ඔබ නොදුටු වියලුව (Mysteries of Wiyaluwa reveled)

Another Random weekend and nowhere to go suddenly decided to visit Meegahakivula but in my wish list there were only two places. Early morning I reached Loggal oya to witness a lovely sun rise and from there I proceeded towards 16^th mile post of Meegahakivula road and took the left hand turn towards Arawa.

The map – click to enlarge

simply wow

Sun rise at loggal oya

spill of loggal oya

Purana saman devalaya, karadagahamada

Passing Loggal oya I reached Karandagahamada temple. When I met the head priest he was ever so humble to provide me further information about other interesting places. He handed me a magazine called “Mihituru” and it had many places of interest in it and the edition I saw was all about “Wiyaluwa” (Meegahakivula + Kandeketiya + Ridimaliyadda). This temple in said to be done by King Kavanthissa and also it is believed that lord Budhdha had “dane” at this place while traveling to Muthiyanganaya from Mahiyanganaya. You could get more info on this from this link

livelihood of meegahakivula

loggal oya

Purana saman devalaya, karadagahamada, meegahakivula

Saman devalaya with monoliths

ruins

the bo tree

view from the temple

Polgahaarawa Kaluwala cascade

Next in line was a cascade known as Kaluwala. Long ago on our lakdasun forum Chamara pointed out about this place (click the link). And I wanted to visit it since then. To reach it one needs to reach Arawa and from there take the road towards Kalugahakadura via Polgahaarawa. The cascade is by the side of the road. Please note you need a vehicle with good ground clearance for this.

Polgahaarawa Kaluwala cascade

zoomed a bit

Komarika (කෝමාරිකා) Ela

From Arawa I returned back to the main road (Meegahakivula rd) and proceeded towards 17^th mile post. From there I took Pallewela road and at the beginning of this road you would note a canal, this is called Komarika Ela. This shunts water from Loggal oya to the surrounding paddy fields and its 18km’s long. This was initially done by a prince called Kumarasinghe to cultivate paddy fields belonging to Muthiyangana temple.

18km long Komarika ela

childhood

Rantati Deke Diya bubula (රන්තැටි දෙකේ දිය බුබුල )

Proceeding along the road to Pallewela for 1km will bring you to Wiharalanda. There are few houses with a small paddy field and a water tank at one point. 20m away you would come across this interesting fresh water spring. There is much folklore related to this spring. One of those is a “farmer seen two golden plates knocking together and floating on top of the spring”

Ran theti deke diya bubula

golden water

where the spring water meets the natural stream

Alakolagoba (අලකොලගොබ) purana viharaya

Passing Wiharalanda and proceeding 1.5km’s took me towards Alakolagoba temple. One could easily note the ancient sthupa which now harbors the bo tree on it and monoliths of an ancient “tempiti wehera”. There are two guard stones with female figures at this temple symbolizing that this was done by the queen’s craftsman. The chief monk was so kind and helpful in every sense and the visit to this Temple which was done by king Walagamba was worth the effort.

Ruins at Alakolagoba Purana viharaya

ancient pagoda been engulfed by bo tree

Randoliya diya ne Pokuna (රන්දෝලිය දිය නෑ පොකුණ )  

The head priest of Alakolagoba temple gave me two teenage monks to show me the way to an interesting place where king Walagamba’s queens have washed themselves before entering the temple premises for religious rituals. This natural tank like place is located in Loggal oya which flows close to the temple and one needs a guide to reach this place. There is evidence that once a roof like structure lied across this tank and racks to hang their clothes was there, now only the holes which supported those structures could be seen.

guiding me

loggal oya

Randoliya diya ne pokuna this is where king walagambas anthappuraya had there bath

evidence from the past

Raanagala(රෑනගල) girilen Purana viharaya

From Pallewela I returned back to the main road and reached Meegahakivula town where I took the left turn towards Ketawatta. From Keselwatta I took a 2mile uphill road towards this temple. It is believed to be done by either King Kumarathissa or Walagamba. There are many caves in this mountainous area and some are very large to even hold a complete Sunday school.

steps towards the cave

extremely friendly dog

Renagala purana viharaya

another cave

with a big hall

Jeewan ella / Deevan ella

To reach this one needs to take the Ketawatta road from Meegahakivula for 2 miles and take a left turn towards Pimburaulpotha. After proceeding 500m you will find a stair way to the left. Go along this stair way until you see a clear path to the right to reach the base of the fall.

beautiful jeewan ella

lovely

Wee Atuwa(වී අටුව)

Pass the stair way to Jeewan ella and proceed towards Pimburaulpotha get a guide from the village to show you the place with ruins. “Wee atuwa is” the table like structure where villages offered paddy to the kings palace and there was a caretaker for this place too. Now one could only see the remains of the pillars scattered around.

ruins at the ancient Wee atuwa

ruins of the table like structure

Kovila mulla

Proceeding along Ketawatta road will bring you to Gurumada junction from here ride along Kalugahakadura rd until you reach Komarika gama where above mentioned Komarika canal could be found. From the village get a guide to show you around. This place has remains of an ancient kovil and there are few short pillars, Bo tree, rocky wall to justify its ancient existence. This is believed to be done by a local ruler called Kumarasinghne.

Ruins at kovilmulla at komarikagama

pillars

ancient bo tree

komarika ela shunting water from loggal oya

Where king Kumrasinghe’s palace ones stood (මාලිගාවත්ත)

Passing Komarika gama one needs to proceed towards Kalugahakadura where Wendesiyaya Praja shalawa could be found from here take the left turn towards Ambagahawela. Get a local guy to show you this place. It is believed King Kumarasinghe’s palace was done by wood plus clay and that’s why none of its parts could be found. This local ruler supplied water to his palace from a large fresh water spring which the locals call “Maligawe linda”. This fresh water pond is still been used by locals.

where king kumarasinghes Castle was, place is called maligawatta

the spring is used by locals too

Weebeddegedara(වීබද්දේගෙදර) kadura ella

One needs to proceed toward Kalugahakadura from Meegahakivula and reach the board saying “Kalugahakadura Saranapala Maha vidayalaya” take the road to the school and you will reach this cascade.

weebeddegedara kadura

plunging

Maduwalla kadura ella

Passing Kalugahakadura one needs to proceed along Ellalanda road for 1.5km’s to reach this. Though I came across a cascade the image given in the magazine didn’t tally with it. After enjoying this cascade I decided to end the day and proceed towards Badulla where I planned to spend the night at.

maduwalla kadura

zoomed

towards kalugala

On day two I was accompanied by Nalinda and both of us were determined to conquer a local mountain but the heavy mist made us rethink about it. So plans were changed and we decided to do some cave exploration in Meegahakivula.

Akurukaduwa Lime stone cave and its cascades

Would you believe that if I said there is a huge lime stone cave in Meegahakivula. Yes there is one and it has only a small entrance like a window. To reach this one needs to get to Meegahakivula and take the Ketawatta road for one mile. After you reach Akurukaduwa Gramaseva office take the rd towards Galkada and get in touch with J. M. Jayasundara (only few knows how to reach the cave). There is a paddy field where infinity could be seen and at the edge of it is a drop. Along that drop there is a “Siyambala tree” the cave is on the right hand side of this and few feet below on the slopes. The entrance is so small that you would neglect it that’s why you need a guide. This is the largest limestone cave I have been to and the find was worth every effort. There is a beautiful cascade which starts at the left hand side of the paddy field and we did manage to see it when we lost our way initially.

guiding us towards the mysterious lime stone cave

a small cave

outer view of the small cave

entering the main cave

bit of light

huge cave

dripping water

window view

flashed

plenty of bats

the lime stone cave cascade

close up

Binge landa(බින්ගේ ලන්ද) galge

One needs to go forward 2km’s along above mentioned Galkada rd and climb a mountain to reach this huge cave which lies on top of it. You would need a local guide for this though. It is said that this cave has connections with Denagala RMV, Ran puhulawala, Walapane, Senkadagala and Seegiriya. It is also believed that king Walagamba used this during his rebellion.

guiding us towards bingelanda

where the entrace is

entrance to binge landa

huge cave

can see roots too

Godunna Randunnagoda sri Sumangalaramaya

From Meegahakivula we reached 21^st mile post and headed towards Kandeketiya. From Kandeketiya we went 12km’s towards Gala uda and reached Godunna. The temple is 1km away from the main road. This is believed to be done by king Walagamba. It is said that the king once was searching for his bow at this place and asked his soldiers “Ko dunna”? Later this area got its name called Godunna because of that incident. There are few ruins and the rock pile in the temple is believed to be the place where the king’s bow was once hidden.

Godunna randunnagoda sri sumangalaramaya

where the golden bow was hidden

ruins

a lamp

ancient steps

Mundagamuwa bo tree

While returning back towards Kandeketiya we came across the ancient bo tree close Mudagama. This tree is believed to shelter the tired “Mundaka Bamuna” 2000 years back. Now there is a temple at this location with the bo tree.

Munduka bamunas bo tree

beauty

Kiri wehera (Unanagamuwa RMV) – Kandeketiya

Passing Wewetenna junction and proceeding towards Kandeketiya will bring one towards Kiri wehera where an ancient temple could be found. This temple has been modified by many kings and this is one of the sacred grounds in the region. There are pillars and many ruins in the premises. The small ancient sthupa and the new bell shaped sthupa with a lovely backdrop make this place worth a visit.

Unangamuwa kiriwehera RMV

old pagoda

ruins

old drainage line

tamed deer

Ran puhulawala(රන් පුහුලාවල)

From Godunna while proceeding towards Kandeketiya we took the Tennepanguwa road and reached a junction called Wewatenna. And from here we took the road towards the Ran puhulawala power house. Passing the power house and taking the uphill road will take one over the spill. Few meters away from it is a foot path to the left which ends in Badulu oya. At this location Ran puhulawala and its cascade could be seen. This seems to be a nice location to camp during the dry period. It is believed that a Goddess with a golden Gourd (puhul) fruit can be viewed at this place.

spill of badulu oya hydro project

flowers

badulu oya

Ran puhulawala cascade

Ran puhulawala hole

paddy

Kandeketiya Maluwegoda RMV

From Kiri wehera and 1Km towards Kandeketiya there is a road to Thennepanguwa. We took this road for 14km’s and came to a sharp left bend (better to ask from locals) where a road branched to the right. This took us towards this ancient temple. The temple seems to be influenced by Anuradhapura and Kandy eras. The old sthupa is now covered by the new one and ancient monoliths could be seen scattered around. The old “chatra” stone of the sthupa is also seen at the premises. There has been a “sandal wood” statue here once but now one could notice only its base stone. The image house with the modern day Budhdha statue is one of my favorite attractions at this temple.

Kandeketiya maluwegoda RMV

re built

image house

what a wonderful image house

souvenirs from dhambadiva

huge clay pot

what remains of the saddle wood statue

a lamp

the chief monk showing us around

Buduge kanda RMV

The road towards Thennepanguwa was a very scenic one and the hair pin bends one had to tackle was more than the famous 18 bends at Hasalaka. Passing Thennepanguwa we came across an acute right bend and from there to the left was the road which will take one to Buduge kanda (better to ask directions from locals since everyone knows the place). After a 4km ride along this road we reached the ancient temple. At this temple there is a large caved image house and this is the main attraction at the temple. The paintings belong to Kandyan era and out of them the paintings about hell has an important position since this is the second place in SL where you could see those (can’t recall the other). There is a large Buddha statue in this cave which has suffered few attacks from relic hunters.

scenery from Tennepanguwa rd

more scenery

Budugekanda rmv

another view

parts of the makara thorana

makara thorana

apaya seen at budugekanda only other place one could find such paintings is at thantirimale

perahera

more frescoes

the statue

explaining

Kolongahamadiththa(කොලොන්ගහමදිත්ත ) ambalama

After visiting the temple we headed towards Badulla via Soranathota and on the way we came across Kolongahamadiththa ambalama too. We reached Badulla at around 5pm where I said adios to Nalinda and went towards Monaragala to end my unplanned but successful trip to Wiyaluwa.

Kolongahamaditta ambalama soranatota

Soranathota cascade