An Unparalleled Travel Experience – Pitawala…

“Sri, any plans for the weekend?” – Sheham sounds very keen to get out of the concrete jungle.

“Nothing planned, what’s cooking?” – I’m feeling the same.

“So, can you plan something and lemme know?” – Planning is one of my strong points besides writing trip reports.

That is how we laid down the foundation for the newest adventure. This conversation took place while Tony and I were Crisscrossing through Siyane Korale on the New Year’s Eve. We were in the heart of Gampaha with a very good friend of us who generously offered us both lunch. It was a cracker of an end to a rollercoaster year as we witnessed the sun setting for the last time in 2013 from the highest point of Gampaha district, Maligathenna. After our Maduru Oya journey, I always wanted to back to see the Akasa Chaithya and ruins of Polonnaruwa and this sudden opportunity to get away seemed the ideal time to do just that.

Having managed to convince my manager for a day off on the 3rd working day of the New Year, everything was ready for the trip. Tony was in two minds as he had more than he could eat on his plate but Sheham and I were pretty much adamant about doing it. On the second we got the bad news that the long overdue North East monsoon had finally arrived raining heavily making gravel paths into mud cakes. We needed a plan B but didn’t have one due to tight time constraints. Thanks to Hari, whose main wish to conquer the mighty Doowili Falls deep inside the Knuckles, I had had this notion of recceing the Reverston and Pitawala Pathana. Eureka!!! The plan B looked beyond visual range but the entire time nestling close to me within. I called Wasantha, the well-known Pitawala host-cum-guide, and arranged to stay at his place on the 4th night. Hurriedly went through Hari’s trip report that made a very good mixture to this new adventure, and planned roughly to visit a few places in and around Pitawala.

On the 3rd, still Sheham and I confirmed, I happened to mention about this to Lasantha, my long standing friend, who’s been with on a few journeys, especially the in Marathon Walk around Meemure. He very willingly agreed to join and it somewhat pleased the odds. Unlike our other trips, we couldn’t start as early as we would have liked and it was a record breaking 8.00am in the morning when all three of us gathered at Embuldeniya junction.

Tour Highlights:

1. Nalanda Gedige
2. Alu Viharaya, Matale
3. Kawatamuna Viharaya
4. Wedda Peni Ella, Atanwala
5. Maningala, Atanwala
6. Rathkinda Ella, Rathkinda
7. Pitawala Tank
8. Sera Ella, Puwakpitiya

Having made good time we reached Mawanella in about 2hrs and stopped for a breather. Picking up some refreshments, we bypassed the Kandy town and reached Matale via Katugastota. There’s plenty of road construction work going on widening the roadside and paving the pavements so the going turned into a crawl.

Nalanda Gedige

Heading towards Nalanda, widely believed and known center of Sri Lanka, we passed the Alu Vihare. Nalanda Gedige is about 20km along A-9 towards Dambulla. We missed a right turn and travelled for about a km or so when we noticed this gigantic rock soaring into the clouds. This is called Arangala and Ashan had climbed her before. The report is here. Retracing our steps, we finally arrived at the car park. You have to take the turn at the 49th km post. “Taking pics is only under the permission of the Director General of Archeology” was the first thing I saw and it made me grimace. Dear god, do we have to get the permission from Colombo? We wondered. There was nobody around and having parked our car, we headed towards the main complex. The path is shady and bordered with rocky pillars with artwork. The Gedige looks very similar to a Hindu Temple and has many Pallawa arts carved on rocky walls and pillars.

The man having sex with another man who’s having sex with a lioness is apparently world famous and according to the archeological office on site many tourists come from far away countries to photograph it. That officer was very knowledgeable and helped with our questions and let us takes pics very kindly.

The was a foundation stone that said the whole of the building was removed and restored after the ground was raised to protect it from rising flooding. The complex is surrounded by Bowathenna and Nalanda reservoirs and tends to get flooded at the slightest chance. So our archeologists have taken the whole rocky building apart and raised the ground and restored it in the same place. You gotta see it to realize what an arduous task it must have been. Other than the plaque, there’s not the slightest clue it was removed completely and put back together.

There also is a very old Bo Tree and a Suthigara (Dedigama Kota Vehera) Stupaesque Chaithya but a lot smaller than that and slightly shorter too. There are faces of Lord Buddha and King Ravana carved towards the top of the structure. Ravana is easy to recognize with his prominent moustache. So he’s been a legend during that time too. Nalanda is also the boundary of wet and dry zones. Up north is the dry zone from Dambulla right up to KKS and southward is the wet zone. It’s located at a very strategic point. The Pallawa arts depict quite a lot of naked pics such as the man squatting nakedly. The officer must be having a tough time explaining all these to the school children. The elephants roam around, even had come and pushed one of the stones but not done a serious damage.

There even is a museum on site but closed due to renovation. It was time to leave and the officer told us to visit the Kawatayamuna Viharaya on the way.

Lovely green

Busy at work

Arangala, can be climbed too

Zoomed in

Always a breathtaking view

Turn to your right coming from Matale

The distance given is correct

The info.

The path towards the main complex

Scattered blocks of rocks

Very shady but Elephants too roam around here

Arangala rock

Stone carvings along the path

Looks like a Pun Kalasa

There it is…

Stone sculptures are being washed out now

Looks like a Hindu Temple

Restored to its former glory saving from the floods

The stupa on the side

Reminds me of Suthigara Stupa at Dedigama

Must’ve been an entrance to the reservoir but now it’s blocked coz couples venture into this area

From the front

More carvings

At the entrance

Elephant head but fading fast

Entering to the main complex

More carvings

Lord Buddha statue still intact

Looks like a god’s sculpture

Another almost intact one inside

The step into the tiny room with statues

Serene looking Buddha despite being decayed after a hundreds of years

The roof is also solid rock bricks

More fading carvings

More fading carvings

Pillars in the front

The Bo tree and the courtyard

The path we came in

Swimming away

Not missing any of these

Very nice even though the sky was gloomy

The world famous sculpture of “Two Men and the Lioness”

Naked man squatting down

Another one like that

Another one like that

Looks like a lotus carving

Faces of King Ravana in the middle and Lord Buddha on the right

On the top middle is a Bodhisathwa Sculpture

Drainage system

The info about removing and restoring

These pillars have been disturbed by the roaming elephants

The team in front

The museum closed due to renovation

7 AD

Similar one

Kawatayamuna Temple

This is located between Nalanda and Koholawela in the Kawatayamuna village. The village is named after the Giant Kawataya, who had built the temple, Kawatayamuna. The temple is very famous for the images and sculptures of Hell. Those artists have made them more lifelike showing what the punishments are for various kinds of wrongs.

 

Cables are always destroying a good pic

Here’s the statue of Giant Kawata

The Stupa, can do with a lick of paint

Hope you can read the note

Scenes of hell

More punishments depicted

The note on the top left

Mugalan Thero being attacked by the thieves

The Thorny tree

You gotta pay your dues

One of the tragedies in our history

The grapes creeper had just this bunch, very tempting but belongs to the temple

Alu Viharaya, Matale

We were without lunch even though the time was way past. We came to Alu Viharaya around 1.30pm and went in. This is a very historical place and King of Caves, Walgamba, had initiated the move to put the Thripitakaya in black and white here in order to protect it for the future. Until such time, the monks had been taking it from generation to generation by heart.

Typically the whole temple is a huge cave complex and there is a museum too with various ancient things. If you have been to Dambulla and seen the Gigantic Golden Buddha statue, you will also be able to see something very similar at Alu Viharaya too.

Even though not as big as the Dambulla one, this Buddha statue is placed in a higher point and there’s a km walk to the foot of it. Unfortunately we were hard up for time so decided to head towards Pitawala which is nearly 40km away and the road is winding and mist can be pretty hazardous.

We had to buy a few things and charcoal for our BBQ. We tried the Arpico but they didn’t have it and one of the workers said that there’s no charcoal in Matale. We had a very tough time locating the Cargills which is on the left side when you’re coming from Kandy at the heart of the town. Fortunately they had 3kg bags of charcoal and we bought everything from them. There was this very nice bake house adjoining the food city and we bought some to have on the way coz it was nearly 4.00pm. Taking the right hand Ratthota road we passed the urbanized parts soon and entered into the land of mountains. The sky wore her dark apron waving her hands menacingly as if to chase the strangers. So we decided to stop a bit and show our faces to her.

We were on our first visit to Knuckles via this road and after seeing us, the sky took a more kindly approach towards us. We entered the high sensitive part of this world heritage and saw the signs of so-called eco lodges on and off, their presence an ever-growing concern to the wildernesses. Most of these places are illegal according to the villagers but political backing is keeping them above the law. We just stopped for a few seconds to take pics and all of a sudden saw a pointed rock that resembles Lady Lakegala. However unlike her, this was more pointed all around whereas the Lakegala only has that shape seen from Meemure.

We reached the Riverston Communication Tower road which is prohibited to go in vehicles but can walk the 2km stretch. Passing that we came to the Mini World’s End and Pitawala Pathana. I simply am lost for words and had it been a sunny morning, it would have been the best view on earth. We called Wasantha who informed that the Pitawala road is under construction and not accessible in a car. So we had to go further towards Pallegama and turn to Mahala Kotuwa village on our right. This road is longer and in somewhat bad shape. Traveling about 5km we reached Wasantha’s place where he and his cousin brother, Ranjith were waiting for us. His place gives a clear view of the Time Rock, Maningala aka Mandi Gala. There was a hotel nearby at a higher ground mainly cater for the foreigners. The sun had already set but the sky had these orange and purple color bits of clouds.

His place has a single room, one other nearly done, with attached bathroom. We changed while he and Ranjith got going with the BBQ. It was getting chillier by the second which reminded me of our bone chilling night at Andiya Malathenna few days ago. The BBQ came out very tasty and followed by some rice and curry too. Having pacified our growling tummies for the day, we settled down to the night and let the sleeping beauty take us to dreamland. Come tomorrow and we’ll have a ball.

 

Very historically key place

The entrance and the giant Golden Buddha in the far away similar to Dambulla

Archaeological sign

The legend

It’s 1km from the temple to this place

Zoomed in

Ancient facts about the Alu Viharaya (Click image to enlarge)

Going towards the caves

Moonstone, but a very different one

Inside the caves

Plenty of statues

Giant Makara Thorana

Cave paintings too

No idea what this depicts though

Carved in rock to light lamps

Supported by the rocks

Towards Buddhagosha cave

The story behind

The statue of Buddhagosha Thero

Paintings on the rocky ceiling

Towards the Stupa on the rock

Seen from the top of the rock

Steps carved into the rock

Towards the stupa

Need some painting

More rocks

More caves

There are more depictions of the hell here

Another story

This is where the dead monks were kept

Going towards the museum

Donation from Thailand I guess

To the museum

Thailand has done a lot to SL Buddhist temples

Golden Buddha inside

Ruins found in the premises

A bit from the Thripitaka

This is wooden

Rocky art

Different items

Looks very nicely done

Old pots

The items used for writing on parchments

Article of an old newspaper

Stupa

We’re going…

Maningala aka Mandi Gala & Wedda Peni Ella

We woke up around 5am after a deep sleep and straight away went out looking for the rising sun through the mountains. The pointed shaped rock is not in fact Lakegala, but called Thunnisgala. No wonder people say that there are 7 people alike in the world and it seems it goes to the nature too, especially for mountains and waterfalls. The cloud cover was a worrying factor and sun had no chance of penetrating this thick layer. Ranjith and Wasantha arrived with coffee and it warmed our bodies. We decided to go as early as possible coz wanted to see as many things as possible. The breakfast was extra-large Rotti with Luny Miris and Chicken Curry. We ate and was on our way merrily. This area is a cluster of few villages; they are Pitawala, Atanwala, Rathkinda & Mahala Kotuwa. It’s however very hard to distinguish one from the other as there are no marked boundaries.

Facts of the Area…

• The Mahala Kotuwa School has classes up to A/Ls and there are about 200 children studying. This is the only thing for the whole area.

• The hospital is in Pallegama with one doctor and four other nursing staff. It also boasts a running ambulance too. The doctor is from Pitawala itself and the villagers speak very highly of him.

• There are Development Officers who have powers similar or a bit more than then Arachchila. They are recruited degree holders and primary duty is to coordinate the development work of the respective villages with the relevant authorities.

• Their main income is from farming. Tractors are not still in use and the steps like land plots (Helmalu System) make it harder too. Therefore you can witness the typical farming with bulls using to plough the land. Pesticides and chemicals have managed to make inroads into this remote part of the country. Ranjith informed us the use of them is not so high comparatively.

• The electricity is provided from the main lines and the existing waterfalls in the area haven’t yet fallen victim to Mini Hydro Power Plants like in Yatiyanthota, Bulathkohupitiya, Mathugama, etc. Hopefully they will stay like that forever.

• The main paddy kind the farmers grow is called “Yakada Maran” and a kg is about Rs. 50/-. However this is not organic. They have an organic paddy kind called “Kalukum” and going about Rs. 100/- a kg but very rare to get. They adopt this Parachute System to plant the paddy after planting them in a system called Thati System.

• Virtually all the mobile networks work well here except in some places. So communication is no problem at all.

The public transport to and back from Pitawala is as follows:

From Matale.

• Matale-Hettipola via Pitawala and Pallegama – Start at 7.30am from Matale.

• Matale-Puwakpitiya via Pitawala – Start at 2.30pm from Matale.

From Pitawala.

• 7.15am from Mahala Kotuwa.

• 2.30pm from Pitawala. Starts from Hettipola.

• Tuk-tuk from Matale to Pitawala costs about Rs. 2000-2500/- about 38km

Things to see around the area.

• Knuckles Doowili Falls

• Rathkinda Falls

• Sera Ella

• Maningala aka Mandi Gala

• Wedda Peni Ella

• Mini World’s End

• Pitawala Pathana

We went past many farmers who are already busy at work. Our first stop was Wedda Peni Ella. It was a sight to behold. The waterway runs under a man-made bridge which we had to cross to do the Maningala hike. This was a super one even though not so high. Remember I mentioned similar looking things are common in the nature too. Wedda Peni Ella reminded me of Gal Oruwa Ella in Lankagama and Pilituda Ella in Athwelthota. According to folklore, a Veddah had fallen into the tiny gap while trying to cross the rocks, thus the name for the falls. They practically had to drag me from the falls and we crossed the bridge with shaky hand rails. Apparently some people have taken the iron pipes supporting the hand rail to use for their TV antennas. So the wickedness and selfishness are not lost among in these remote parts either.

Do check out the videos of Wedda Peni Ella Here.

Video 1

Video 2

 

Knuckles Forest

Deep ravines bordering the road

Roadside beauty

Mountains range

Towards the right corner the pointed shape rock is Thunnisgala. I first thought it was Lakegala

The rock and the big brother behind

Charcoals on fire

Wasantha laying the pieces on the grill

Smells nice

Ranjith, hard at work

Yummy, yummy

The two-foot torch targeting the nearby mountains but defeated by the thick fog

Visitor to join for dinner

Ready to bed

Good morning sweet heart!

The hotel on a hill in the distance

Zoomed

The Maningala

Bottom two parts of the Rathkinda Falls

Some light in the sky

Threads like flowers

Just sowed

Breakfast of Roti, Lunu Miris and Chicken curry

Aggressive

Tiny tiny beauties all around

Sheham and Lasantha led by Ranjith going towards Atanwala

Beautiful but don’t even think about the yams

This is the specific spot of the rock where they measure the time

Ready to sow

Maningala reflected on the paddy fields

Tractors are a rare commodity for these people

Found a tasty breakfast

Not many like these

This is called the Papadam Tree coz these white color leaves are deep fried coated in batter and eaten like Papadam

Hard life common to both males and females alike

First glimpse

The upstream that feed the falls

Tiny fall

Making millions of bubbles

Even the bulls use the bridge

What a beautiful girlie

Plunges into the deep crevice

The full falls, the overhead bridge is the path towards Atanwala and Maningala

Look at the face and the smile… It says it all

Reminds me of Pilithuda Ella and Gal Oruwa Ella

Little Niagara

The Veddah had apparently fallen here

Bridge with rickety railings, note the absence of pipes along them. People have cut them off to use for antennas

Steps built

Helmalu System

We’re coming to you

The Atanwala Temple

Stupa

Wish it was a clear blue sky

Dead arts

We kept going and the path led to the Atanwala Temple which overlooks ploughed paddy fields and mountains in the horizon. Passing through the village houses Sheham suddenly pointed at an old person and claimed he’s 85 years when I looked at saw this cheerful grandpa with a hoe on his shoulder going to the paddy fields. When I asked his name, he said the name was Tikiri Banda and in very good health. He has a slight problem in hearing other than that looked pretty strong.

Leaving the houses we soon entered the jungle and I noticed tiny white polythene papers hanging from tree branches. Ranjith said they are the white flags used to decorate the path when carrying a dead body to the cemetery. We asked them not to use polythene but try some clothes instead. Even Ranjith agreed with us as he believes people come to his village coz it’s beautiful and don’t want polythene destroying that beauty. We reached the cemetery which is the boundary between the village and the forest. Further along Ranjith showed the path that leads to the strenuous hike of Knuckles Doowili falls. That is one of the things I want to do in future. We went higher keeping the mighty Maningala to our left standing tall and smiling at us. The sky was gloomy threatening to break free anytime. This path is used by Bulls and Cows to

go to the Maningala coz they are sent free when the ploughing is done so that farmers don’t have to bother feeding them. When the working season is back the bulls naturally come back to the village in herds. However there’s the threat of the leopard but he usually targets the little calves rather than big-horned bulls. Ranjith said in May, June, July and August the elephants come to the villages and even use the same path to go nearly to the top of Maningala.

We reached the top finally and it looks like a flat golf ground. Already there were a few bulls nibbling at grass looking at us menacingly. Surprisingly the sun came out of nowhere giving us a clear view of the surrounding. It looks an ideal camping place and Ranjith said there’s water available too. We walked across to the observation point and the height measured 934m. The view was panoramic and we saw the road we came the day before, our staying place was tiny and the car looked smaller than a tiny sand.

I managed to take a small video and after a snack decided to head back. Surprisingly we didn’t see any garbage or polythene left along the path. The travelers have been more responsible I guess and it is a good thing. We saw two sections of the Doowili falls in the distance. We made good time downhill and Ranjith invited us for a cup of tea.

Check the Video from Maningala here.

 

More and more paddy fields

Tikiri Banda, 85 years old but still goes to work early in the morning

Where the cows are kept from rains and sun

Just spotted

The cemetery. They are born close to the nature, live close to the nature and die even closer to the nature… couldn’t have asked for anything better

Tunnel?

The path is mercifully shady but not a sign of the sun

To the right is the path towards famous Doowili Falls

Another path towards a village deep in the forest, unfortunately forgotten the name

Just entering the steep part

Hello darling!

What a beautiful flower you are

These kinda patches are strewn around

Must be a paradise for the Sambar Deer

Keep going

Life on the dead

Getting tired

Blocked the path

The elephants apparently come up here too

More life on tree trunks

Just got to the top

Hiya

Remains of dead bulls

Misty Bovitiya

Already on top

Where the bulls drink and bathe

Long stretch of walk

Like a Golf Ground

The Villages of Atanwala, Rathkinda, Pitawala and Mahala Kotuwa all in a tight bunch below

The observation point

The clouds kept very low

Our destination

Measuring the height

Paddy fields below

Having a juicy breakfast

The team

Height

On the left middle is the hotel seen from Wasantha’s Place; the right middle is where we stayed and the small white dot in the corner is our car. Below the structure is the house being built by the Pallegama Hospital’s doctor

Towards Doovili Ella

Not edible

Trying to fend us off

Near Ranjith’s house

He’s up to some mischief

Not seen before

The view from Ranjith’s house

The Thati System

Ranjith’s elder brother at work

Over some village houses

Recognize him? Tikiri Banda mama

Back at Wedda Peni Ella

The lifeline of those people

Let’s go see Rathkinda Ella

Leveling the ground

What a hike

Rathkinda Ella and Pitawala Tank

Having had a tea and biscuits from Ranjith‘s place, we came back to Pitawala. Sheham was a bit knackered and decided not to push on further but we decided to go see her as well while we were there. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made coz she’s something special and falls in 7 parts. The path was very narrow and going round the hotel close to Wasantha’s place. The bulls had muddied the path walking simply impossible. We pushed on regardless and finally reached an opening which looked ideal for camping, maybe that’s the idea of the hotel owner in his ling term plans. The falls looks absolutely stunning, we saw her from our staying place but only the bottom two parts. Just in the middle there are two smaller parts and the main falls has two taller and one short part making 7 parts in total, looks like another Eli Hatha folks.

There was another path that goes through the water tank that feeds the village and come out to the tiny tank. There were plenty of guavas all around and we kept helping ourselves generously. Time was past running out so we sent Ranjith to pack our lunch while we got ready to leave.

Videos of Rathkinda Ella here.

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

 

Took the path bordering the land of the hotel

Climbed quite a lot

Zoomed through the trees

The top of Rathkinda Ella

The path we took. That razor sharp fence almost ripped through our clothes and skin

The first of seven parts

Towards the other side

Not long to go now

Lasantha having a drink

This is the 5th part of this long falls

The 4th part

Going downhill

Very dangerous

This is the 6th part and seen from Wasantha’s place

The bottom and 7th part also seen from the house

The first and second parts

The top

The middle

The 3rd part

Here’s the full falls

The base pool

Time to go

The water tank just below the waterfall

Got to the tank of Pitawala

Dead trees are very good at making nice arts

Not much water

Wasantha will arrange for you to camp here

The 6th and 7th parts of Rathkinda Falls

Maningala, Api Yanawooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

Not ripe yet

Sera Ella, Puwakpitiya

We left in the car passing Mahala Kotuwa and reached the main road and turned to the right towards Pallegama. The journey through this shady and breath taking road was so soothing. We passed the Pallegama Hospital whose roof had some time ago blown away by the strong winds, and took a left turn towards Puwakpitiya and Kahagala. It is almost 15km to the Sera Ella from the Mahala Kotuwa.

We reached the Sera Ella while it was drizzling and the path is nicely made by the forest department with a hand rail. It’s about 400m to the falls. If I ever thought that I’ve seen waterfalls, I was in for the shock of my life coz what I saw with my own eyes was something out of one of my wildest dreams. The falls comes down pretty straight but there’s a cave that gives you a view from behind her, not many like those in Sri Lanka. It was an experience I’ll treasure for the rest of my life.

We then got to the base and she’s very wide about 50-60ft but the low water levels didn’t fill the whole area. Instead the right side was a wider bit about 20-25ft while the left had a pretty straight line coming down. Couldn’t even imagine how she might look falling in full flow. The platform constructed looks ideal for putting up a tent and spend a night with this gorgeous girlie. We all were simply mesmerized. Had our lunch and Sheham reminded of the back journey so sadly we headed back and got into the car. Dropping Ranjith, who claimed that he’d never done such a day visiting all of that, near Pitawala road we came towards the Riverston when the mist hit us so strongly we barely saw 10ft in front. Imagine being invaded by so thick mist within 2 weeks. We stopped at a fruit stall recommended by Ranjith that belongs to a person called Anura. He sells organic fruits, honey and jaggery that are very tasty for a very reasonable price. I’ve given his number at the notes should you wanna order something before going there.

Videos of Sera Ella here.

Video 1

Video 2

 

Met her on the way

Hey buddy!

Thelgamu Oya

Ranjith with lunch packs heading the way

Nicely done path

Bordering a huge rock boulder

More to go

Relieved to see these caves coz good shelter from rain

Nearly there

To the cave where the water falls

In the cave and the waterfalls is outside

White curtain in front of us

Falls and the base pool

Plunging down

The base pool looks pretty deep

Going towards the base

Oh my gosh

Hitting the rocks hard

No steps, just slide down along the rail

Sera Ella

The bottom

Right side of the falls

You don’t see many better ones

The observation platform ideal for camping

Foamy

Sheham is hungry

The downstream

Imagine waterfalling all along the rocky surface

Where we dropped Ranjith, Pitawala road however is not motorable up to Wasantha’s place

Where Anura’s fruit stall is located, easy to find with the land marks

Anura’s wife serving us, we nearly emptied all of these

We again bypassed the Kandy town and reached homes around 10pm. This was a very hastily planned trip turned out to be one of the best. Hope you guys enjoyed my narration. Take care and have more traveling.

Now enjoy my Panos.

 

Pano 1

Pano 2

Pano 3

Pano 4

Pano 5

Pano 6

Pano 7

Pano 8

Pano 9

Pano 10

Pano 11

Pano 12

Pano 13

Pano 14

Pano 15

Pano 16

Pano 17

Pano 18

Pano 19

Pano 20