By Alan Ho Chok Chan
Day 3 & 4: Tour Proper Begins
3 Unesco Heritage Sites…. and an Elephant Palace.
Today we leave Colombo and embark on the tour proper, but not before taking one last bus-eye view of the shantytowns ; the narrow, crooked lanes where you could touch the walls with extended arms ; the mountains of colorful rubbish piled high at the entrance to the lanes, with the rag and bone men sieving through the teeming heap with bare hands, retrieving anything of recycling value ; the pavements in the City Centre displaying handmade Vesak lanterns and effigies, made of papier-mâché, wood, straw, and plaster : all unique, all colourful, all vying to win the contest during Vesak-week celebration. Giant Mandalas, painting the story of Buddha in various incarnations stood sentinel at traffic junctions.
We are travelling some 148 kilometers from Colombo, heading northeast, to Dambulla, smack in the centre of Sri Lanka.
It is greenery all the way, paddy fields alternating with bush country, and hillocks : not an unpleasant sight for city folks brought up on steel and glass monoliths..
In early afternoon we saw a mammoth sitting Buddha, glittering in gold in the afternoon sun : The Golden Temple of Dambulla.
Religions often held believers in awe with grandiose temples, mammoth statues, resplendent in gold or with fierce countenance.
It never fails to instil fear and faith.
Arosha said this was not the Real Deal, and that we would come back for a photoshoot tomorrow.
The Real Deal, as it were, is accessible by ascending a low hill, towering 160m over the surrounding plains. As we approached the temple complex, for the last 100 metres or so, it was shoes off ! My wife wore no socks, and refused to put on my smelly ones. So stoic a gal !
The Dambulla Cave Temple really lived up to its name : it is a series of 5 caves, carved into the side of a ledge of rock. Cavernous in its interior, its ceilings towered about 2 MRT tunnels in height, and maybe 2 or 3 in width.Suffice it to say it could accommodate easily huge reclining Buddhas in Parinirvana ( the final sleep of death in which he attains Eternity, Happiness, Self and Purity ) hewn out of the rock.
Statues of Buddha ( 153 altogether ), with innumerable wall mural paintings of gods, goddesses, related to Gautama Siddartha and his life, covering an area of 23,000 sq feet, was wonderfully preserved in this largest and best-preserved temple complex in Sri Lanka that dates back to the first century BC.
Hinduism and Buddhism has some commonality in beliefs, so it is not surprising that some Hindu deities like Vishnu and Ganesha are depicted in these caves.
The caves are cool, the lighting dim,to protect the wall and ceiling frescoes from fading I surmised and, eminently conducive to meditation, contemplation, and perhaps, Zzzzzz…
Since 1982, the government, with the help of UNESCO, embarked on a massive conservation project aimed at preserving the murals, fortifying the infrastructure and drainage.
It is gratifying to know as Humanity, at its ugliest, are bent on destroying rich artefacts in Syria, Iraq–cradle of ancient civilisations and wipe out millenia of history, in this corner of the world we are picking up, and rebuilding the pieces…
As we walked down the cobbled street, we could see, rising in an easterly direction, a reddish – brown rock of sandstone, shaped like a crouching lion about to pounce — The Lion Rock of Sigiriya beckons.
See you tomorrow !
Elephant palace: Aliya Resort and Spa
Arosha evidently was out to impress.
And impress he did.
I never reckoned there could be such an eclectic, stylish hotel in the boondocks : imagine, they had to drive out the wild elephant from its abode to house us!
An ultra modern structure greeted us.
And elephants galore ! Paintings of the pachyderms abound : in the lobby, in the rooms, there’s even a colorful beast standing in the spacious garden !
The moment you ascend the steps to reach the mezzanine level, which houses the reception, a grand vista emerged : a whole sea of greenery below your feet and spreading till infinity.
In the distance staring back at you, as if saying : “ Come if you dare !” Is the Lion Rock of Sigiriya –massive, majestic, mystical.
The view itself is worth a million dollars, plus, an azure infinity swimming pool in front of us.
That evening, we languished in the well-appointed restaurant, open-air verandah seating, a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape, accompanied by strains of light jazz music from a lone saxophone player, and congenial dining companions, made a good buffet dinner tasted even better…
( end of part 4A ) To be continued
Dr Alan Ho Chok Chan is a Paediatrician in private Family Practice. He also spends time golfing, swimming, playing tennis, wine tasting, playing guitar and singing. He is also a bibliophile and voracious reader.
