bark of the few trees in the vicinity or
are hurled down the giddy depths; the thread, in knotted masses,
In that wonderful chronicle of Ceylon's early history-the
cobwebs the branches of the shrubs and h;mgs in loose strands over
Mahavamsa-we are told, concerning King Kirti Sri Nissanka, that
the precipice.
"being moved thereto by faith this ruler of the land went up
Samantakuta with four di visions of his army and worshipped at the
shrine". * * * *
Tradition tells that to mark this pilgrimage, the King buried a
great treasure, including his regalia, in a great cave on the The climb from Usimalai to the summit is undoubtedly the most
mountainside. Accordingly some call this Nissangala Lena thrilling lap in the ascent by way of the Maskeliya-para. The rocky
(Nissanka's cave), others say that the true Nissangala Lena is nearer dome overhangs the weary climber, who clings to sets of chains and
the summit. series of iron railings and ladders which are there to help him over
Past this rock cave, the path enters a forest and with little the precipitous surface. Having completed this final scramble, the
warning emerges on to the bank of a stream. The Sita Gangula is a maluwa or walled-in courtyard on the summit is ready to afford one
274 275
 a sense of security and many spectacular thrills. Of these,
more anon.
It i~ i_ndeed difficul( to assess the journey from Dalhousie to the
summit 1~ measures of time. Much naturally ckpends on the agility
II
of t~e chmber, and perhaps also on the y~ntral bagginess which
passmg _years have hung on him. Three hours might be reckoned as
good gomg. . . fHE PEAK WILDERNESS

Many accounts of ascents up Adam's Peak from the Western

side of the Island, in days before the roads in the interior were
constructed, suggest that the route taken was generally from
Colombo to Ratnapura by land, thence by jungle paths to the Peak,
while on the return visitors usually went in boats down the Kalu
Ganga to Kalutara.
But today, Time has begun to beat faster; distance has contracted
in measures of time; magic boxes of ironmongery have taken the
place of the ancient palanquin and the padda-?oat. The primitive
foot-paths have become macadamized highways. The locomotive
whistle has taken the place of the mail-coach bugle .
While there are yet opportunities for the visionary who would
invest the trip with the ~omance which the Kalu Ganga offers, there
is a motor road which affords opportunities to others who
are constrained merely to set the main attainment above the
pleasing adventures which undoubtedly beset the visitor of a half-
century ago.

* * * *
The Ratnapura approach, or the Gilimalai-para as it is called, is
still kept open by the pedestrian pilgrim. The motor car has. almost
halved the difficulties of this route and carries both pilgrim and
visitor along a more recently constructed estate road which
terminates at Carney.
A very terse, yet vivid and practical, account of a journey along
the Gilimalai-para has been recorded in the diary of Mr. Herbert
276
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 THE PEAK WILDERNESS

Wace, ~ho _made the trip when he was Assistant Government Agent the very foot of the cone. Reached top of Peak at l a.m. Splendid
~f the _D1stnct of Sabaragamuwa. The conditions have changed very full moon and hills below perfectly clear. Sunrise was exceptionally
httle, 1f at all. He writes:
clear and brilliant and the shadow defined very clearly to which
"March 17, 1886. Left Ratnapura for Gilimale en route to the however the pilgrims paid no attention. The summit was crowded
Peak. Eight miles, level road six miles to Illukwatte where the Kalu and there was scarcely any standing room. The number of old women
Ganga is crossed.
who seemed scarcely capable of any long walk even in the low-
. "March 18, Left Gilimale 5.45 a.m. and reached Pallebadole at country was remarkable.
7.30 a.m. ~his is a stage about three miles. It includes a crossing of "Descended from the Peak on the Maskeliya side which is very
the Aturahya Ganga and Maskeliya Ganga-after crossing latter, much easier, steps have been cut for the most part. I noticed only
path goes through a clearing (tea) made by Mr. Sandison, and one at all nasty place."
ascent begins towards Pallebadole which is about 1,800 feet. Here These jottings from a page in a forgotten diary hardly call for
there is at times a busy bazaar; a pansa}& and dagoba. Left, any amplification. But something must be said of the legends of this
Pallebadole at 7.30 a.m. and reached N'ili-hela at 9.30. Leaving route.
Pallebadole, path crosses Kalu Ganga at once (here a rocky narrow
stream) and skirts another small clearing made by Mr. S. Real diffi-
culty of ascents begins, path being up a very rocky narrow ravine
* * * *
through forest all the way.
It is only too true that every rock, every stream and cliff along
"At Nili-hela, corruption to Liyani-hela, the swallow hill, is a small these pilgrim paths throb with some story of the past. Yawning caves
bazaar ~nd ambala~ on a small flat place, full of pilgrims coming beneath large boulders have some secret to reveal. If one were to
a~~ g01_ng. Left N1h-hela 10.30 a.m. reached Sita Ganga 1 p.m. probe deeply, it would perhaps tell of the acts of some pious devotee
K1~met1pana 1.15 p.~. An equally difficult ascent in parts, but ground who sought the sanctuary of these forests and searched for merit
a httle more broken into flats. Sita Ganga, known lower down as by eschewing the lusts of the outer world. In equal measure the
Kuru Ganga.
origin of many a place-name presents a fascinating appeal.
"Hirimetipana is three miles from the peak which is now visible With such age-old tales untold, the journey must ever remain a
for the first time since leaving Pallebadole. It rises with greater disappointment. It would be as well to begin the chain of stories at
abruptness from its range, there is a large ambalam (like a big cattle the village called Gilimalai. Literally translated, it means
gala) and a bazaar on the small flat here (acing the false Peak or "mountain swallowed up" It is not unreasonable to assume that the
'Bane amanala'. Stayed at ambalam for a rest of afternoon and place takes its name from the fact that the Peak of the holy foot-
even!ng. Pilgrim~ from Eratne join here and the concourse was very print is at this point hidden from view.
considerable. Noise made by pilgrims, singing etc. does not permit The next halting-place, Palabaddala, a little hamlet which is the
of any sleep here.
highest inhabited spot on this route to the Peak, must as a matter of
"Left Hirimetipana at 11 p.m. and reached Andiyamalatenna at course enshroud itself with a mystery story.
11.55. This piece of road is simply fearful and is for the most part Long, long ago, a pilgrim who was very, very poor, took a parcel
difficult.
of cooked leaves (minced and flavoured) to satisfy his hunger on his
"Left Andiyamalatenna l 2.10 a.m. and reached Ihalamaluwa at way up to Sri-pada. Having arrived at this place he prepared to
12.45. Ascent of same nature-but easier than last stage. This is partake of his frugal meal when he found on opening his parcel that
278
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 THE PEAK WILDERNESS
SEEING CEYLON

the leaves had by a miracle been turned into rice. Hence the name literally the 'sky league'. The site occupied by a small Rest House
Pala-bat-do/a, meaning "the mountain stream where the herbs at Diyabetma gives rise to a modern story which tells that a building
turned into rice". was erected there for the wife of a Governor-Sir Robert
Brownrigg-when she climbed the peak.
On leaving Diyabetma the path drops down the steep face of a
* * ravine and we come to an enormous mass of rounded rocks washed
Nili-hela, the next ambalam on the route, is perched on a natrow
ledge of rock which curves round a deep gorge. It is the locale of a by perpetual streams. The pilgrim who ascends from the Ratnapura
legend much more stimulating than the mere prosaic derivation given approach, not to be outdone, claims this as the true Indi-katupana.
to its name by Mr. Wace in his journal . The ascent recommences by passages so steep as to be
They say that upon a time Nili, young mother, lived on this spot. accessible only by means of steps hewn in the smooth stone. These
Her small hut was a never-failing refuge for travel-worn pilgrirris. are said to have been cut by a king who himself made-a pilgrim-
One day, happening to have placed some clothes to dry on a hedge age to worship at the shrine. It thus came to be called
which grew on the brink of the precipice, she sent her little son to Dharmarajagala. A legend suggests that these steps may never be
fetch them. In his effort to do so the child climbed the bushy trees. counted correctly. It must be left to somebody" sufficiently
His mother watched him from the door of the hut. Slowly, the hedge composed at this stage of the ascent to disprove the legend. The
leaned over with the added weight. It bowed towards the edge of steps number over a hundred.
the cliff. The mother suddenly realized the danger; rushing forward, Heramiti-pana takes its name from the fact that the climber
she clasped the child to her heart; but it was too late, the hedge usually secures a hernmitiya or staff to help him up the rest of the
went over with a crash. Locked in each other's arms they were
hurled through space, down ... down .. .into the giddy depths below,
where the waving tops of great big forest trees hid them for ever
from view.
As the pilgrim train passes over the heights ofNili-hela, this story
is told and retold. Leaning over the cliff, one and another will shout
"Nili-akka!" From the apparently bottomless depths there comes
back a reply. The lofty crags take up the cry, it is thrown hither and
thither- "Nilli... akka ... 'liakka ... akka!" merging eventually in
a hum of distant fleeting sound.
She will ever answer, says the traditionalist. Undoubtedly, the
place has a wonderfully eerie echo.
><,
* * * * --t-,+
--+--.. . . ,._
Diyabetma stands on a ledge, which as its name implies is a
watershed. The intervening space of nearly three miles between it
and the summit is so steep that the pilgrims have conferred on this
section the appropriate name of akasagawwa, which means
281
280
 THE PEAK WILDERNESS

ascent. Andiyamalatenna, as the name would imply, is a shrine and elephants which roa~ these regions during certain seasons of
the grave of a Muslim dignitary. Having reached this spot one stands the year. .
on the shoulder of the cone. Nearby is Menik-lena or the "cave of The trace is said to follow the contour of the Peak range and ts
gems" Progress beyond it,up the pillar-like crag which rounds away of very gradual ascent. But with this ~uch told, _I must !~ave the
on every side, is nor without peril. There are several series of chains adventurous climber in the hands of a guide who might be ptck~d u~
and iron railings securely riveted on the rock to help the climber up. at the village of Alupola to blaze this trail. For his peace of mmd tt
One looks down from this giddy footing into a chasm of unseen might be added that the herds of elephants have, they sa~,
depth and is incited to hail with delight the terrace which forms the wandered into regions where they are more at .ease as there 1s
apex of the Peak. plenty of grazing and water during the early months of the year. The
Between Gilimalai and the summit, the ascent upwards of 7,000 belief holds good that when the chena yayas around Yal_a are
feet is made in less than nine miles. scorched and burnt by a pitiless sun, when the low-country ventably
The Eratne or the Kuruwita approach is perhaps the most pants, that they wander back to these beats ~nd to the luscious bata
popular pilgrii:n trail. It entails nearly turenty-two miles of weary jungles which burst out in tender shoots with the early south-west
walking. Beginning at Kuruwita the path almost follows the sinuated rains.
course of the Kuru Ganga to its very source. It winds under over- There is just one other small matter left untold. In the damp
arching trees, across brawling rivers, within sound of the Bopathela grass in the moist green gloom of the Peak Wilderness, t_here lurks
Falls, until we reach Adavikanda. Nine miles, but only one thousand the plague which besets the traveller who ventures mto these
feet up. Four miles farther and past the abandoned tea estate known regions along any one of the routes mentioned. In coun~ry s_u~h as
as Eratne, there is a spot called Tunmodara with a nest of ambalanis, this where the land-leech swarms in tormenting profusion it 1s as
three thousand five hundred feet in elevation. well to be prepared for their insidious attacks
From Tunmodara, the road ascends to heights which afford views
of surpassing grandeur over the hills and plains below. The next halt
is generally made at Maedahinna, and two miles further after an
arduous ascent of 1500 Jeet the route joins the Gilimalai Para at
Heramiti-pana.
The route from Dehiowita through Deraniyagala to the Peak
links itself on to the Eratne approach at Adavikanda. It is possible to
motor over the first stage of the route as far as Lessagama, and,
having crossed the Maga! Ganga, over an interveRing lap of seven
miles of motorable road to Maliboda Estate. It is about five miles
from Maliboda to Adavikanda.
The Alu po la approach, linked with Ratnapura by the motor road
past Weveliketiya, is a very recent find. Perhaps in ages past it was
a popular thoroughfare used by the pilgrim throng which passed
over the Balangoda hills from the historic cities of Kaltota and
Magama. But to turn from speculation to fact. :. incredible as it may
seem, this path is claimed to be still kept open by the herds of
282 283
 LEGENDS OF THE PEAK

visited the Peak and left his footprint. This happened, they say, about
3,000 years B.C. and that the pinnacle was even then called
Devakuta (Peak of the God). Each of the others followed in tum
III and left an impression over the earlier relics, as evidence of their
supernormal power.
LEGENDS OF THE PEAK In traditional belief the Peak had obtained the name Samantakuta
before the second Buddha appeared about 2099 B.C., which with
The height of Adam's Peak is seven thousand three hundred little variety it has since preserved.
and sixty feet above the level of the sea. The summit is of elliptic The last Buddha is said to have arrived at Kelaniya about 577
form and is surrounded by a parapet above five feet high. Within B.C. and to have passed on to the Peak. The Mahavamsa records
this enclosure little change is effected even by passing centuries the event as follows: "When the Teacher, compassionate to the world,
except that the electric light has displaced the picturesque chulu or had preached the doctrine there (at Kelaniya) He rose, and left the
torch.
traces of His footstep plain to sight on Samantakuta and, after He
In a plan drawn by a Mr. Ferguson of the Surveyor-General's had spent the day as it pleased Him, on the side of the mountain
Department, in 1841, every feature occupies the identical position it with the brotherhood, He set forth to Digahavapi."
does today. He makes the area of the terrace 64 feet by 45. This tradition has become an article of faith.
Immediately within the enclosure which is called the maluwa, a
level space of irregular breadth runs all the way round. The centre * * * *
is ?ccup~ed by a mass of gneiss about nine feet high at the highest
pomt. Slightly to the west of the centre of this crown of rock there is A curious story is told as to how the sacred mark on the summit
a hollow, plastered in more recent times, exhibiting the outline of a of the Peak was discovered. King Walagambahu, who ascended
footprint. It is about five feet long and of proportionate breadth. the throne a century before the Christian era, was driven into exile
by the Malabar invaders.
* * * * For many years he wandered about, a fugitive, in the mountain
fastnesses, living on herbs and fruit. One day, while in a cave on
. ~~man is believed by Buddhist and Hindu alike to be the tutelary the slopes of the Samanala mountains, he saw a deer in the
d1vm1ty of the Peak Wilderness. Both the Peak and the mountain distance. Perhaps, for want of something to do, he ventured to
bear his name-Samantakuta and Samanala. The sacred approach the animal. But strangely, the deer kept slackening or
Rhododendrons which grow on the higher slopes are dedicated to increasing its pace, or stopped altogether just exactly as the King
hi~. In his honour the butterfly takes the name of samanalaya. did in his effort to approach it.
This accounts for the story which is told when large flights of them Eventually they reached the top of the mountain. On the very
are seen going in one direction that they are all making for the Peak, summit of the Peak the animal as if by a miracle vanished.
where they go to dash themselves against the precipitous sides Walagambahu hurried to the spot and there discovered the mark on
and die.
the rock. It was then revealed to the King that in this strange
The early legends have it that it was on Saman's special
manner the guardian divinity had made known to him the presence
entreaty that the first qf the four Buddhas of the present aeon
of the sacred relic.
284
285
 SEEING CEYLON
LEGENDS OF THE PEAK

It is a popular belief that the true impression was left on a large mountain of Serendib sprang from the site of Eden's garden, and
precious stone (menik-gala) produced for the purpose by Saman that it was from the Peak that Adam, venerated as the greatest of
and that this relic lies buried beneath the large rock on the summit. all partriarchs, was permitted to take a last lingering look at the
The exposed hollow is believed to be an artificial print cut on the abodes of bliss from which he was for ever expelled.
order of Kirti Sri Nissanka, a Sinhalease monarch who undertook a According to other traditions it was the pinnacle on which Adam
pilgrimage to the sacred mountain. alighted when he was cast out of Paradise, and where he remained
The Hindu tradition is based on a belief that Siva in one of his standing on one foot until years of penitence and suffering Had
manifestations retired to this mountain for the purpose of certain expiated his offence-'-thus forming the footprint.
devotional austerities and that, to mark the event, he proved And so about the tenth century the Peak came to be called Baba
authenticity by leaving the impress of his foot. Adam-Malai, or literally "Father Adam's Mountain", and became a
This memento of the presence of Siva on the spot came to be place of pilgrimage to the followers of the Prophet.
called by the Hindu Sivaites-Sivan-oli-padam (the sacred foot-
print of Siva). The mountain accordingly was endowed with the * * * *
name Swargarhan (the Ascent to Heaven). The Vishnuite directed
his devotion to Saman-worshipped in India under the name Soon after the sixteenth century the Portuguese endeavoured to
Lakshmana. tighten the meshes of these varied time-worn legends. De Couto, a
And so it happens, inasmuch as we are all traditionalists, that Portuguese chronicler, pleads most earnestly in favour of the theory
impelled by the traditions associated with Mount Meru, the mythical that the impression on the rock is a mark left by the knees of Saint
abode of Siva, holy Sanyasis still continue to search, as did their Thomas-the physical result of his devotions.
forbears, for the plant Sansevi, the tree of life and immortality said Tennent, in his book on Ceylon, adds that this chronicler fortified
to grow on the slopes of sacred mountains. his own theory by appeal to the many similar phenomena in
. It might be added that these Hindu beliefs are not universally Christendom, such as the hollows worn in the steps of the Santa
accepted, for they are not contained in the Puranas. They Casa of Jerusalem on the spot covered by the church of the
probably date from the Cholian invasions, A.D. 1025, when a goodly Ascension at the Mount of Olives; and on the racks on which the
po_rtion of the mountain regions was occupied by the Hindu three disciples reclined in the Garden of Gethsemane.
SOJoumers. Nevertheless, conflicting claims were advanced by others of the
same faith, which undoubtedly is the reason why the name derived
* * from the Mohammedan traditions remained unchanged and the
* * mountain top came to be called by thetn Pico de Adam. A short
Among the marvellous stories which were carried to the four stride leaves us with the present name-Adam's Peak.
comers of the known world by the early Arab voyagers, not the
* * * *
least in interest were undoubtedly those respecting the pinnacle by
which they steered their craft into the anchor-ages of Serendib and The sacred relic from which so many legends spring is sheltered
the mysterious relic on the summit of Al Rohoun-so called from by a small quadrangular building called the ran-hili-ge, meaning
the Ruhuna division of the Island. Fostered by such wondrous tales, "the golden crowned .house" , It is bedecked with lengths of cloth
may be, the idea fixed itself on the mind of the Moslems, that the and flags offered by the pilgrims.
286 287
 LEGENDS OF THE PEAK
SEEING CEYLON

chase each other in rapid succession. He says, in his book Eleven

Below this temple are two bells, the constant clanging of which
Years in Ceylon, "At first the moon shining bright made the
never fails to attract attention. A legend tells us that the bells
features of the nearer mountains appear distinct, while the deep
proclaim the purity of the pilgrim who clangs them as many times as
valleys looked fathomless from the dark shadows that fell on some
he has made pilgrimages to the Peale If they are rung by an unclean
and the cold grey mist that lay in others. Small clouds occasionally
person or a greater number of times than the ringer's record
detached themselves and ascended casting a chill damp for the few
permits, the bells, they believe, will refuse to sound!
seconds that they hung around the sacred pinnacle ere they slowly
floated onward or sank back again upon the mountain. A breeze
* * * *
then stirred and clouds that had hitherto lain in repose were at once
Should you spend a night on the summit of Adam's Peak, you in wild co~motion, passing, enveloping or pressing in tumultuous
will witness varied and extraordinary scenes of earth and air. masses along the mountains, which overspreading, they seemed to
No picture blended in cold print will inspire those overwhelming engulf. When these airy billows rolled and heaved round the Peak,
sensations which_ assail the person who stands on this eminence- the rock appeared to sink in the abyss ..... "
as it were on a throne of clouds. No pen may venture to capture There cannot be any sensation which will more fittingly conspire
those profound thougbts and impressions which tingle the human to recall the old-time legend that here the spirits; from unrecorded
frame and attune the mind to appreciate the many legends which ages down to the present time, hover in clouds and darkness near .
the centuries have woven. their sacred fane and native forests.
On the summit of this mountain lies a secret which can mould
the imagination by contemplation of nature's grandeur, to trace the * * * *
motives which have prompted Buddhist or Mohammedan, Hindu or
Christian to endow the spot with due solemnity, and acknowledge a And it is at such moments, so a monk on the summit told me, that
Beneficent Power. occasionally, very occasionally, the voice of the mountain of Samanala
tennent kindles a spark sufficient in itself to raise the fire which is heard across space. In the stillness, it comes, clear as the note of
lights_up the wonderful outlook from the summit: he says "The a gong, in strange words, but with sinister meaning.
Panorama from the summit of Adam's Peak is perhaps the grand- Those who h"ave not heard it before stand astonished-
est in the world as no other mountarn, although surpassing it in alti- wondering at the voice; those who have, call to mind the dire
tude, presents'the same unobstructed view over land and sea. Around calamity which follows in its train. They say, when the mountain last
it to the north and east, the traveller looks down on the zone of lofty spoke it foretold the death of the Chief Monk of Sri Padasthana
hills that encircle the Kandyan kingdom, whilst to the westward the (Adam's Peak).
eye is carried for over undulating plains threaded by rivers like cords At day-break, on the mountain top, all are alert. All eyes turn
of silver, till in the purple distance the glitter of the sunbeams on the towards the rising sun which, in its dazzling brilliance, gives rise to
sea marks the line of the Indian Ocean." the belief that he salutes the Buddha's footprint seven times by
dipping below the horizon.
* * * * Genuflections, invocations and shouts greet his appearfil\ce over
a purple range of hills and then, hurriedly, all rush to the opposite
Forbes has helped to reconstruct the picture of the mellowing side where the mystery shadow of the Peak awes the beholder.
effects of moonlight and the eerie touch of befogged darkness which
289
288
 SEEING CEYLON

Many more of these old, old legends and beliefs associated with BIBUOGRAPHY
this solitary eminence remain to be told to a new world. They
cluster around, shrouding it in romance as do the morning mists. BATIJTA, IBN "In Maldives, and Ceylon", Journal R.A.S.
(Ceylon Branch), 1882, Extra No. pp. 160.
Some of these stories are so old that they have gone beyond
recall: new ones take their places. So will it ever be through thr BROHIEJt, R. L. "Legends of the Peak", Observer Annual,
1927.
successive ages as the ceaseless pilgrimage continues.
CARPENTER, E. From Adam's. Peak to Elephanta, 1892,
Revised 1921.

CUMMING, C. F. GORDON Two Happy Years in Ceylon, Vol. II, pp.

310-344.

FRAVBNFELD, GEORGE Ausflug nachden Adamspik au/ Ceylon,

Vienna, 1859.

GUNASEKARA, W. M; "The Sacred Caves at. .. " Ceylon Today,

Vol. 6, pp. 26-29, 1958.

IIAECIU:L, ERNEST Der _Adam's Pik of Ceylon, 1883.

JAYATILAKA, (SIR) BARON "A Royal Pilgrimage to Sri Pada", The

Buddhist, Vol. IX, pp. 34, 36, 1938.

NELL, (DR.) A. "Observations about ..." Journal R.A.S.

(Ceylon Branch), Vol. XXVIII, 1920.

PARANAVITANA, (DR.) S. "The God of Adam's Peak-Saman or Yarna",

Artibus Asiae, No. 18, 1958.

PERERA, (FR.) S. G. "Adam's Peak", C.A.L.R., Vol. V, No. I,

pp. 6-11, 1919.

RANKINE, EsME "The Holy Mountain", Ceylon Today, Vol.

VI, No. 4, PP 27-29 1957; also "Sri Pada",
Times of Ceylon Annual., 1939.

RAVEN-HART, (MAJOR) R. Ceylon-History in Stone, Ch. 14, 1964.

SKEEN, WILLIAM Adam's Peak (Legends, Traditions, Historical

Notices), London, 1870; also "The Origin of
the Sacred Footprint",Joumal R. A. S. (Ceylon
Branch), No. 16, pp. 61-112,1870-71.

SPENCE, M. A. "Valentyn's Account of Adam's Peak",

Journal R.A.S. (Ceylon Branch), Vol. VII,
No. 23, pp. 49-56, 1881.

STILL, JOHN Jungle 1ide, Ch. II; "A Holy Mountain"

London 1930.

TENNENT, (SIR) J. E. Ceylon, Vol. 11, pp. 123-139, 1860

290
291
 GLOSSARY

G~ARY OF LOCAL TERMS

Deviyo -A god, a deity or deified h~ro.

Anicut
Devala IDevalaya) -A temple dedicated to a god, deified hero or local
- Corruptly Anicut karn. A dam, a dyke, an divinity.
embankment, a channel to direct water into
different streams for purposes of irrigation. Ea - Brook, rivulet, channel, canal (Clough's Diction
ary). Jl!& precise meaning in each instance would
Ara (Arr or Aro) -(From the Tamil Aru) A stream. be decided from the context.

Bath-malla -A traveller's meal or ration of cooked rice and FJa-amuna - A dam erected across a water-course or ela.
curry usually packed neatly in a kind of portable
bag improvised from the spathe of an areca leaf. Gal-bemma - A stone wall, a stone rampart, a stone embank
"Bathmula" is the expression current in the ment.
Kandyan districts.
Gal-wana -A spill-way built of stone or cut in rock.
Bisokotuwa _, A square shaft or well sunk on the up-stream side
(Sluice tower) of the bund of a tank to the bottom of a sluice Gama -A village, or rustic settlement.
leading from the inside of the tank to the fields
outside, serving as a regulator and silt-trap. Ganga -A large river. A smaller river would generally be
called an "Oya"
Chena - (\ chena is ~ patch of jungle land cleared by bum
tng and felling and then fenced in normally with Gows -A "gowwa" is generally thought equivalent to 3
the stout branches of the felled trees and thereaf or 4 English miles. Four 'gows' would make a
ter cultivated with vegetables (the dry-zone vari 'yojana' (Sinhalese yoduna).
eties as a rule) and sometimes with hill-rice. Each
such ch~na is abandoned after a couple of years Horowwaor -The sluice of a tank or trunk canal. A deep square
so that 1t may regain its fertility. The Sinhalese
Sorowwa outlet taken under the embankment to conduct
form of the word is hena. A chena-yaya would
mean a stretch of continuous chena plots. the water to channels.

Chiu - A crude but very useful and effective torch for -A pool or waterhole in a rocky expanse. They
open-air use, made either by tying together a few would be natural meeting places of forest animals
coconut leaves tightly or by similarly tying to- in search of water.
gether one or more of the drie'd sheaths of the
coconut 'flower'. Kovil -A Hindu temple dedicated to one or more gods
and or goddesses.
Dagoba -Literally, Relic-Chamber. A Buddhist memorial
mound or stupa of earth or brick sometimes faced Kulam -A tank (Tamil). Adapted into Sinhalese in the form
with stone containing generally a chamber in which kulama and often forming the end portion of
is preserved a casket of relics ... place-names in the dry zone.

Damana {Parkland) - Park-country with high trees, generally long Kurakkan - A fine grain raised on high lands or chenas;
abandoned paddy fields. millet
292 29~
 SEEING CEYLON
GLOSSARY
Lanka - The popular and oldest name of Ceylon derived with an outsize oar serving as a rudder. They are
from its beauty and perfection. often fitted with a removable cadjan roof sloping
towards either side. Padda-boats are used both.
Maha - Great. The paddy crop sown in August-Septem for passenger traffic and for cargo.
ber and reaped in February-March. The supple
mentary crop reaped in September is known as Palama -Abridge.
'Yala'-vides.v. Yala.
Pelessa (Paelaessa)_ -A grassy glade, long abandoned paddy-fields.
Makara-torana -A kind of ornamental arch invariably adorning the
entrance to a vihara stine-room. "Torana" is a Palu-(tree) ~ A tropical tree (Manilkara hexandra) commonly
kind of tr_iumphal arch. This particular torana is found in the dry zone of Ceylon.
called 'makara torana' because it embodies twin
dragons (makara), one at each side, supporting Pansala _:_ A monastic building, the monk's residence.
the upward curve of the arch. Literally a grass-roofed or leaf-roofed hut
(pan=leaf +sala = hut).
Mahavamsa -A poetic chroflicle of the origin and history of the
Pokuna - A pond, a pool, a mere.
Sinhalese race and of its kings and their achieve
ments written by a Buddhist monk named
Rajakariya - Hereditary service to the King. The word is now
Mahanama. "Maha Vamsa" literally means ''The used indiscriminately for services done to a
Great Dynasty".
nobleman or temple; or for the duties of an office.
Maidan Service time.
- A large green esplanade. The ~erm is of Indian
(through Persian) origin and literally means a pa -'- Strictly Arahat or Arahant-a saint (in Buddhist
rade-ground. usage) who has completely emancipat~d himself
from the passions and defilements which lead to
Maligawa - Palace or royal residence. Occasionally the rebirth; a perfect saint.
adjuncture of a devala, presumed to be the abode
of the deity, is also called maligawa. The Dalada RaCa ~ Country, district, inhabited country; term gener
Maligawa or Palace of the Tooth Relic is so called ally applied to the three ancient divisions of
as a result of this usage. Ceylon.

Natchereen - see Kurakkan (Inda-Portuguese). Raelapana - Wave-breaker, from Re/a: Wave, and pahana:
stone. Stone revetments of pitchings on the inner
Oya -A rivulet, stream, small river. surface of an embankment or bund. The stones
serve as "ripple-bands" and resist the action of
Padda-boo constant wave play which would invariably eat
- Large flat-bottomed boats or barges, square at
both ends and with a steer both at bow and into the earth and destroy any bund not similarly
stern so that the vessel's passage through the protected.
water may befacilitated. Padda-boats are genera-
lly poled like a punt and are fitted at the stem Sagara -Ocean.

294
295
 SEEING CEYLON
GLOSSARY1
Samudra - Sea (ocean).
took their morning walk; afterwards these halls
Sandesa were used as temples and sometimes became the
- Literally a message or missive. In Sinhalese literat- centre of whole monastic establishment. The word
ure is a genre of poems called Sandesa by reason Wihara or Vihara is now used only to designate
of the fact that the machinery of the poem always a building dedicated to the memory of Gautama
includes some one, usually a bird who is entrusted Buddha, and set apart for the daily offering of
with the duty of carryi~g the messages or missi- flowers and of food. To the vihara proper there
ve from one person, e.g. the poet himself, or some has been added in modem times an image house
character such as king or queen, to another for the figures of the Buddha in the three
person usually a god or goddess. _ attitudes-standing, as the counseller, sitting, in
meditation, reclining, in eternal repose of
Sanyasi -An Indian Hindu mendicant usually yellow-robed unbroken peace and happiness; and these figures
and wandering from one place of pilgrimage to now form prominent objects in every Vihara. It
another. Literally one who renounced the world. should not be confounded with Pansala, which
signifies the building occupied by the monks,
Tamarind (tree) - Tamarindus indicus. distinguished from the temple or place of worship
around which the several monastic buildings are
Tank -:-An artificial reservoir built in natural depressions clustered.
and valleys to hold up the rain water, drainage, or
the water led into it from a river or stream by means Vila - A swamp or field, the higher parts only of which
of a canal or channel. can be cultivated. A small pond.

ThpaI - The system of carriage of mails. In early British Villu (Vila) - Pond; lake over-grown with lotus, sometintds
times and before the introduction of railways, of water-meadow.
good roads and of the motor car, mails were
Wewa, or wiva - Tank or reservoir.
carried by runners in relays from one post office
to the next.
Yakka - A supernatural being, usually of malignant char-
Tekkam . acter, a demon.
-A dam, weir, or obstruction built across a river to
trammel the '!Valer and turn it into an artificial -- Designation of certain supernatural beings who
Yakko
channel.
are under the rule of Vessavana (Skt. Vaisravana,
Vana name of the god Kuvera). In the Mahavamsa the
- The spill of tank.or an irrigation trunk channel. aboriginal inhabitants of Ceylon are frequently
Vapi called Yakkha (Geiger's Mahavamsa, p. 297).
- Large oblong pond, pool, lake. Vapi is the Pali
term for lake. Sinhalese wewa. Yala - One.of the Sinhalese harvests, the lesser one
Vihana - Residence of monks. A Buddhist temple . ,.~
r~peA
.
in September-vide s. v. Maha.

originally the hall where the Buddhist monks Yaya - A tract of paddy or "chena" fields.
296
297
 SEEING CEYLON

Yoda-ela (Yodi-FJa~ - A "giant'' irrigation channel for conduct- INDEX

ing water to a storage reservoir or serving
as a distributing trunk canal. Popularly on Abhayagiri 21
Abhayawewa 20
account of its magnitude it is supposed to Aborigines (Yakkas or Veddas) 26. 34, 37. 71, 111. 114, 119
have been constructed by giants. "Yoda" Adam's Berg (Mulgirigala) 207
as an attributive adjective commonly Adam's Peak (Sri Pada) 163. 186. '207. 271-290
means gigantic, huge, not necessarily Alupola. Approach 282
carried out by giants. Climb from Ratnapura 251-282
Hindu traditions 286
King Kirti Sri Nis.t_anka 274,286
Kuruwita Approach 282
Legends of 284-290
Moslem traditions 286-287
Routes to 273-274
St. Thomas and 287
Aggabodhi II so
Agrabodhi Ill 79
Akasa Chaithya (see Elephant Rock)
Akattimuraippu 87,88
Akuru-ketu-pana (Inscription) 273
Allai-tank 110
Alutnuwara 114
Amaduwa (Turtle Island) 248-249'
Ambalangoda: 149, 172-176
Dutch Church (now a garage) 172-175
Oostdyk Inscription 173-175
"Rust-Huys" at: 174-175
Sea erosion 175-176
Ambalantota 231
Amban-ganga 60. 63, 93
Amparai 117
Angamedilla Yoda-ela 63-64
Anicut (or dam) 133
Anuradhapura: 19-22, 33. 34, 131. 140
Bo-tree 19
Arivu Aru 88. 92
Avukana:. 81-84
Image of Buddha 79, 81, 84, 86
Legend of Statue 84, 86

Balaharuwa 125
Balaluwewa 72-75
Baker, (Sir) Samuel 56-120
Barberyn (Beruwela): 155. 158-163
Customs House 161-162
Ketchimalai Mosqu~ 161
Lighthouse 162-163
Port of 162-163

298 299
 INDEX
SEEING CEYLON

Dimbula-gala (sec Gunners' Quoin)

Barnes, (Sir) Edward, (Marine drive) 207 122
Basawakkulam 19, 20, 22 Divulanai Tank
24
Diyakeliya
Basses 2S4, 2S5 193-197
Bell, H. C. P. 48, 181, 106, 107 Dondra:
194-196
Devil-dancer
Bentola : 149, 164-166 193-194
Festival time
Amabert Inscription 16S 196
lbn Batuta's visit
Bentola Ganga 164-166 196
Kiri Vihara
Oysters 164 197
Portuguese destruction of
Portuguese Fort 164, 16S 196
Sinhasana
Rest House 164 196
Vishnu Kovil
Rural Church (Dutch) 16S 60
Beruwala (see Barberyn) Dumbutullawewa
Dutch Colombo (nomenclature)
142, 143
Bintenne 114. 116 20, 21
Bisokotuwa (valve-pits) 51, I03, 134 Dutthagamani
Blair, Douglas 105 116
Blow-hole 199, 202 Early emigrant bands
40. 41, 93. 96, 97
Bolgoda Lake 149 Elahera Canal:
40
Historic Tamarind tree.
Bo-tree 19 56, 71, 102, 118, 120, 122, 124, 221, 223, 228
Brownrigg, (Governor) 2S3 Elephants
253, 255
Brown's Hill (Malara) 192 Elephant Rock
220, 221
Burgomaster Chair 188 Embilipitiya
258
Burma (war with) 68, 69 Engelbrecht:
Appointed Game Sanctuary Keeper
260
261-262
City-tanks Arrest in First World War
19 258-259
Clark, H.O. (lost in jungle) 238, 239 As Boer prisoner of war
253
Coaching days 150, 151 His grave
Posthumous vindication
263
Coconut Palm 159 61, 64
Colombo (old): 142 Eramudu Gap
Dutch Fortifications 142-165 54
Fagan, Lt. M. H. (At Polonnaruwa)
Galle Face 143, 144 54, 55
Description of Ruins
Military executions 144 217
Foenander, P.
Colpetty Race-course 144, 146 76
Forbes, Major
Culavamsa 68, 69 Fornbauer, Johan. (Report on Kantalai)
95

Dagobas: 231
Gajabahu
Gem Dagobas 240 149, 177-187
Galle:
Jetawanarama 33, 34 180
a Busy Port
Mirisavet~ 20, 21 182-184
Dutch Character in
Sandhagiri 240 179, 180
Dutch Port
Yataala 240 Portuguese Fortifications
177
. Dastota 66, 71, 133 185, 186
Rhumassala Kanda
Dematagala 254 184
Underground sewerage system
Deniyaya 192 185
Watering Point
Devanampiyatissa 240 143, 144
Galle Face
Devil-bird 2280230 116-123
Gal Oya Valley:
Devil-dancing 193-197 122
Legend
Dhatusena , 75, 76 89-92, 133
Giant's Tank:
Dhatusena ff 23 89
Dutch connection with
Dickson, (Sir) John IOI 90, 91
Diga-vapi 117 Ward's visit tp
'l()1

100
 SEEING CEYLON INDEX

Giritale-wewa System of haulage l.9, 130

50-51
Unique features of 51 Systems of levelling and measurement 132, 133
Giruwa Pattu 18, 219 Valve-pits (Bisokotuwas) 51, 134
Gobbs (of Serendib) 109, 157 Wave-breakers (raelapana) 51. 134
Godalcumbura, Dr. C. E. 107 Working tools 127, 129
Gona (river) see Kala Oya Canals (see Elahera and Jaya Ganga)
Gonagala 256, 257 lsurumuniya 20
Gunners' Quoin (Dimbula-gala) 111
Jaya Ganga 70
Habarana 25, 32 Jetawanarama (see Dagobas)
Hambantota 149 Jethatissa 79
Hambantota District 198 Johnston, (Sir) Atr---~er: 235
Dunes 233 Diary of 235, 251, 252
Lewayas 234
Martello Tower 230 Kadambanadi (see Malwatu Oya)
Salt manufacture at 234 Kadavera (legend of) 74, 75
Town of 232, 234-236 Kadiligama Highway 273
Vegetation of 237 Kala Oya: 72, 75
Water Supply at Valley of 72-86
233
Hambegamuwa Tank 125, 126 Kalametiya Kalapuwa 219
Handapan Vila Kalawewa: 72, 74, 77
70
Hanuman Tradition 25, 186 Legend of Ilandari-deviy1 74
Haycock (Dutch, Hooyberg) Legend of Kadavera 72,74
164
Hikkaduwa: Famous Temple at Legend of Namal Kumara 77
175
Hingurak (Prince): 36-47 Kalinga Nuwara: 67-7.1
Damana Anicut and Channels at 26
47, 48
Legend of Boats built near 68
36, 37
Hingurakgoda Rapids near 69
47
Ho ... o-Maniya (see Blow-hole) Kallar Anicut 111
Horabora-wewa : 114, 115 Kalu Ganga 152
Legend of 114, 115 Kalutara : 149, 151-157
Hot Spring at Mahapaelaessa Banyan tree 157
227, 228
Historic Tamarind tree Dutch Fort 154, 155
40
Gangatilaka Vihara -156
lbn Batuta 196 Portuguese Fort 152, 153, 154
Ibrahim Saibo Railway to 151
65
Handari-deviyo Rest House (Old) 155
74
lndi-Katu-pana Rubber 151, 152
275
Inginiyagala Welapura 157
118
lrrakkamam Kantalai : 46, 93-97
117
Irrigation (ancient): Legend of 93-95
Building skill Dutch references to 95-96
129, 134
Ceylon cement (ancient) Rest !-louse 97
134
Channels (or elas) 131 Kara Ganga (see Amban-Ganga)
Consolidation of earth Karam bag a la 227, 228
130
Kudagal-amuna Kasyapa 23, 107
242
Mahagal-amuna Katuwana Fort 211-216, 218
242
, Mortising Kavudulla wewa: 46-48, 93
133, 134
Sluices (or Horowwas) 131, 134 Built by 47
Spill-ways (or vaan) 131, 133, 134 Park country near 47

302 303
 SEEING CEYLON .
INDEX
'Kavantissa 240, 241, 253, 255
Kelanitissa (legend oO Builder of 33
240, 241 43-45
Kirinda 149, 139, 240 Colonization of
Kirindi-Oya Devala 37
238, 242, 245
Kirti Sri Nissanka Development Company 38-45
274, 286 38
Knox, Robert 21 In Abandonment
Kodiyar Bay Legends of 34-36
110 39
Kondavattavan I 17 References from Backhouse
Kosgoda References from Dr. Davy 39
170 39
Kulam (Tamil) Tank 127 References from Forbes, (Major)
Kumbukkan Oya The Tank (or lake) 33, 34, 36, 93
251, 258
Kusta Raja statue Mirisavati 21
189, 190
Moggallana 23
Lagoons Monsoons 17, 159,217,219,248,271
110
Lewayas Moragola 155
157
Levels Moragoda (ruins at Padaviya) 105
132
Lieshing, LF. Mount Lavinia: 147, 148
IOI
Liyangahatota (anicut) Boer sojourners 148, 149
220, 223
Lost (in jungles) Mulgirigala: 206-210
57, 59, 90, 79, 238, 239
Ludovici, Leopold Heydt's notes on 208, 209
253
Tika or text of Mahavamsa 208
Madirigiriya: 48, 50
Vatadage at Nachchaduwa 22, 23
.48
Magama Na-gal 21
127
Magul Maha Vihara Nalanda-oya (cut) 76
130, 158
Maha (Cultivation season) Namal Kumara legend 75
99, 104
Mahadaragala (see Nachchaduwa) National Parks 120, 149, 199, 241
Mahakandiya Nevill, H. 70
I 17 81, 257
Mahapaelaessa 226-228 Nicholas, (Dr.) C. R.
Mahasena Nila-maha-yodaya 231
33-38, 46, 69, 95
Maha Ruhuna Nilwala Ganga 191, 217
124, 127': 149, 198
Mahavamsa Nissangala Lena . 274
20, 23, 26, 33, ~O. 53, 54, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, 69, 72, 76, 95, 1 I 7,
Nissanka, Kirti Sri 274, 286
196, 208
Mahaveli-Ganga : North, (Hen.) Frederic (his tour) . 150
67, l lO, 101, 102, 114, 133
Navigable section Nuwaragala (ruins at) '113
68
Malaria Nuwarawewa 19, 21, 22
40, 44, 244
Malwatu Oya 21, 22, 23, 88, 133
Mandagala Ordination (Buddhist clergy) 68
254
Mantota Orubandi Siyambalagaha 40
88
Maradankadawala II1
Martello Tower Padaviya : 98-108
235
Maskeliya Archaeological Reserve 104
274
Matara: 151, 192, 193 Cultivation programme 99
Dutch Church at Deiyanne Kanda 98, 100
191
Redoubt van Ee" Early visits to 100-103
191
Sinhalese Fort Hindu influence 104, 106
191
Menik Ganga 252, 254, 258 Mistaken for Parakrama Samudrr io5
Minneriya: Paral<,rama Pillar 99, 101, 102, _I03
22, 23
And Malaria Palanquin (travelling in) 175, 251
40
As Military post Palatupana : 1.41, 246, 248, 252, 256, 258
38-39. 252-253
-Forts off
304
305
 INDEX
81
SEEING CEYLON Sasserukanda: 82'
Caves and lnscripti~ns at 83-86
Panadura 149 (mage of .Buddha at 84-86
Pandukabhaya 20, 26 Legend of statue 154
Parakramabahu -<the Great) 52, 53, 70 Schweitzer, Christopher (at Kalutara) 62, 120
Parakrama Samudra 60, 66. 72, 130 Senanayake, (Rt. Hon.) D. S.
Parker, Henry
72. 118, 119
IOI Scnanayake Samudra 110, 111
Patanagala 255, 256 Seru Vila, Buddhistic remains
131. 140
Pelanda 153 Sigiriya 257
Pimburamalgali. 257 Silavakanda 231, 232
Pitigala 165, 166 Sinhala (ge-names)
Polonnaruva: 51-59, 111, 113, 140 Sinhala kings;_ 50
Animal husbandry 53 Aggabodhi II 79
Architecture of 65 Agrabodhi III 20, 240
Governor lost in jungle 57-59 Devanampiyatissa 75, 76
Jetavanarama 56 Dhatusena 23
Lankalllaka 5~ Dhatusena II 20
Lt. Fagan 's visit 54-55 D1,1tthagamani 231
Parakrama Samudra 60-66 Gajabahu 79
Vatadage at 54 Jetthatissa 106
Population pressure (ancient Ceylon) 131 Kassapa IV 24
Potgul Vihara 65 Kasyapa
Pulatthinagara (sec Polonnaruva) 4 4U, 241, 253, 255
Kavan Tissa 109, 240, 241
Punani Anicut 111 Kelani Tissa
Pybus 39 274, 286
Kirti Sri Nissanka
23, 33'-38. 46, 69. 95
Mahasena 23
Rahats 198
Rain-forest (see Sinha Raja Adaviya) Moggallana 20. 26
Rajakariya 131 Pandukabhaya 52. 66
Raja Sinha II 198 Parakramabahu (the Great)
197
Rajavaliya 231 Raja Sinha II 21. 83, 285
Ranna 221, 225 Vatta Gamani or Valagam Bahu ...
68
Ravana. 255 Vijaya Bahu 166-171
R~umassala Kanda 185, 186 Sinha Raja Adaviya: 168-170
Ridigama 122 Baedde Maehaelli, the spirit of
127
Ridiyagama tank 231-232 Sinhalese iron and steel 274
Ritigala-kanda: 25-31, 34 Sitala Ganga 244
Ancient name 26 Sitharawila Wewa 76
Caves of 29 Skinner, (Major) 131, 133
Derivation of 26 Sluices 131, 133. 134
Flora of 29 Spill-way 229
Inscriptions 27 Spittel, (Dr.) R. L. (Devil Biro,
Legend of 27 Sri Pada (see Adam's Peak) 191
View from summit 30 star Fort (Matara) 234
Rogers, (Major) 120 Steel, Thos. 61
Ruhuna (National Park) 149, 245-257 Sudukanda Gap
Rukam-tank 111 97
Tambalagam 53, 71
Salt (Hambantota) 234 Tamankaduwa: 71
Salt Lick (used by wild animals) 224 Egoda Pattu of 65
Saman 283 Stock-breeding of
Samanala 81, 82 307
Samantakuta 284

306
 SEEING CEYLON INDEX

Tangalla : 148, 20 I. 202 Twynam. (Sir) William 91

Dutch Fort 202. 205
Dutch wells 203 Ulama (sec Devil-bird)
Tank~ (from Portuguese Tanque): 127. 128 Ulawatuna (kgend oO 138, 189
Abhayawewa 20 Urubokka Dam 217. 218
Akattimuraippu 87. 88 Uragasmanhandiya 170
Balaluwewa 72-75 Usimalai 277
Basawakkulam 19, 20. 22
City Tanks 19 Vakaneri-tank 105
Dumbutullawewa 60 Vannathi-palam 99, 111
Diga-Vapi 117 Vanni 87, 104
Divulana 122 Vapi (Sinh): pond, pool, lake 134
Giant's Tank 89-92, 133 Vatadage 48, 54, 55
Giritale-wewa 50-51 Veda-inna-Maligawa 38
Hambegamuwa 124, 125 Veddas (see Aborigines)
Horabora-wewa 114-115 Vendarasen Kulam 97
Irrakkamam 117 Verugal 111
Kala-wewa 72, 74-77 Vihara-Mahadevi 241
Kantalai 46, 93-94 Vijaya Bahu 68
Kavudullawewa 46-48. 95 Vila(Villu) 67. 70, 110, 246, 248
Kondavattavan 117 Vil-aliya 71
Mahakandiya 117 Vatta Gamani or Valagam Bahu 21. 83, 285 .
Minneriya 33, 34-36, 93
Nachchaduwa 22, 23 Waggalmodera 189
Nuwarawewa 19, 21, 22 Wahalkada 98
Padaviya 98-108 Walawe Ganga: 220, 223, 231
Parakrama Samudra 60-66, 72, 130 Reservoir
Ridiyagama 231, 232 Ward, (Sir) Henry 90, 92, IOI, 127, 244, 245
Rukam-tank 113 Wasgamuwa (intermediate zone) 64
Senanayake Samudra 72,118, 119 Wave-breakers (raelapana) 134
Seru-vila 110, 111 Weligama 148, 189, 190
Sjtharawila 244 Wewa (Sinh.) Tank 127
Tissawewa (Maha Ruhuna) 124, 127, 244 Wickremasinghe, D. M. de Z. 26. 102, 107, 108
Tissawewa 19, 20, 22 Wiggin, Chase 71
Topawewa 57, 65
Vakaneri Tank 111 Yakkas (see Aborigines)
Vedarasen Kulam 96 Yakkura 70, 71
Toda-wewa 244 Yala (Sowing season) 99, 104
Wahalkada 98 Yala (Village) . 251, 252. 258
Tekkam (same as anicut) 91, 133 Yodakandiya Wewa 244
Tennent, Emerson 33, 100 Yoda Wewa 244
Thunberg's visit 162
Tihawa (see Tissamaharama)
Tissawewa (Maha Ruhuna) 124, 127, 244
Tissawewa 19, 20, 22
Tissamaharama 127, 240, 242
Toddy 159, 161
Topawewa 57, 65
Tumour, George 76
Turtle Island (see Amaduwa)

308 309
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