Deanstone Mini World’s End is the official World’s End in Knuckles Kandy side. This is located at Meemure road son after the Nawangala village. There is the Deanstone Forest Office and the footpath will begin from there. People should buy a ticket and walk along the established footpath. The footpath is a circular path which is established through a pines forest as to feel the nature.

We used a leyland bus to travel up to Hunnasgiriya and due to the narrowness of the Meemure road leyland buses couldn’t go beyond a certain limit due to the bends. Then we had to walk along the road to reach Deanston. However, it is about 5km hike and it is not much difficult. Since we start it around 5.30 am we had to wait at Nawangala village food centre to have our breakfast.

After we had our breakfast we were looking about the Nawangala rock and I thought to get it as our next hike. Within a few minutes, we came to Deanstone Forest office which is located on the Meemure road. We bought tickets and start walking along the footpath.

When I searching for Deanstone in Metric Map, I realized that there is a name given for that mountain in Metric Map as “Ketaptatagala No.2”. Since that Mini World’s End located at a top of a mountain, then the name of that mountain is mentioned in Metric Map as Ketaptatagala No.2. It is much difficult to pronounce in Sinhala which is inline as “කැටප්තට ගල”.

Its marked in Metric Map as Ketaptatagala No 2. Note the Dothulugala marked in Blue colour.

See the Terrian Map and Metric map points. Both are equal and the Deanstone MWE located in Ketaptatagala No. 2 Mountain

Morning view of Rajagala/ Medamahanuwara Kanda

Nawangala on the way

Its yet the Dawn

Very Old one

More to go

Small Kovil

Still its dark

Came to Nawangala

Hapugaskumbura side

The Valley

Kehelpothdoruwegala Seen

Mighty Nawangala

We took our Breakfast and morning tea from here

Tree Arts

Beautiful roads

Old Factories – Hare Park

Keep walking

Side view of Nawangala

Came to the office

Nameboard

Deanstone Forest Office

Trail Head

Journey Began

The Environment

Dothulugala Summit Seen

Hike started on the Footpath

Well maintained small lake

Old but correct

A Resting place

Clear Footpath

Keep walking

The Junction

Under the Pines

More to go

Here we are reaching

View

Villages under the mountain

I and Madusanka

Going to the summit point

Its there

Knuckles 5 peaks and Alugal Kanda Seen

Gerandigala and Gerandigala Falls

Kehelpothdoruwegala

Alugal Kanda

Kobonilagala/ Aliya Kanda.(Is is really looks like an Elephant)

Nirosh, Madusanka and I

Yahangala Covered by Mist

Enjoying the view

The Panoramic view only from one side. Here are the names of the marked mountains. 1 Kobonilagala, 2 Knuckles, 3 Sphinix 2, 4 Corbet Gap, 5 Alugal Kanda, 6 Dumbanagala, 7 Gerandigala, 8 Balagiriya, 9 Gerandi Falls and Gerandigala, 10 Thelambugala, 11 Kehelpothdoruwegala, 12 Yahangala, 13 Velangolla Pathana

Paddies

Nearest village

Beauty

Framed

Going back

Walking

Natural

Little bit muddy

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Kukulagala mountain is situated near Rikillagaskada and it also is known as Diyatalawa mountain in Metric Map. We have noticed this mountain on the way to our Loolkandura. After a few months,  we planned this hike and it was much easy for us since one of our friend is living at Nuwaraeliya.

We came from Moratuwa to Rikillagaskada around 7 am and wait for Madusanka. After he came he took the lead to the footpath of this mountain. Hence we were able to come to a place where we can keep our bikes too. We start this hike as much as earlier in the morning and was able to achieve the summit within a few hours.

Kukulagala mountain marked in Metric Map as “Diyatalawa”

Satellite view of the Kukulagala Mountain Range

Upper Mountain is Kukulagala, seen on the way to Loolkandura Estate from Delthota

Kukulagala saw at the top of Randenigala Mountain Range

Here is the full view of Kukulagala Mountain Range

On the way

Randenigala

More Views

Reservoir again

So far away.

Nearby

Reaching to the top

Little more to go

Surrounding view

Nearest Villages

Environment

Another side

Mountains

Some more

Survey Marks

Few more

Date mentioned

River

Dotulugala, Nawangala and Yahangala Seen

Namunukula Mountain Range

Mahakudugala Mountain

Piduruthalagala covered by Mist

Randenigala Reservoir

Rikillagaskada Town

Victoria Reservoir

After the hike, we headed to Nuwaraeliya to spend the night at Madusanka’s home. Since we have more time, we visited Geogery Park and enjoyed walking and engage in some activities. Read more about Nuwaraeliya in Deep

Waiting for a ride

The Lake, Piduru is in back

Swan Boats

Nicely paved

Boating, Kayaking

I was there

We were there

Beautiful

Flowers

Boathouse

Flower Fence

Another Flower Fence

The path

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Nayabedda Mountain is on our list for a long time as we have seen it on our Wangedigala hike. This mountain is marked in Metric Map as “St. Catherines 2” and the 1 should be St. Catherine’s Seat which is also marked in the Metric Map without the word “Seat”. When I explore this location in Metric map I realized the name given in here and the name we currently use. Actually we are using the estate name for this mountain. But the real name is “St. Catherines 2”.

We were at Lipton Seat earlier and then we are much aware about this beautiful Dambetenna road. So, we came to Haputale early morning and got joined Madusanka and left from Haputale around 5 am in the morning. However, we were able to reach the Nayabedda estate within a few hours after having breakfast.

We can go to the highest point of the mountain by bicycle and then we should walk around the area. We have noticed plenty of mountains where we were being at previously. After we spend a few hours we left the mountain and continue our journey to the other end of Dambetenna road. I remember that I have seen the same kind of an environment when our hike to Pluckers Hut – 1365m.

Nayabedda Mountain marked in Metric Map as “St. Catherines 2”. Blue one is the St. Catherin’s Seat (Present Name) and it might be the “St.Catherines 1”.

See the Google Terrian Map. Both altitudes are matching with the above Metric map.

Seen from Wangedigala

Here is the target

Surrounding View

Beautiful path, this remind me Alakola Estate route

Lower country

Small destinations

Up to the Southern Sea Side

Pagoda Seen

Towards heaven

Working Point

Ambewela Wind Mills, Conical Hill, Great Western, and Waterfall Point

Idalgashinna

Udaweriya Mountain, World’s End, Kirigalpotta

World’s End, Kirigalpotta

Kehelpothdoruwegala, Yahangala

Galudagama, Narangala

Thaldena Mountain

Fox Hill

Nadanda Mountain, Udawadiya

Madolsima Mini World’s End

Piduruthalagala

Little Adam’s Peak

Poonagala to Koslanda road

Eastern drop of Central Province

Maragala Mountain Range

Wangedigala, Balathuduwa, Gommoliya in the upper line. Devil’s Seat (Beragala Mountain), Idalgashinna in the lower front line

Heeloya Railway Station

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

තොටුපොල කන්ද පිහිටල තියෙන්නේ හෝටන් තැන්න ප්‍රදේශයේ තරමක් පට්ටිපොල දෙසට වන්නටයි. මේ කන්ද ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ තුන්වැනි උසම කන්ද. මුහුදු මට්ටමේ සිට උස අඩි 7739ක්. කන්දට තොටුපොල කියන නම ලැබුනේ කොහොමද? මේ කතාව රාවණ ඉතිහාසයත් එක්ක සම්බන්ධයි. පැරණි ජනප්‍රවාදයේ සඳහන් වෙන විදිහටනම් රාවණ රජතුමාගේ දඬුමොණරය ගොඩබෑ තොටුපොල මේ ආසන්නයේ ඇති නිසා කන්දට තොටුපොල කන්ද කියන නම ලැබිල තියෙනවා.

Thotupola Kanda marked in Metric Map

Thotupola Kanda marked in Google Terrian Map

The Mountain (Pic from Internet)

Got down from the Train at Pattipola

Journey Started

Clear road

We three on walking

Through Pines forest

More to go

A beautiful lake

Time for a capture

The other side of the lake

Towards central province

Trees

Climbing the hill

Time for a rest

Got tired

Misty pathway

The name board in 2012, when we go there

This was also captured by us in 2018, the new name board

Trailhead

Keep walking

Misty

Misty environment

Time for a selfie

More to go

Nice footpath

Coming

Its clear

Time for a rest

Udaweriya mountains seen, Haputale- Ohiya and Idalgashinna side

Towards Piduruthalagala

Haputale side

The summit

Surrounding

Time for a photo

Back to Pattipola

This is a beautiful railway station in Sri Lanka

Going back

Final selfie

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Brampton Falls – බ්‍රැම්ප්ට්ටන් ඇල්ල

This was located at the Badulla- Ratnapura main road. It is about 100 hike from the main road to the base of the waterfall.

The 6m-high Brampton Falls is set amongst tropical jungle and flows to the Walawe River. It derives its water from the eastern slopes of the Papulugala Mountain (1530m).

It is situated 10km from Belihuloya, near the Brampton Tea Estate (at the 106th-mile post).

GPS- 6.732580, 80.817776

Brampton Seen from the Main road

Here is it

Side view

Slow Shutter

Another view

The bridge and the main road

Through the forest

Milky water

Its so beautiful

Another angle

The other fall on a side

Time to leave

Surathali Falls – සුරතලී ඇල්ල

This was also located on the main road and about 100m away. This is also visible to the main road and this was a famous attraction among the riders on that road. There are so many people came here during weekends and the footpath is also clear.

Surathali Ella Falls is 60m in height, 2m wide and made up of three segments. It is named after a film that was shot in the area. Originating from the Sri Pada Reserve’s Ellamana mountain range (948m), the fall is created by the Kadawath River, which flows along Sabaragamuwa Uva and later into the Weli River. It is bordered by an untouched wildlife sanctuary.

At the Mahaeliyakande there are certain soil crystals known as Sita Devi Guli, which resemble the rice used to make sweet meat, called Aggala. According to folklore, Sita Devi (Queen Sita) is said to have made sweet meat here and spilled some of it, which is what remains at the site today.

Another story has it that two villagers saw gold plates glittering in a cave, while on a jungle trek. They decided to retrieve the treasure and ventured inside the cave but as soon as they were inside, the stone door of the cave shut, barring their exit. They were allowed out only once they had acknowledged that the treasure belonged to King Walagamba.

Take the Balangoda – Badulla road to the 169 – 170th mile posts, between Halpe and Marangawela. Turn at the Belihul River, near Halpe and proceed for 8km along the Colombo – Ratnapura – Batticoloa road. Near the 105th mile post, 20m through mountainous jungle, the fall can be found.

GPS – 6.745029, 80.829692

Surathali fall seen to the main road

Here is it

Top part of the fall

Nice stream

Through the darkness

Surathali Fall

I was there in 2018

Passing Belihuloya, Nagrak Mountains

Guess what?

Here is it, Hawagala

Towards Paraviyangala

Towards Udaweriya

Where Bumara Falls located

Udaweriya Peaks

Idalgashinna

Idalgashinna

Haldummulla Fall – හල්දුමුල්ල ඇල්ල

As you travel along the A4 road ( Colombo-Batticaloa via Ratnapura, Beragala, Wellawaya), you will find this waterfall right by the road next to a small culvert where the water from this fall flows across the road.

The water from this fall falls over a near-vertical rock surface in multiple stages before disappearing underneath the culvert.

The culvert can be found about 2.3 km past the Haldumullla junction and before Beragala.

This waterfall is not listed in LCWF database.

GPS – 6.765617, 80.897347

Haldummulla Fall

Here is it

Some cascades

Along to Haputale

This was on the main road, flowing from a rocky plain directly to the main road

No name for this beauty

Obada Falls – Bandarawela – ඕබඩ ඇල්ල

Obada Ella Waterfall lies close to the Bandarawela Town on the Hatton route. The waterfall is not visible at the main road but can be reached near Ellatota Junction on the road going up towards Obada Ella Viharaya.

The falls lie just next to the road and is easily accessible on any vehicle. Although this waterfall is well known among the village folks and lies close to a major road, this seems to be a relative an unknown waterfall to visitors of Bandarawela. The fall cascades into a pool below and seems a popular place for washing clothes of the villagers. The water on the pool looked muddy and probably not suitable for bathing.

This is waterfall is not listed on the LCWF. This fall is located a few distance of Ellethota fall. Follow the GPS point and you will realize the turning point for this fall and then Ellethota Fall.

GPS – 6.818836, 80.986865

On the way to Obada Fall

Here is it

Obada Fall

Road side scenery

Ellatota Ella Falls – ඇල්ලතොට ඇල්ල

Ellatota Ella (Ellathota Ella) is a waterfall unknown to many lying close the city of Bandarawela. This is rarely visited by a casual traveler.

The waterfall lies just beneath the Ellatota Bridge on the Bandarawela – Hatton Road but completely invisible from the bridge. This fall is only visible to main road on the sharp bend just before Ellatota Bridge.

The waterfall can be reached by taking the Diyathalawa Road from the Colombo – Bandarawela Road.

Travel about 350 meters on the Diyathalawa Road and take the road to the right. Another 350 meters will take you to the falls.

This fall is not listed on the LCWF website but this was located behind the Commercial Bank Bandarawela Holiday bungalow.

General description of the falls from amazinglanka.com

GPS – 6.820704, 80.986305

View in distance

Ellethota Fall

Unfortunately, there are so many garbage here

She is pretty

A side view

She might be marvelous during rainy days because we saw the evidence above 6-7 feet from the ground level

Another side view

View from the footpath, Ratnapura- Badulla main road is going above this fall. The fall is under the bridge at this bend

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

I had an official duty at Kandy on 18th and Matale on 20th of Octoebr 2019. Since the mid date of 19th is free to me I thought to visit one of my friend’s home at Matale on 18th night and next day to have an adventure ride up to Sera Falls. Because I have visited all the waterfalls from Rattota to Pallegama long time ago and it was during the dry season. Hence I wanted to re visit them on a rainy day or soon after a rainy session.

Hence as there was a raining during that week I panned this trip and arranged everything that I wanted. First we went to Rattota and had a ride around Gammaduwa/ Karagasthanna and then we visited Bambarakiri Ella, Weddaani Ella, Wambatuhena Ella and Sera Ella within that limited time frame.

Heading to Gammaduwa

Mountains

Far away peaks

Karagasthanna

Route with Karagasthanna

Unknown pathway

The team

In to the unknown

Mountains added to do list

Mist is coming

I was there

There is a small foot path also

Colorful

Grassy lands

Entrance to the Estate Bungalow

Nice Caption

Misty

This is the Bungalow

Mysterious with Mist

More Green

Love to walk through Maana bushes

Pines patch

Path to that Bungalow

The bungalow seen

Base of a Mountain

Bambarakiri Falls – බඹරකිරි ඇල්ල

This 3m fall is set among the enchanting evergreen forest of the Knuckles mountain range, the latter of which is said to resemble the fingers of a clenched fist. A suspension bridge spanning the falls adds the finishing touch to an already beautiful scene.

The fall’s popularity as a visitor attraction continues despite the fact that up to May 2002, 17 people have been killed while either bathing or attempting to clamber over nearby rocks.

At the nearby Wanarani Colony, a project to provide drinking water for 44 houses, was launched under the guidance of three local women. The mini Bambarakiri Ella falls is a small fall created on a stream created by spitting the flow of water at the top of the falls. To reach this site, walk few meters in the jungle on the foot path after crossing the suspension bridge.

The fall is situated in nearby Rattota town in the Matale District, along the shortcut to Wasgasmuwa National Park. Take the Matale – Ilukumbura road to the Bamarakiri Falls bend, which is 1km past Rattota town, where the fall is to be found. (Source : www.srilankanwaterfalls.net)

The Fall

Reached to Bambarakiri Ella

Part of it

Side view of it

Lower part

The Suspension Bridge

Full View

Going upward

The Stream

Kuda Bambarakiri Ella

Mini Bambarakiri Falls

Passing Kirigalpotta

Roadside cascades and Pitawala Pathana

Since Dhanushka wasn’t at Pitawala Pathana MWE I also joined with him to see it again. But I don’t have much interest to take photos since the surrounding was fully covered by Mist at that time.

Road side cascades 1

Road side cascades 2

Road side cascades 3

Road side cascades 4

Road side cascades 5

Road side cascades 6

View of a Previous one

Passing Reverstone

Pitawala Pathana

At the mini world’s End

Etanwala Side

Heading to Pitawala

Wambatuhena Falls – වම්බොටුහේන ඇල්ල

Wambatuhena Ella (Wambatu Hena Ella) waterfalls was previously was known as Kahagala Ella Falls. The stream which creates the fall irrigates number farming fields below. About 66 families depend on this stream for all their needs of water. A stream feeds the fall from Pathanagama. The stream finally flows to Telegram Oya Reservoir at a place called Pothuwala.

Traveling in the Matale–Puwakvitiya Bus, alight at Kahagala Wapattiya Junction, walk 100m towards Puwakpitiya the fall could be seen to the left side of the road in Khagama Village, Matale District, Laggala PS. This fall can be easiily seen on the way to Sera Ella.

(Source : www.srilankanwaterfalls.net)

Wambatuhena Falls

Side view of it

Sera Falls – සේර ඇල්ල

This beautiful Sera Ella fall, the subject of several poems, is situated in the Dumbara Jungle that is split into two sections, both 10m in height. Kitul Canal, from the Kaudagammana Mountain, and the Hunumadala River, from the Gonamada and Deyuthu Gammmaduwa mountains, flow in unison to form the Puwakpitiya River. This later joins Thelegam River, at which point the fall is created as the water tumbles down a protruding rock face, visible from Dumbara Jungle.

he fall flows all year around and is at its fullest during the monsoon season, between November and March. The name of the fall derives from the ‘Sera’ species of fish that inhabits the water.

The fall is located in the village of Pothatawela, near Laggala in Matale District’s Laggala PSD. From Matale or Lagalla, travel to Illukumbura. One of the interesting features of this fall is the cave behind the fall. Steps has been cut to reach this cave and can be safely reached even when the fall is at full flow.

(Source : www.srilankanwaterfalls.net)

Sera Ella

Milky Water

Side view of it

View from the cave

Another view

Lucky to see this much of water

Milky

She is beautiful

The Stream

Water

Here is she

Another angle

I was there

Rocks

Like caves

This is the old trail to Sera Fall and the village

Old Entrance

Want to try

Riding to the forest

Here I go

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Adisham Bungalow is one of my favorite destination in Haputale as I have visited it in 2011 and again in 2014.

St. Benedicts Monastery Adisham Bungalow Haputale in Sri Lanka

Adisham Hall, or Adisham Bungalow is a country house near Haputale, in the Badulla District, Sri Lanka. At present it houses the Adisham Monastery a congregation of St. Sylvester.

The house was built in 1931 by an English aristocrat and planter Sir Thomas Villiers, former Chairman of George Steuart Co, a trading and estate agency based in Colombo. Sir Thomas was a grandson of Lord John Russell and descendant of the Dukes of Bedford. It was designed by R. Booth and F. Webster in Tudor and Jacobean style, on 10 acres (40,000 m2) of land. Adisham Hall played host to many prominent personalities of the colony until the retirement of Sir Thomas, after which it was sold to Sedawatte Mills. In 1961 it was purchased by the Roman Catholic Church and was subsequently converted to a monastery. The house is well preserved along with its period fittings and furniture, and is open to visitors.

Sir Thomas was always aware of his responsibilities and thus was in touch with the directors at of George Stuarts until his very last days. In the late fifties Sir Thomas wrote a letter to the Wages Commission mentioning that it was very necessary to introduce weekly wages in Ceylon. After enjoying a healthy and a vigorous life Sir Thomas Villiers passed away on December 21st in 1959. The funeral service took place at St. Paul’s Knights bridge while the cremation was held at Pulury Vale. Lady Villiers also died in London in 1964 at the age of 60.

The Villiers presence in Ceylon concluded but their pleasant memories and the life story is carved in every stone that holds up the Adisham Bungalow in Haputale.

It was while he was chairman of George Steuarts that Sir Thomas commenced building his dream home in the country. He selected a peaceful site at Haputale, surrounded by beautiful forest called Tangamalai which means Golden Hills. The piece of land was alienated because of its 5,000 feet elevation. Yet it was not a barrier for Sir Thomas. A road was cut through the forest to pave the way to reach the land which commanded views across hills and valleys and the highest mountain ranges of Ceylon. On a clear day, a sightseer will be privileged to view Totapolakanda, Hakgala, Piduruthalagala, the Uda Pussellawa range of mountains known as the sleeping warrior, Diyatalawa Army Camp, Namunukula and numerous other mountains which stretch out for miles on end. The building and garden are on ten acres on land which formed a part of the forest reserve. Cutting the site in preparation for the building commenced in 1929.

Adisham Bungalow is a stately stone mansion built in 1931 by Sir Thomas Lister Villiers, an English planter. Beautifully situated, in Tranquil surroundings, Adisham Bungalow is certainly a “must see” for those holiday makers or chance visitors, Who haunt the hills from time to time in search of a peaceful resort, far from the madding crowds and the heat of the city.

The sturdy rock like fortress, surrounded by undulating hills, as far as the eye can see , contains many items that normal visitors are unfamiliar with , which accounts for the large number of guests who seek admission whenever the gates are open.

Carefully cultivated flower gardens, Burma teak shingles that cover the roof, antique furniture and a well planted-out construction are a few of the attractions that Adisham Bungalow offers to sight seers.

This mansion was purchased by the SYLVESTROBENDICTINE monks in 1961 to serve as their novitiate, where those who seek to enter the monastic life are trained. The motto of St. Benedict, highlighted in his rule for monks, is what the community seeks to follow at Adisham Bungalow ; “Ora et Labora”.

Maintenance of the monastery and those who reside here has to be met with funds that are earned by the monks’ themselves. Hence the jam products and the produce from the farm.

Maintenance of the monastery garden which retains its old English charm, with well-preserved lawns, beautiful flower beds, evergreens, and majestic trees, is also a costly affair, and is managed by funds collected at the gate, and is therefore not a mere commercial venture.Visitors are welcome to visit the monastery from 9.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. Only on the weekends (Saturday, Sunday and Poya days and public holidays) (except Good Friday & Christmas day) what is accessible to visitors is only a limited area.

Turning point

Heading to Adisham

Entrance

Here is it

Beautiful pathway

We were lucky to have this weather

Flowers

Flowers

Roses

More Roses

No caption

Red Rose

The Bungalow

Bungalow and the Garden

Inside of it

Inside

Old is Glod

Pathway

Beautiful Garden

Beautiful Garden

Beautiful Garden

Beautiful Garden

Bunch of Flowers

Beautiful Garden

Beautiful Garden

Beautiful Garden

Beautiful Garden

Beautiful Garden

Beautiful Garden

Beautiful Garden

Beautiful Garden

Beautiful Garden

Beautiful Garden

Beautiful Garden

Strawberries

Beautiful Garden

Demodara Loop – Nine Arch bridge

දෙමෝදර ආරුක්කු නවයේ අති දැවැන්ත මිනිස් නිර්මාණයයි. මේ ස්ථානයට යා හැකි මාර්ග 4 ක් තිබේ. දෙමෝදර දුම්රිය ස්ථානයේ සිට ආපස්සටත්, ඇල්ල දුම්රිය ස්ථානයේ සිට ඉදිරියටත් යා හැකි මාර්ග දෙකකි. එම මාර්ග දෙකම සමානව කිලෝමීටර 2 බැගින් රේල් පාර දිගේ ගමන් කළ යුතුය. නැත්නම් බදුලූ පාරේ දෙමෝදර හන්දියේ සිට ත‍්‍රිරෝද රථයකින් ආරුක්කු නවයේ පාලම අසලකට ආ හැකිය. අනෙක් මග නම් ඇල්ල නගරයේ සිට පස්සර පාරේ මීටර 300 ක් පැමිණ කිලෝමීටරයක් පමණ විශාල පයිනස් කැළයක් මැදින් වැටී තිබෙන අඩි පාර ඔස්සේ ආ හැකිය.

අපි දෙමෝදර දුම්රිය ස්ථානයේ සිට ආපස්සට එන්නට පටන් ගත්තෙමු. නැවතත් කිලෝමීටර 2ක් දුම්රිය මගේ ගමන යාම ඇරඹීමු. මේ මාර්ගය දෙපස තැනින් තැන නිවාස පිහිටා ඇති අතර ඒ ගම්වැසියන් සියල්ලම අපට තොරතුරු ලබාදුන්හ. මග දෙපස එතරම් සුන්දරත්වයක් නැතත් ඈතින් පෙනෙන කඳු මිටියාවතත් විටින් විට හමුවන දිය දහරවල් මවන කෝලම් රටාත් අපේ ඇසට ප‍්‍රියතාවක් ගෙනදුණි. විනාඩි 45 ක් පමණ ඇතුළත අපි නියමිත ස්ථානයට ආවෙමු. පාලම දෙපසින් බිංගෙවල් පිහිටා ඇත. මෙම ආරුක්කු නවයේ දැවැන්ත පාලම තනිකරම මිනිස් දෑතින් නිසි ප‍්‍රමිතියට නිර්මාණය කරන ලද මෙය තවමත් එදා මෙන් ශක්තියෙන් හා වර්ණයෙන් රඳා පවතියි. තව ටික වේලාවකින් දුම්රියක් එන බැවින් අප මීටර 30 ක් පමණ පාලම යටට බැස ගත්තේ බුරුල් ලිස්සා යන පසේ පාද හසුරවමිනි.

කෙසේ හෝ බලාපොරොත්තු වු පරිදි පොඩි මැණිකේ නිල් පාටින් සැරසී පීල්ල මතින් එනු අපි දුටුවෙමු. මෙවර එම දර්ශනය අප දකින්නේ පාලම යටට බැසගෙනය. නවීකරණය වූ පොඩි මැණිකේ දිලිසි දිලිසී ආරක්කු නවයේ පාලම උඩින් ලතාවට පැද්දෙමින් බදුල්ල කරා දිවයයි. දුම්රිය මැදිරි කවුළු වලින් පිටතට ඔළුව දමා පාලමේ අසිරිය බලන පිරිස පිරී ඇත. කවුළුවෙන්, පාපුවරුවෙන් අත එළියට දමා ජංගම දුරකථන වලින් කිටි කිටියේ ඡුායාරූප ගන්නා බොහෝ දෙනකු දැකිය හැකිය. පොඩි මැණිකේ අපි පසු කර ගිය පසු නැවතත් පාලම යට හෙලට ගමන් කිරීම ඇරඹුවෙමු.

ලඳු කැළෑ වැනි පඳුරු පද්ධතියෙන් සැරසුණු මේ හෙල පහළින් දිය දහරාවක් ගලා යයි. වැසි කාලයට ඉතා විශාලව ගලා යන මේ දියපහර මේ වන විට තරමක් කුඩා වී ඇත.  අපව පටන් ගැන්මේ සිට ලිස්සුව නිසා දෙඅතද පාවිච්චි කරමින් අපි පහළට බසින්නට වීමු. ලිස්සනසුළු පස් සහිත නිසා කෙසේ හෝ පහළට බැසගත් පසු අප ගියේ එහා පැත්තේ පරිසරය බැලීමටයි. අනෙක් පස එතරම් මගක් නොතිබුණු නමුත් පාලමේ ආරුක්කු නවය යනු ඉතා විශාල දැවැන්ත ගල් කුට්ටි වලින් නිමාවූ කණුය. එම දැවැන්ත කණු මැද එක සමාන කුහර තිබෙන අතර ඒවා දුම්රියේ යනෙන කාටත් පෙනෙන්නේ නැත. පාලමේ පළලින්ම ප‍්‍රධාන කණු 8 නිමා වී තිබෙන අතර එම කණු සියල්ලේම මැද වෘත්තාකාර කුහර එක පේළියට දැකිය හැකිය. පහළ පාදම පවා දැවැන්ත ගල් සමාන ප‍්‍රමාණවලින් සකස් කර ඇත.

ගල්කණු මත නැගීම අපහසුය. ගල් කණු 8 මවන ආරුක්කු 9 අසිරිය පහළ සිට බලන කල වෙනස්ය. මහා ගල් කණු එකින්නෙක උඩින් තියා අතීතයේදී මෙපමණ ශක්තිමත් බදාමයක් මගින් සෑදු සැටි අපූරුය. පාලමේ යටටම බැසගත් අප අඩි 4 ක් පමණ පළලින් දුප්පත්ව ගලා යන දිය දහරින් එහාට පැන්නෙමු. මේ අඩවිය නම් බොහෝ අනතුරුදායක බව අප දුටුවේ ඉහළින් පාලම යට කණ වල බැඳ ඇති අති දැවැන්ත මී වද 3 ක් සහ ඉතා විශාල දෙබර කූඩුවකි. අපි සියල්ලම නිශ්ශබ්ද විමු. පාලම උඩට යන තුරු කවුරුත් කථා නොකර සිටියේ හදිසියේවත් මීමැස්සන් සහ දෙබරුන් ඇවිස්සුනහොත් අපේ මරණය නියත වන බැවිණි. මී වද කෙතරම් විශාලද කියහොත් මී මැස්සන් වදයේ හැසිරෙන වේගය පහළ සිට බලන අපට රැුල්ලක් ලෙස පෙනේ. දෙබර කූඩුව අවටත් මී මැසි කූඩු අවටත් බොහෝ සතුන් පියඹමින් සිටි නිසා අප ඡුායාරූප රැගෙන හෙමි හෙමිහිට සද්ද නොකරම පාලම උඩට නැග ගත්තේ නැවතත් ලිස්සමිනි. එම ස්ථානයේ කෙසෙල් පැළ කිහිපයක්ද තිබුණු අතර පාලම උඩට ගිය පසු පාලමේ බැම්ම උඩට වී නිදා ගත්තේ දැඩි වෙහෙස නිවාගනු නිසාවෙනි.

දෙමෝදර පාලම යටට යෑම කළ හැකි ක‍්‍රියාවකි. එසේම ලිස්සන සුළු නිසා ගොඩක් පරිස්සම් විය යුතුය. මීළඟට අපි පාලම අසල සිට ඡුායාරූපගෙන අසල වූ බිංගෙයට ගියෙමු.

My Previous trip report about – Rail hike from Ohiya to Idalgashinna and visit to Demodara Loop

Old Name Board

Three Wheel park near the bridge

We were lucky that there are no one

The Railway over the bridge

Nine Arch

Environment

Clear View

Discovering the under of the Bridge

Reflection

Under the bridge

Giants

Under the bridge

Through the estate

Oh, flowers

Tunnel

Wall Painting

Beauty

To Demodara Nine Arch

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Kadugannawa is a famous destination on the way to Kandy and it is much famous for the dangerous slope for the main road as well as the rail track. There are few thing to see in and around Kadugannawa.

• Balumgala
• Dawson Tower
• Alagalla Mountain
• Dekinda Fall
• Abundant Miyan Fall
• Railway Museum
• Balana Fort
• Mudukirigala

On that day we were going to Kandy for an emergency of our friend.  However we had little time to roam around Kadugannawa and then we thought to visit Balumgala and then Nirosh wanted to visit Balumgala also.

Balumgala

Balumgala is a visible rock to the railway line and also to the main road. This is a rock located  at the Kadugannawa gap and it is much famous around all the people live in here. There are 2-3 view points and thpse are the famous destinations to see the surrounding views and there is a small rock as well as the main rock. And the highest point of the Balumgala is about 755m.

Just before the National Railway Museum (after passing the Dawson Tower) you will find a Lagamuwa road. Travel few distance up to the Balumgala junction and turn to the Balumgala road. You can go to a edge of a view point by motor cycles also. But remember, travelling on rainy days is bit dangerous.

Map of those two places. Dawson Tower in Red. Balumgala view points in Yellow. Turning point to Balumgala road is white arrow

Seen on the way

Seen on the way

At the first glance

Dawson Tower seen

Climb upward to the summit

Main Road

Nearby Mountain from Balumgala

Time to eat something

Its ready

Railway line

Scenic road and environment

Zoomed

Bathalegala and Uragala

Breakfast is ready

Surrounding

Zoomed Bathalegala

Achieved it

Dawson Tower

I think I have pass this tower for more than 30 times in my life but I never wanted to go to the indside of this tower. But today we had to go there and see the surrounding views and cut it off from our TODO list.

nyone travelling to Kandy along the Colombo-Kandy Road has to negotiate many bends – some of them hairpin bends – as they go up the Kadugannawa incline. At the last and sharpest of these bends, the road forks; and one goes through a tunnel, wide and high enough for a bus or lorry to pass. The other road makes a wider bend and goes a few feet over the rock.

This is the highest point in the climb – the Kadugannawa Pass, which was the lookout point in the former Sinhala kingdom.

This tunnel has been a landmark for over 175 years. Until about 25 years ago, all motor traffic to and from Kandy went through this tunnel. When it was found that the new long vehicles could not negotiate the sharp hairpin bend, another road was constructed with a wider bend and no overhead encumbrances.

When the climb is over, and the travellers approach Kadugannawa town, they will see to their right, a tall white column on the side of the cliff. One gets a better view of the column when travelling in the opposite direction from Kadugannawa town.

This is the Dawson Tower, erected to commemorate Captain Dawson, who built the Colombo-Kandy Road.

Governor Edward Barnes wanted a new road built to Kandy as the old road was long and circuitous. The old road was along the Kelani Valley, via Ruwanwella to the Ma Oya valley, then up the incline to Gampola and on to Kandy.

After the Kandyan rebellion of 1818, the Governor wanted to have tighter control of the Kandyan territory (the old Sinhala Kingdom) and for this, a shorter and more direct road to Kandy to move troops and government officers quickly, was essential.

Governor Barnes appointed Captain William Francis Dawson of the Royal Engineers to execute this task. Captain Dawson studied the terrain, marked out the route and planned the building of the road, phase by phase.

Work commenced in 1820 and was carried out under his immediate supervision. The stress and strain of working in a hot and humid climate and exposure to the frequent changes of weather and to diseases as he worked through jungle land, brought about his premature death on March 29, 1829, when the road to Kandy was still not complete. Folklore says Captain Dawson was bitten by a snake and had to be taken to Colombo where he died.

Captain Dawson was a popular and much admired and respected man. His friends and admirers decided to erect this column or tower to commemorate his service in this gigantic task, and they chose this spot on the top of the Kadugannawa Pass, as the best place for a memorial to him.

No better spot could have been chosen. The road upto the point is testimony to his engineering skills. He worked without bulldozers, backhoes and other machinery and the technical know-how that today’s road builders have.

When you next pass through Kadugannawa, ask your parents to turn to the Gampola Road. A few yards from the turn is a narrow road on the right which will lead you to the Dawson Column.

Sumana Saparamadu
Sunday Observer,- 11 September 2005

View from the base of the Tower

Notice

Going up

Phone torch might be useful

Top of it

Kandy Road

Another view

At the top

Top to Bottom

Railway Station

Surrounding

Balumgala Seen

Getting down

Still strong

Heritage

The base of the tower

Entrance

Archaeology Notice

Good bye Captain Dawson

Here is it

Seen from the railway station

Little far away

Blossoms

Dawson Tower

Flowers

At the station

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

We have planned a two trip in Central province and our main target was a mountain at Nuwaraeliya. Since we are travelling from Kandy we thought to visit Kadadora as we heard that the viharaya is visible due to the dry season. We were able to visit below places on our way to Nuwaraeliya.

• Kothmale Dam
• Dehudu Kadulla
• Kadadora Viharaya
• Ranamure Pihilla and Ambalama
• Ramboda Falls

The Kotmale Dam is a large hydroelectric and irrigation dam in Kotmale, Sri Lanka. The dam generates power from three 67 MW turbines, totalling the installed capacity to 201 MW, making it the second largest hydroelectric power station in Sri Lanka. Construction on the dam began in August 1979 and was ceremonially completed in February 1985.[1] The dam forms the Kotmale Reservoir, which was renamed to Gamini Dissanayake Reservoir on 11 April 2003 following a request by Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe. (Wikipedia)

Onthe way to Kothmale Dam

Our Machines

Kothmale Dam

Nice Place

Giant creations

Another side of it

Other side

Environment

Beautiful

Notice at Dehudu Kadulla

Dehadu Kadulla -දෙහදු කඩුල්ල

Kothmale is a picturesque land surrounded by hills deeply embedded in Sri Lankan history. Kothmale is first recorded in history when the King Panduwasdeva (504-474 BC) carried out a devil dance by the Demon (yak) tribes living in Malaya Rata which is now Kothmale. But Kothmale is most prominent in the life of King Dutugemunu (161-131 BC) where he spent 24 years of his life as a young boy in exile in the Kotagepitiya village in the house of Urupelesse Gammahage as a herdsman.

In the ancient times, there has been 4 main entrances to Kothmale called Kadadora, Watadora, Niyangandora and Galdora. Today only Kadadora entrance remains to be seen. Kadadora is also known as the entrance which prince Gemunu used to enter Kothmale.

History states that the prince hid his royal sward inside a tree near the Kadadora which is also known as Dehadu Kadulla today. This has been restored and the entrance is flanked by 2 walls of layers stones. The access is flight of steps paved with stone. (AmazingLanka)

Path to Dehudu Kadulla

Here is it

One person entrance

Reaching to Kadadora

Kadadora Sri Priyabimbaramaya Viharaya

Kadadora Vihara (Also known as Kadadora Sri Priyabimbaramaya Vihara) was a Buddhist temple, situated in Kadadora, Nuwara Eliya District, Sri Lanka. The temple was abandoned and ruined as the construction of Kotmale Dam in 1979 by Mahaweli Development programme. The ruins of Vihara still can be seen when the water level of Kotmale Reservoir is low, but the sight is very rare.

It is said that about 57 villages and 54 religious places in Kotmale were submerged with the completion of the reservoir in 1985. Except Kadadora Vihara other shrines including Thispane Vihara, Morape Devalaya, Othalawa Vihara, Pattini Devalaya and Medagoda Vihara were said to have gone under water when the reservoir was built. However, many of these temple ruins no longer exist.

In order to compensate the loss of these religious shrines those were submerged in the reservoir, the Mahaweli authorities started the construction of bubble shaped Stupa, Mahaweli Maha Seya which only second to the great Ruwanwelisaya of Anuradhapura in height. (Wikipedia)

Sinked Ruins

Someone was there

Water level is not fully dried

Getting cleared

Kadadora Viharaya

Surrounding

The other side

More sinked items

This area will cover by water at rainy season

Notice at Ranamure Pihilla and Ambalama

Ranamune Ambalama and Granite Water Spout – දුටුගැමුනු කුමරු නෑ රණමුණේ අම්බලම සහ ගල් පිහිල්ල

Ranamune is a ancient village in Kothmale closely associated with prince Dutugemunu. After sending female jewellery to his father he ran away from his home and hid himself in a farming village known as Kotagapitiya where he lived for 12 years disguised as a helper until his fathers death.

According to “Kothmale Purawruththa” by P. B Kehelgamuwe published in 1935, there are 3 water sprouts (pihili) associated with prince Gemunu in the area. One is “Nagaha Peella” so called because it lied underneath a Na tree. The rate of the water flow never changes in this pihilla throughout the year irrespective of the weather. It has been repaired by the government and had been a popular bathing place for the villagers although the Na Tree had fallen and disappeared when the book was written (in 1935). A close-by a rock slab which is called “Salugala” (Salu-Gala) is believed to the slab which prince Gemunu kept his cloths (Salu-Pili) when he came to bath.

The fields which the prince Gemunu harvested lies south to the Kotagapitiya is called “Rajathala Wela” (Raja-Thala Wela). South of the Rajathalawa fileds lies the second water spring and the spout . This is situated close to a Mango Tree thus is known as “Ambagaha Peella”.

The third is the Ranamure Pihilla. It is situated close to Monaragala and Badalena where the the prince spent most of his time. According to the tradition there is an Amuna ( a measure of area) of gold buried near the spout. Thus the spout is being called Ranamune (from Ran-Amuna). The water spout at Ranamune is built of granite and a ambalama has also been built at the site. The ambalama too is built with large granite blocks though there is no mention of this ambalama in the above publication.

The water spout and the Ambalama at Ranamure has been declared as a protected monument under the antiquities act in 2008. (AmazingLanka)

It is there

Here is it

Ramboda Tunnel

Middle Ramboda Falls

Middle one

Side view of it

path to the upper fall

Upper Ramboda Fall

Full view

I remember my first visit to this on 2012, it was fully dried

Some cascades

Return Journey

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

I and Nirosh planned a sudden trip toMiyunu falls and Manel cave on a holiday. I left from my home and met Nirosh at Horana and we travel up to Gavaragiriya. Miyunu Fall is a famous fall due a poet (Meemana Premathilake) live in this area. It was not very difficult to find this attractive beauty. She was tall more than 50m and created with two parts.

The 60 meter Miyunu Ella waterfall is one of the two large waterfalls lying in the Kukulugala Forest (KF) is situated within the Western boundary of the Ratnapura district, Sabaragamuwa Province; and is located 15 km away from Bulathsinhala town. This forest ecosystem, which covers an area of 6000 acres within the Ayagama secretariat division, can be categorized as a low land evergreen rain forest. The dominant tree species are Dipterocarpus sp., Mesua sp., Doona sp., Schumacheria castaneifolia, Artocarpus nobilis, Calophyllum inophyllum, Mangifera zeylanica, Humboldtia laurifolia, Oncosperma fasciculatum and Canarium zeylanicum species. Kukulugala mountain, also known as “Horanae Kanda (හොරණෑ කන්ද)” in sinhala, is 705m above sea leavel.

The waterfall can be accessed by traveling 10 km from Ayagama or 18 kms from Egaloya on the Gavaragiriya Road to Kolambewa (කොළඹෑව) and trekking about 500 meters from there onwards in to the Kukulugala Forest.  (AmazingLanka)

GPS Location – 6.642665, 80.265121

Here is the trail head. Park your vehicle in front of this GN office, note that there is a Pre school also.

The Path

The final landmark

The stream

The canal for electricity

Water Separator

Got in to the stream to see Miyunu Fall

Here is she

Lower part of it

Upper part of it

Another view

Lower part and the base pool

The house seen

Surrounding

View from the top of the fall

Cascades at the top

She was pretty

Another view

The drop

Side view

Return journey

Clear path

Manel Gallena lies on the Malgahahena Road off the Gavaragiriya Road. Evidence has been found that this cave has been used since prehistoric times. The cave said to be have been called Gavara Lena during Polonnaruwa Era due Royal Bulls being kept in the cave.  Travel about 8kms from Ayagama on the Gavaragiriya Road to reach Pitakanda. Take the Malgahahena Road and travel about 1 1/2 km to reach the Cave. (AmazingLanka)

The path to the Cave

Butterfly

Through the small forest

More to go

Small caves

Reaching to it

Final steps

Here is the Cave

The Manel Cave

View from the inside

Lord Buddha Statue

Inner view

View from a distance

Life

Few other waterfalls located in and around this area.

Roaming in Athwelthota for Waterfalls

Bunch of Waterfall Hunting around Ayagama

Roaming around Morawaka for Ginigedara/ Marakapu/Makeli Falls

Athweltota to Fa hien Pre Historic Cave

Gawaragiriya to Kura Uda Ella

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

We visited Miyunu fall and Manel cave on 11th August 2018 and after that hike we have noticed that we missed few waterfalls near by the area. hence we again planned another day trip to see the beauty of those waterfalls. There were 4 waterfalls around Gavaragiriya and Ayagama.

• Minee Fall
• Ritigas Fall
• Sipirimala Fall
• Miniran Fall

We were able to cover all of these waterfalls and we marked our return journey via Kiriella. These waterfalls are very beautiful and attractive but hunting them on rainy days might be difficult and bit dangerous.

Minee Ella – මිනී ඇල්ල

This is a small waterfall but it width about 12-15m.

GPS Location – 6.664197, 80.285929

Road to Minee Fall

Footpath to the waterfall

Environment

The Base pool

Lower part of the fall

Here is the Minee Ella

Side view of it

Closer view

Lower part

Looks like bit dried

Slow shutter view

We can go to the behind of this water

The left side of this picture also covering on rainy days

The stream

Water

Beautiful Stream

Some place to hide

Flowers

Ritigas Falls රිටිගස් ඇල්ල

Ritigas Fall situated at the upward of the Minee fall. We walked few distance upward of the stream and reached to this beauty also.

GPS Location – 6.67543, 80.280892

More Flowers

Alone one

Reaching to it

Here is it

Rocks and stones

Ritigas Ella

Sky	Time to say Bye

Stream

Path

Stone path

Alone one

Siprimala Falls – සිපිරිමල ඇල්ල

This is another beautiful waterfall which is height about 20m. This is one of the hidden waterfall among most travelers.

Approx GPS Location – 6.592267,80.348998

Lets go to it

Sipirimala Ella

Closer view

Magnificent

Side view

The stream we came

Another angle

Our Bike

Some cascades

Another view

Miniran Falls – මිනිරන් ඇල්ල

Miniran fall situated at Ayagama-Kalawana road at a beautiful village. The river called Pimbura River is a source of this fall.

GPS Location – 6.589581, 80.347991

Along the stream

Miniran Ella

Base pool

Slow Shutter

Closer view

Beautiful

Beautiful Miniran Fall

Milky water

This area will cover by water on a rainy day

Side view

Located in a nice village

Through the forest

The stream

End of the Journey

Few other waterfalls located in and around this area.

Roaming in Athwelthota for Waterfalls

Exploring Miyunu Fall and Manel Cave

Roaming around Morawaka for Ginigedara/ Marakapu/Makeli Falls

Athweltota to Fa hien Pre Historic Cave

Gawaragiriya to Kura Uda Ella

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

This was a unplanned journey which is done with Nirosh and few of his friends. On this day I was travelling to Kandy for a personal work by bicycle and Nirosh and his friends were roaming around Kithugala, Yatiyantota in the morning. Then I told him to join with me at Dolosbage road which can come from Nawalapitiya as they have passed Olu fall also. Then we met in the evening and headed to Dolosbage and planned to cover road side waterfalls as they didn’t visited them before. We didn;t think about the beautiful falls located bit away from the main road such as Suramba Fall, Diyathiri Fall etc.

I was visited all of these waterfalls in May 2014 but the water level considering to 2014 to 2018 was bit higher.

Map of these three falls, it will located in 6km area

Rikili Falls (රිකිලි ඇල්ල)

This was located at the road from Bulathkohupitiya to Dolosbage/ Dedugala. This was always moving  due to the wind and reaching to the fall is not difficult as there are notices and footpath also.

GPS Location – 7.103808, 80.372616

View from the road

Top part of it (Zoomed)

View of Rikili Ella

Side view

The notice board

Forest hike

Small cascades

Reaching to it

Nature

Here is she

Closer view of the hidden cave

Another angle

Lets go more closer

Rainbow seen

Here is the cave

We can stand behind of the fall

It was a nice place even I didn’t know it previously

Nature

Adjusted to the wetland

More

Main road seen

Walking over there

Brilliant view

Another capture

More	More views

Time to leave it

Rikilla Fall

It was there

Final capture

Along the Footpath

Nalagana Fall (නළඟන ඇල්ල)

This beautiful fall located at the beginning of the bends. There was a beautiful road with many narrow bends and it is starting from this place. There is a name board at the road and it is about 500m walk to the fall. There is a special notice marked on a mid of rock and it clearly warning about flash floowds.

GPS Location – 7.099920, 80.386722

Near to the fall

This is the warning

Nalagana Fall

nature

Another view

Getting closer of it

Base pool of the fall

The stream

Nalaganun vs Nalagana fall

Erandi was there

Slow shutter

Surrounding

Another capture

Team without me

Rukmal Falls (රුක්මල් ඇල්ල)

This fall located at the end of the bends and the left hand side of the main road. This was situated at a small bend and there is a little area to rest and park our vehicles too. This is a short and sweet waterfall and I was lucky to see this much of water level.

GPS Location – 7.101314, 80.397073

Name Board

Side view

Rukmal Ella

Slow shutter

Capture0

Something

Another Angle

Nirosh and Erandi

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Kiribathgala is a long awaited hike in our life as we have seen this giant mountain many number of times at the time of passing Pelmadulla.  We went to pathakada side and the village called Bogoda-Aramba. We started our hike along the Lihiniyak Kelina dola and walked from the left side forest.

It was a nice journey as we walked along a stream but it was dried at that time hence it was very easy for us to climb upward. There were no much leeches and we had enough sources to dink some water. We hiked about 3-4 hours through the forest and reached to the top of mountain which looks like a flat area. Then we walked further along that flat area and was able to reach a higher point.

We came up to a highest point of the mountain in another side. GPS – 6.613230,80.516199. but we couldn’t able to go to the right hand side mountain which looks like having a view point. Because there was a big precipice between these mountains from our side. But we were lucky enough to sit on this side and our view was directed to lower part of Pettigala mountain range and towards Rassagala and Samanala forest reserve.

The top of the mountain was covered by many bushes and trees hence it was very difficult to find even a small space to see the surrounding environment. After we spent few hours we got down through the same route quickly just before the sun set.

Kiribathgala mountain range and the summit marked in terrain map

Kiribathgala marked on Metric Map

How it seen to Ratnapura- Badulla road

Trail started

Nice path, public water pipes

Dried Lihiniyan dola stream

Hard Climbing

More tough

Forest patch

The dried Lihiniyan kelina fall

Time for a rest

More to go

Flowers

Dried Fall

More captures

Another view

Nature

Flowers

Waterfall

Through the fall

Beginning

Adam’s Peak seen

Waterfall No.3, but dried

Waterfall No. 4

Butterfly

Herbal Plant

Mushrooms

Forest

Some items

Flat Forest area

Capture

More to go

Complex Forest

More to go

Another plant

Another Mushroom

Survey Mark ?

Small pond

Refilling from the stream

Another one

Valuable thing at that thing

More to go

Plants

Adjusted

More hiking

Stream

Bunch of Mushrooms

Beautiful Forest

Little more to achieve

Magnificent view

Frog	Drinking Water

Flowers

Another plant

We came to the top of Kiribathgala

On top of the Kiribathgala mountain. Left mountain is Kuttapitiya Kanda (932m), center one is Kabaragala Kanda (1185m) and the right side goes to Hunuwal Kanda (1523m). Kirindi Fall is falling from near the Kuttapitiya Kanda.

Villages

Sun setting

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

We had a trip around Walapane and Nuwaraeliya area and suddenly Madusanka said that there is a place called Golumale and it was situated near Walapane area. Then we thought to visit this place and we thought this will be a just a place for a bath. At that time it was nearly around 2pm and we are also at the same area. Hence we headed to Golumle asking the directions from the locals. Villagers are very friendly and they clearly told us the path to Golumale. We had another plan to visit Harasbedda Mini World’s End on the way back to Nuwaraeliya.

Golumale is a beautiful place for bathing and there are many bathing points and some special water flowing system too. We came to the temple and then walked towards the stream. This was situated near VRR forest reserve and we have seen some evidences of wild elephants too. Beware of the electric fence and bathing at unknown places.

GPS Location – 7.091201, 80.941135

The village

The stream

Here is more

Surrounding via VRR

Its so beautiful

Relaxation

Bathing Place

There were few villagers

Bit crowded

Nice rocks round there

Dangerous places

The stream

Bit deep

Clear and calm

Another pit but be careful

Wholes

Leisure time

Enjoying

Jumped

The stream

Environment

Village

After we spent time at Golumale and after the cool bath, we left to Nuwaraeliya. As Madusanka collected information about the attractions in and out Nuwaraeliya we had another plan to visit Harasbedda Mini World’s End too. We got the directions from locals about the shortcuts and we reached to the destination quickly.

It was located near the road and covered by a iron fence, hence it is much easy to discover this beautiful place.

හරස්බැද්ද පුංචි ලෝකාන්තය අපට හමුවන්නේ නුවරඑළිය සිට වලපනේ මාර්ගයේ හරස්බැද්ද කඩමණ්ඩියෙන් නිල්දණ්ඩාහින්න නගරයට යෑමට ඇති කෙටි මාර්ගයේ ගමන් කීරීමේදීය. නිලදණ්ඩහින්න යටිමාදුර උඩමාදුර උඩපුස්සැල්ලාව මෙම ස්ථානයට පැහැදිලිව දැකගත හැකි අතර ඉතා ඈතින් පිටමාරුව පුංචි ලෝකාන්තය පිහිටි ප්‍රදේශයත් ලුනුගල මඩොල්සිම නාරංගල සහ නමුනුකල කදුවැටිය පැහැදිලිව දැකබලා ගත හැකිය.

GPS Location – 7.062674, 80.886162

Here is the main view

The Mini World’s End

Villages at the base

Paddies

Hopefully this is a brilliant bathing point

Alone home

Surrounding

Amazing nature

Mountains far away

The area

More beauty

Environment

Paddy fields

Mighty Narangala

Uda Pussellawa area

Yatimadura

Pitamaruwa and Madolsima area

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Pahanthudawa and Pulun fall is one of our prime destinations where we visited a long time ago. But most of time when we go there, they are out of water. But this time we had a quick visit to both of them on the way to Haputale for another journey. We thought that there will be much water since there was a rain few days ago.

The fall is located at Sigapulikande Mountain in the Ratnapura District, Pelmadulla Electorate, Denawaka area. Take the Ratnapura – Pelmadulla road and turn onto the Devalegama road at Pathakada junction. The fall is 0.5km from here. This was little close to Lihiniyan Kelina fall which was we discove during our Kiribathgala Hike.

Here is she full of water

Side view of it

This is not the full level of water

Slow shutter

Zoomed view

The stream

Base Pool

Aerial view

Small cascades

Rocky plains

Bathing place

Time to leave

Final view of it

We spent few minutes at Pulun Fall and left to see the next sub destination of the main journey. We reached to Belihuloya rest house and turned left to Ihala Galagama Landuyaya road which is the road to climb Hawagala Mountain. We visit this fall for the last time on our journey to Hawagala Mountain.

It was very easy to find Pahanthudawa fall as it is the main attraction of this road. So far many hotels and guest houses in this area was based on this fall. This is a very small waterfall and beautiful and too dangerous. Many of people were died over there due to flash floods and falling to the deep pool. Reaching to the closer of the fall is much difficult since we need to walk along the rocks and it might be slippery. Hence please avoid of visiting this fall during rainy season and soon after the raining.

On the way

Tthe stream

Small cascades0

Some more

More to go

Foot path

Should go there

Here is it, Pahanthudawa Fall

Zoomed view

Scenic view

The stream

See the base pool, its so dangerous

She was full of some water

Another angle

This is safe to bath but be careful of flash flood

Cool Water

The way back

Going back to the parking

Small cascades

Environment

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

When I wanted to do a small hike on a half day of a Holiday Nirosh suggest me a hike around in his area. It was a small mountain situated in Remuna near Anguruwathota. I left from Moratuwa and met Nirosh at Bandaragama and we proceed along the Panadura – Anguruwathota road and quickly reached to Remuna village. It is called Kumariyan Penna Gala (කුමරියන් පැන්න ගල) and there was a story behind that name.

However when I checked it in Metric Maps, it marked as “Ramuna Kanda” (රෙමුණ කන්ද) and height about 149.05m. We came to the trail head where the name board established and then after passing the Anda Dola (ආඳා දොළ) we have to go along the rocky staircase and it was not difficult as the footpath is fully clear. It took few minutes and we came to the top of the mountain. As long as in my memory this is the shortest mountain that I have climbed and the view also good. Even then height is very small we had a good view of the entire area.

රයිගම්පුර ජනප්රේවාද -රුපු ඔද තෙද බිදි පෙරමුණ, රෙමුණ කුමරුන් පැන්න ගල

ගම්පල රජ කල තුන්වන වික්ර‍මබාහු රජුගේ නැගනිය ජයසිරි දේවියයි. ඇගේ එකගෙයි සැමියන් වූයේ ප්ර්භූරාජ මහා අලකේෂ්වර, දෙව්හිමි ඈපා (වීරබාහු) හා අර්ථනායක යන සොයුරන්ය. ඇගේ පුතු වූ පස්වන බුවනෙකබාහු සිය සම පීතෘ වරුන්සේ මේ තිදෙනාවම සැලකීය.
ක්රිෙ.ව 1372 දී පස්වන භුවනෙකබාහු නමින් මේ කුමරා ගම්පළ රජවේ. එතුමා ක්රිේ.ව 1392 දක්වා ගම්පළ රජකර ඇත.

සගම සෙල්ලිපිය හා ලංකාතිකයේ ලිපිය මේ රජුගේ පාලන සමයට අයත්ය. මයුර සංදේශය මෙම රජතුමන්ට සුභ පතා රචනා කර ඇත. මයුරයේ 21, 67,69 කවින්හී මෙතුමා ගන කියවේ. එමෙන්ම අස්ගිරි තල්පතතේ යුව රජ පදවිය දැරුවේ දේව මංත්රීේ යුවරජ වීරබාහු ලෙස සඳහන් කර ඇත. මෙම යුව රජ හෙවත් ඈපා වනාහී රජුගේ සම පිතෘ වරයින්ගෙන් අයෙකු වන දෙව්හිමි ඈපාය.

ජයසිරි බිසවගේ මරණයෙන් මතු මෙම දෙව්හිමි වීරබාහු නැවත විවාහ වූ අතර ඔහුව විජය හා තුන්යස නමින් දරුවන් දෙදෙනෙකු විය. ප්ර භූරාජ මහා අලකේෂ්වරයන්ද නැවත විවාහවූ අතර ඔහුට කුමාර අලකේෂ්වර නම් පුත්ර්යෙක්ද එක් දියැණියකද විය. මෙම දියණිය විවාහ වූයේ සොළී සම්භවයක් සහිත ශෛව බක්තිකයෙක් සමගය. හෙතෙම වීර අලකේෂ්වර නමින් හැඳින්විය. හෙතෙම රයිගම හමුදාවේ සේනාධිපතීත්වය දැරීය.

ප්ර්භූරාජ මහා අලකේෂවරයන්ගේ මරණයෙන් පසු ක්රිව.ව 1386දී, 13වන අලකේෂ්වර ලෙසින් රයිගම හා කෝට්ටේ යන බල ප්රෙජද්ශවල බලයට පත්වූයේ ඔහු පුත් කුමාර අලකේෂ්වරයානන්ය.

සද්ධර්මරතනාකරයේ මේ රජු පිළිබඳව දැක්වේ.
කෙසේ නමුත් රජ පැමිණ වසරක් ගත වීමටත් මත්තෙන් වීර අලකේෂ්වර පස්දුන් කෝරළයේ සිට කැරැල්ලක් මෙහෙය වයි. මෙම කැරැල්ල මැඩලීමට කුමාර අලකේෂ්වර ගඟෙන් එතෙර සේනා මෙහෙයවයි. ජනශ්රැාති අනුව වරකාගොඩ රජමහා විහාරය පවතින ස්ථානය ආසන්නයේ මේ දෙපිරිස අතර යුද්ධය ඇරබේ. මේ යුද්ධයෙන් ජය හිමිවූයේ කුමාර අලකේෂ්වරට වූ අතර වීර අලකේෂ්වර බෙන්තර ගඟ දෙසට පසුබසියි.

කුමාර අලකේෂ්වර රජු යුද්ධයට පැමිනෙන විට සිය අගබිසව ඇතුළු රාජකීය කාන්තාවන් නවතා ආවේ රයිගම ප්රාධානතම බලකොටුව වූ රෙමුණ බලකොටුවේය. මෙහිදී ගිවිස ගත්තේ පණ්විඩ කරු රතු ධජයක් රැගෙන එන්නේ නම් කුමරු යුද්ධය ජය ලැබූ බවත්, කලු ධජයක් රැගෙන එන්නේ නම් කුමරු යුද්ධයෙන් පරාජය වී ඇති බවත්ය. සිය බිසවට පුංචි විහිලුවක් කරන්නට සිතූ කුමාර අලකේෂ්වයානන් මද දුරක් කලු ධජය ඔසවාගෙන විත් පසුව නැවත රතු ධජය ඔසවා ගෙන එන්නට උපදෙස් දුන් බව කියැවේ. තවත් මතයකට අනුව පණිවිඩ කරු ජය පැන් බී රැගෙන විත් තිබුනේ කලු දජයක් බවය. තවත් මතයක් අනුව පණිවිඩකරුව අතරමගදී මරා දමා වෙනත් විර අලකේෂ්වරගේ සගයෙක් කලු ධජය රැගෙන විත් ඇත.

මේ කොයිහැටි වේවා කලු දජය ඔයවාගෙන එන පයින්ඩ කරු දුටු බිසවුන් වහන්සේ ඇතුළු රාජකීය කාන්තාවෝ සොලී සම්භවයක් ඇති වීර අලකේෂ්වරයානන්ට හසුවීමට වඩා මරණය යහපති යැයි සිතා රෙමුණ බලකොටුවේ මහා පර්වත මස්ථකයෙන් පැන සිය දිවි නසා ගත්තේලු.කුමාර අලකේෂ්වර බලකොටුවට පැමිණෙන විට සිදුවූ විනාසය දැකකම්පිතව තමන්ද එම මහා පර්වත මස්තකයෙන් පැන සියදිවි හානි කර ගත්තේලු. එදවස පටන් කුමාර අලකේෂ්වර හෙවත් කුමරුන් පැන්න ගල ඒ නමින් හදුන්වති.

රෙමුණ කුමරුන් පැන්න ගල පර්වතය පවතිනුයේ රයිගම් කෝරළයේ මුංවත්ත බාගේ පත්තුවේය. වත්මන් පාලන බෙදීම් අනුව මදුරාවල ප්රා ෙද්ශීය ලේකම් බල පෙදෙසට අයත්ය. හොරණ කලුතර මාර්ගයේ යාල හංදියට මෙහායින් රෙමුණ කුමරුන් පැන්න පර්වත රාජයා විරාජමානව ඇත.

රෙමුණ යන්නෙහි අරුත පෙරමුණ යන්නෙන් බිදී ආවක් බව කියවේ. රෙමුණ ශේෂ කෙන්ද ඇසුරේ රයිගම් කෝරළයේ දුර්ගමය බලකොටු තැනීය. මෙහි පිහිටීම අනුව සතුරු ආක්රණමණයකදී හොඳින් හාස්පස පෙනේ. ජල දුර්ග මඩ දුර්ග ඇති කිරීමට පහසුය. රෙමුණ බලකොටුවට සහය පිණිස රයිගම සේනාවේ ඇත් පංති නැවතූ ගාලක් පැවති බව කියවේ. අදටත් ඒ පෙදෙස හදුන්වන්නේ ඒ නමිනි. රෙමුණ වැවෙන් නැගෙන දිවර ගෙන අස්වැද්දූ කුඹුරු යායෙන් මෙමබලකොටුවට සේවා සැපයූවන් නඩත්තු කරන්නට ඇත.

එමෙන්ම රෙමුණ බලකොටුව වනාහී රයිගම් රාජධාණි යුගයටත් එහා යන්නාවූ ශේෂ කන්දක් මුල්කර ගත් සුප්රමසිද්ධ දුරගමය බලකොටුවකි. මහා විජයබාහු රජ වත්මන් පැල්මඩුල්ල අසල චුන්ණසාලයේ සිට සේනා මෙහෙයවමින් බලංගොඩ, රත්නපුරය ජය ගනිමින් කලු ගග පහළට පැමිනෙන්නට විය. ඔවුට බාදාවක් ලෙසින් පැවතියේ ලෝකේෂ්වර නම් රුහුණේ අධිපතියාගේ සේනා සිටි හිරණ්යමමළයේ රෙමුණ බලකොටුවය. මහා විජයබාහු රජ රෙමුණ බලකොටව ජය ලබා මළය රටට හා මායා රටට අධිපතිවූ බව කියවේ. මෙම හිරණ්යජ මළයේ රෙමුණ බලකොටුව පිළිබඳව මහා වංශයේ 55-62 ගාථාවෙන් විස්තර වේ.

පසුකාලයේදී විජයබාහු රජ පරසතුරන්ට විරුද්ධව සේනා යැවූ එක් මර්ගයක් සංධිස්ථානයක හිරණ්යවමළයේ රෙමුණ බලකොටුව පිහිටීයත එවකට රුහුණේ සිට රජරට දක්වාවූ මහා මාර්ගයක් මේ රෙමුණ බලකොටුවට ඔබ්බෙන් විය. මහා පරාකුමබාහු රජුගේ යුධ විස්තරයේද රෙමුණු හා හිරණ්යෙමළය සම්බන්ධ බව ඇතැමුන්ගේ මතයයි.

කෙසේ නමුත් කුමරුන් රෙමුණ බලකොටු පර්වතයෙන් පැන සිය පණ හානි කරගත් පසු වීර අලකේෂ්වර පැමිණ පහසුවෙන්ම 14වන අලකේෂ්වර ලෙසින් රයිගම රජවිය. වර්තමානයේද මෙම පර්වතය මස්තකයේ දිය පහසුව සඳහා යොදාගත් ශෛලමය පොකුණ පවතී. පර්වතය පාමුල වෙල්යායේ ඇතැම්විට පර්වතය වටාවූ දිය අගල පවතින්නට ඇතැයි සැලකේ.

GPS Location – 6.671399, 80.064092

Mountain is marked on Metric Map

Google Terrain View of it

Satellite view with the Anda Dola

Mountain Range

Destination

Name Board

The Mountain Range

Path to follow

Forest patch

Nice area for a Staircase

Footpath

Reaching to the top

Nature creations

Nature

Here is the open sky

Some ruins

Surrounding view

Small obstacles

Bit dried

Rocky Plain with Sel-lipi

Paddy fields

Nearby School

More views

Remuna area

More targets far away

Top of the Mountain

Rocky Plain

Surrounding

Height is small but view is larger

Towards the rest of the district

Bo leave

Nirosh took the lead of the hike

More views

Something started to do

Might be started and stopped

Walking around the mountain

Good for camping also

Remains of rain water

Footpath

Anda Dola

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

This journey is one of my most awaited journey to the Eastern province. We initially planned this since we had three days of a holiday. We left from Colombo in the mid night of the previous day and was able to reach Panama arond 8am. We took a continuous ride with only few stopping.

However this is what we saw on our first day. These places are historically important places hence we walked as much as to see the surrounding. I have seen many no of sun setting over the ocean but this is the first time that I have seen sun rising at the beach. We went to some other places and spent the night at Friend home.

These places are currently under the Archaeology dept and they are protecting this histort as there are many important evidences of out past. All the people in this area is highly respecting to all of these places and there are many people are visiting too.

Okanda Devalaya – ඔකඳ දේවාලය

Okanda is a small hamlet on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka at the official entrance to the Kumana National Park. Just before the ticketing office of Kumana a small lane toward the sea will take you the Okanda Devalaya on a rocky outcrop on the beach.

For the devotees traveling on the annual Kataragama Pada Yathra, Okanda is the last gathering point before entering the unforgiving jungle of Kumana and then Yala  where they would continue their weeks long walk towards the Katragagama Devalaya. The devotees would worship the Murugan ( form of  Kataragama Deity for Hindus) Kovil at Okanda and obtain blessings of the Murugan for a safe journey through the jungles.

At the top of the rock is a small devalaya dedicated to Valli Amma, the concubine  of Murugan ( Skanda). At the bottom of the rock lies a large devalaya dedicated to Murugan (deity Kataragama). A flight of rock cut steps from this devalaya leads to the top of the rock.

The caves at Kottadamuhela, near by, were a gift to the Sangha of the four quarters of the world, past, present and yet to come by the descendants of an independent dynasty of Kshatriya who reigned over southeast Ceylon with its seat in Kataragama. The emblem of the fish, found in the caves in this region, is the insignia of these rulers.

This entire region, as attested to by ancient cave inscriptions (out of which 20 has been identified at Kottadamuhela), has been used for similar purposes to those of this initiative since before the time of Christ.

According to the Historian Ven. Medhadana Thero, he has observed ruins of the stupa at the top of the rock during a visit in 1978 but today only some traces of it is found. Ancient bricks are scattered at the bottom of the rock.

Also according to the thero, this devalaya was owned by Buddhists till 1970 when the tamils overrode the Sinhalese in the area. With the emergence of LTTE terrorists since 80s this area was systematically cleansed of Sinhalese. Who ever who were not hacked to death left area other than few farmer families in Panama, the only existing ancient Sinhalese village today, who survived with the help of the forces.

The Name “Okanda Devalaya” which appeared on a board till 2002-04-27 has been replaced with “Murugan Kovil” since then according the Thero. But even today this Okanda Devalaya (Murugan Kovil) is a place of worship for almost all those who come to visit Kumana irrespective of the race and religion.

In 2009, the LTTE Terrorists were defeated after a bitter war which raged for 30 years. The Okanda Devalaya and all the surrounding area is freely accessible since then.

Primary Sources
* The Sinhala Buddhist Heritage in the East and the North of Shri Lanka by Ven. Ellawala Medhananda Thero
* livingheritage.org

On the way to Panama

Some places to rest

Beach at the dawn

Sun rising

The waves

Nature

Morning view

Rising sands

Nice Environment

Our medium of Transportation

New constructions

Located in a beautiful place

Okanda Dewalaya

Kudumbigala Monastery – කුඩුම්බිගල වන සෙණසුන

Kudumbigala Monastery lies eleven miles from Panama and seventeen miles away from the Kumana Village.

Kudumbigala monastic complex was built in 246 BC, during the time of King Devanampiyatissa. It was first established as a refuge for the Buddhist monks who wanted to get away from the busy Cities. Archaeologists had recovered over 200 rock caves belonging to this forgotten monastery.

The inscriptions in Brahmi script and other evidence in the recently discovered cave, Maha Sudharshana Lena, shows that Kudumbigala was established as an Aranya Senansanaya in the pre-Christian era. A stone inscription has it that the Maha Sudharshana Lena was built and gifted to the Arahats by the Giant Warrior Nandimitra, one of King Dutugemunu’s “Dasa Maha Yodayas”, the ten giant warriors.

In 1994, terrorists belonging to the LTTE hacked to death 17 innocent civilians in Panama. Kudumbigala had to be abandoned immediately as the Government failed to protect the place. Ethnic cleansing, under the cover of the most effective propaganda machine in the world today, has swallowed one third of the Sri Lankan land and 74% of the Sinhalese Buddhists do not even seem to know that. 5% of the Christian Sinhalese do not even seem to care.

Tar thrown by the LTTE on the Kudumbigala Buddha Statue as the last warning to the priests to vacate the temple

Today, there is no human habitation around this historic Aranya. Kudumbigala stands, towering in silent splendour, a solitary landmark and witness to the untold stories that get written into landscapes, buried, unearthed and erased yet once again. That is the sad tale of the Sinhalese civilization, which unfortunately do not deserve that fate.

The importance of the Kudumbigala monastery cannot be expressed in words. The Only Cylindrical Dagaba to survive in Sri Lanka today, is in this monastery.

LTTE terrorists have thrown tar on the head of the Buddha statue. That was the last warning given to the monks vacate the place.

Source : www.nexcorpsl.com/sinhala/N_Kudumbigala.htm

Name board of the Kudumbigala Monastery

The Main Viharaya

Its a rocky area

Natural caves

Len Viharaya

Archaeology Notice

Nice staircase

Tin-Tin

History

Remains of the past

Under protection

Natural footpath developed

Tiny world

Another major ruins of the past

Surrounding Rock

More ancient things at the top

The temple

Adjusted to the ocean and the wind

Magul Maha Viharaya – මගුල් මහා විහාරය

The history of Magul Maha Vihara possibly dates back to the period of King Kavantissa who ruled the Kingdom of Ruhuna in ancient Sri Lanka. There are evidence that suggests that the king has built this temple in the 2nd Century BC on the exact location where he married the princesses Viharamahadevi, the daughter of king Kelani Tissa. Other sources claim that King Dhatusena (463-479 AD) built this temple while many other monarchs renovated it through the centuries later. There is a stone inscription at the site of this temple that dates back to the 14th century which supports the latter view.

According to legend Viharamaha Devi, the daughter of King Kelanitissa volunteered to sacrifice herself to the sea to appease the gods who were enraged at the King for punishing an innocent monk. The princess was safely carried over the ocean waves, reaching ashore at a place near the Muhudu Maha Viharaya in Pottuvil, where the encounter between king Kavantissa and the princess took place which later led to their marriage. The legend also tells that the marriage ceremony was conducted at the premises of Magul Maha Viharaya in Lahugala, where the King had later built the temple to celebrate the auspicious event. The foundations of the Magul Maduwa where the wedding ceremony took place can still be seen at the temple premises. Magul is a word in native Sinhala language which gives the meaning wedding or auspicious.

Magul Maha Vihara had been renovated by several monarchs after its establishment. A 14th century stone inscription, located within the temple premises, reveals about a queen who also had the name Viharamaha Devi, wife of King Buvenekabahu IV of Gampola and Parakramabahu V of Gampola, who renovated and donated many acres of land to this temple. Magul Maha Viharaya is inscribed in this stone inscription as Ruhunu Maha Viharaya. Some other sources reveals that king Dappula I, constructed this temple after listening to the preachings of Buddhist monks. It is speculated that around 12,000 monks inhabited the complex at some stage in history, which is evident to the largeness of the ancient temple.

Magul Maha Vihara Ruins

Middle of it

Name Board

Another ancient stupa

Ruins of the history

Protected under Archaeology dept

Surrounding

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

එකම තැන එකම කන්දෙන් වැටෙන දිය ඇලි හතක්

ගැරඬිගල ඉසව්ව අවට ඇති සමස්ත දිය ඇලි ගණන 10 ක්, ඇලි සියල්ලෙම උස එකට ගත් විට බඹරකන්දට වඩා උසයි. ඇලි දාමයේ ජල මූලාශ්‍රය ඇත්තේත් එම කන්දෙමයි. ශ්‍රී ලංකාව පුංචි රටක් වුවද එහි ඔබ අප පවා නොදුටු නොදන්නා සුන්දර ඉසව් බොහොමයක් සැඟව පවතියි. නිතර දෙවේලේ එවැනි සුන්දර ඉසව් සොයා යන අපට හමු වූ අපූරුතම කන්දක් සහ ඇලි කිහිපයක් තිබෙන එක් ස්ථානයක් හමුවුණේ නකල්ස් වනපෙතේ දකුණු කෙළවරදීය. එය කන්දක් වුවද දිය ඇලි දාමයක් ඉන් ඉහළ සිට පහළට කඩා වට්ටවන අපූරු තෝතැන්නක් විය. නමින් ගැරඬිගල වන ඉන් වැටෙන දිය ඇලි ගණන හතකි. ඒවා ගැරඬි ඇලි ලෙස හඳුන්වන අතර සමස්තයක් ලෙස මෙම ඇලි යම් ලාලිත්‍යයකට, රටාවකට අනුව ඉහළ සිට වමට බරව කඩා වැටෙනු ලබයි.  

දුමෙන් බර මිටියාවතක් ලෙස හඳුන්වන නකල්ස් සංරක්ෂිත වනාන්තර යනු කඳු හතළිහයකින් පමණ පිරුණු දිය ඇලි සියයකට වඩා පවතින සොබා දම් නිර්මාණ සියල්ලෙන් සර්වසම්පූර්ණ ඉසව්වකි. නකල්ස් වනපෙතේ වසර ගණනක් සංචාරය කළ අප ගැරඬිගල මුල්වරට දුටුවේ යහන්ගල සහ වෙලන්ගොල්ල පතනේ ක්‍රියාදාමයට යන විටදීය. ගැරඬි ඇලි ලෙස හඳුන්වන ඇලි කිහිපයක්ම ලංකාවේ පවතින අතර ඒවා නම් රත්නපුර, බලංගොඩ ආශ්‍රිතව ඇති ගැරඬිරිකිලි ඇල්ල, රම්බොඩ ප්‍රදේශයේ ඇති ගැරඬිගිනි ඇල්ල ආදියයි. ඊට එකතු වන මෙම ගැරඬිගල දිය ඇලි දාමය යනු එක පොකුරට අලංකාර දිය ඇලි හතකි.

කොළඹ සිට මහනුවරට පැමිණ මහියංගණය පාරේ හුන්නස්ගිරිය නගරය පසු කර උඩුදුම්බරට පැමිණ එම මංසන්ධියෙන් වමට දිවෙන කළුගල මාර්ගයට හැරවියයුතුය. පසුව කිලෝ මීටර් 8 ක් ගමන් කරන විට ඔබට ගැරඬිගල දැක ගැනීමට ලැබෙයි. එහිදී අතුරු මාර්ගයක් හරහා ගැරඬිගල ගමට අවතීර්ණ විය යුතු අතර එම මාර්ගය එක් ස්ථානයක දී අඩි පාරක් බවට පත්වේ. මෙතැන් සිට අප යා යුත්තේ වනගත කුඩා අඩි පාරක් ඔස්සේය. අප සමග මඟ පෙන්වන්නට පැමිණි මාමා කියූ පරිදි ගැරඬිගල තරණය කළ යුතු හොඳම ක්‍රමය නම් පළමු ඇල්ලේ සිට ඉහළට නැගීමය. එහිදී ඇලි වටෙන් යමින් එකිනෙක උඩට ගමන් කළ යුතුය.

The mountains we seen

Hike started

A Peacock (Not the Peacock Hill)

Here is our destination

Walking to the trail head

Beautiful Paddies

Here we came the official trail head of the waterfall chain and near to the heavenly house

Ellagala / Gedaramada Fall

Some giants at the reserve

Most beautiful place

Dr Anura taking a rest

The valley

We introduced the Guide Piyadasa Mama from our initial hike

Here we gonna climb it

දිය ඇලි විවිධ ක්‍රමවලට වර්ග කෙරෙන අතර ඒවා මහල් ඇලි, තට්ටු ඇලි, තනි අැලි සහ කොටස් ඇලි ආදියයි. ඕලු ඇල්ල නම් යටියන්තොට පිහිටි ඇල්ල මහල් කිහිපයකින් ඇද හැලෙයි. දෙනියායේ පිහිටි සත්මාලේ ඇල්ල ද මහල් කිහිපයකින් ඇද හැළේ. නමුත් ගැරඬිගල පිහිටි මෙම ඇලි වෙන් වෙන්ව කොටස් කිහිපයක් ලෙස ඇද හැළෙයි.
ඇලි දාමයක් යනු ඉතා සීමිත දුරක් ද එකම දිය පහරකින් නිර්මාණය කරන ඇලි කිහිපයකටය. ගැරඬි ඇල්ල යනු අතිශය කුඩා දුරක නිර්මාණය කරන වැඩිම සහ එකම ඇලි පිහිටි ස්ථානයයි. මීට ආසන්නව ඇත්තේ කොට ගඟ පිහිටි ඇලි හත වන අතර එහිදී කොට ගඟ තැන්නේ සිට වැටෙන දියවර තරමක දුරක් අතර ඇලි නිර්මාණය කරනු ලබයි. නමුත් මෙම ගැරැඬිගල දිය ඇලි අතර පරතරය මීටර් ගණනක් වැනි කුඩා පරතරයකි. නමුත් මෙය තනි ඇල්ලක් ලෙස හඳුනා ගත නොහැක.

කෙසේ හෝ අප අලංකාර කෙත්වතු පසු කරමින් යන විට මොණරුන් දැක ගැනීමට හැකි වූ අතර මඩේ ලැඟ සිටි මී හරක් රංචුව සේම වතු අද්දර තණකමින් සිටින හරක් නාම්බන් ද දුටු විට අපට සිතුණේ කතා පොත්වල ඇති සම්ප්‍රදායික ගමක් ලෙසිනි. දුම්බර අවට ඇති බොහෝමයක් ගම්මාන මෙලෙසයි. ඒවා තවමත් සාම්ප්‍රදායික වත්පිළිවෙත් සහ ජීවන රටාවක් අනුගමනය කරමින් කල්ගෙවන අතර ගම්මානයේ ගැමි සුවඳ නාගරිකරණය නොවූ ගැමි ලාලිත්‍යය හොඳින් අපට මෙහිදී දැක ගැනීමට ලැබුණි.

I and Malith at there

Another capture

Alone House

We were there

Here it again

Alugal Kanda

Time for a photo

That house seen at the top of the second fall

Another angle

Showing something

Waterfall 1

Another angle

The area we came

Keep walking

ක්‍රම ක්‍රමයෙන් අපි වන ලැහැබ හා අඩි පාර දිගේ ගමන් කර එක්තරා උස් බිමකට පැමිණියෙමු. ගැරඬිගල ගම්මානයට යන මාර්ගය පසෙකින් වූ අතර අප යා යුතු දැවැන්ත ගැරඬිගල අප ඉදිරියේ පෙනෙන්නට විය. ගැරඬිගල පාමුල අලංකාර ගොයමකි. එහි වූ කටු මැටි ගසන ලද කුඩා පැල්පත මුළු ප්‍රදේශයේම සිත්තම් කරන ලද්දක් සේ පෙනෙන්නට සලස්වයි. මෙම ප්‍රදේශය සත්‍ය වශ​ෙයන්ම අතිශය සුන්දර ඉසව්වකි. සීතල මඳ නල සමග කැටිවුණු කෝඩ මීදුම මහ ගල් පර්වත කඳු මිටියාවත් වසා ඒ මේ අත දුවන විට හරිත ගොයම් පියස, වන ළැහැබ සමග වාර්ණ රටා මවයි. ඒ අතර චිරි චිරියේ ගලා යන කුඩා දිය කඩිති සේම අතරින්පතර පෙනෙන අලංකාර ගම්මාන අප සිත් වශී කිරීමට සමත් විය. ගැරඬිගල යනු අතිශය වෙනස්ම ආකාරයකින් යුත් කන්දකි. කොටස් දෙකක් ලෙස මැදින් වමට බරව කුඩා නිම්නයක් ලෙස තිබෙන ඉසව්ව ඔස්සේ දිය පහර ගලාගෙන වැටෙයි. එක එල්ලේ ඒ දෙස බලා සිටින විට ඒ ඇලි වැටෙන ආකාරය නිශ්චය කර ගත හැක.

ඉහළ සිට පහළටම ස්ථාන කිහිපයක දී ඇදවැටෙන මේ අලංකාර ඇලිවල දියවර පසුව මෙම ප්‍රදේශ හරහා ගලා බසිමින් අවසානයේ මහවැලිය පෝෂණය කරනු ලබයි. ගැරඬියගල කන්ද පාමුලට පැමිණි අප කන්ද තරණයට සූදානම් වූයේ පියදාස මාමා පෙරමුණ ගත් පසුවය. මාන කැලය කපමින් අප ​හෙමි හෙමිහිට ඉදිරියට ගියේ පින්න තැවරුණු ගස් වැල් අතරිනි. මඳ දුරක් ගිය විටම අපට මීටර් 10 ක් පමණ උසැති පළමු ඇල්ල දැක ගැනීමට හැකි වූ අතර මෙය දුර සිට ගැරඬිගල බලන කිසිවෙකුටත් නොපෙනෙයි. පසුව අප නැවතත් ගමන ආරම්භ කර ඉදිරියටම ගමන් කළ අතර ගල් කුට්ටි අතරින් සීරුවට මාරු වෙමින් අපි ඉදිරියට ඇදු​ෙනමු. ගමන තරමක් අසීරුය. මන්ද පින්න සහ අතරින්පතර රූටා හැලෙන දිය සීරා නිසා ලිස්සීමේ අවදානම ඇති හෙයිනි.

Helping hands

A difficult point