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| Kala wewa © S. V. Randeniye 2016 |
Most people go to Anuradhapura to worship at the feet of the අටමස්ථානය
(atamasthānaya), the 8
sacred ancient Buddhist sites there. Which is fine by
me, except that I am more interested in actually seeing the centuries of
history and feeling the weight of all the wondrous architecture and
skill look down upon me with their years of accumulated wisdom –
Sorry. Old habits. I was a lit student :P
Anyway, my mother finally decided that my brother and I were old
enough to see A’pura without being force fed history and culture (on a side
note, I recommend Prof. J. B. Dissanayake’s රටක මහිම Rataka
Mahima book series on Anuradhapura for nuggets of
less-well-known historical facts).
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| Kandy-Anuradhapura via Google Maps |
Our
trip to Namal Uyana was actually a detour on the way to A’pura. We went
straight up on the Jaffna-Kandy highway (A9 road) and turned left onto the A’pura
road from Galkulama. We got into A’pura around 12.30pm and started walking –
yep, walking – around as many sites as we could.
To
everyone who wants to see A’pura properly: walk, or cycle. You can hire a
bicycle at Tissa Wewa resthouse or at most of the smaller and cheaper guesthouses
in the area. The sacred city of A’pura is a small area so walking is quite easy
too.
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| Ruwanveliseya through some ruins |
We
went to Thuparāmaya, which is generally held to be the
oldest stupa built in Sri Lanka. Then, Abhayagiriya (now restored into all its
red-brick glory), Jetawanarāmaya (still
under reconstruction), the Samādhi statue,
Ruwanveliseya, the Sri Maha Bodhi tree, the Kuttam Pokuna (Twin Ponds) and
Isurumuniya temple. We missed the Mirisawetiya stupa and the moonstone but put
it on the list for next time.
Lunch
was at the very clean, very affordable Rasa Gedara. They serve Sri Lankan rice
and curry buffet-style on lotus leaves. We were ordered not to serve more than
we could eat as they didn’t tolerate food wastage. The vegetable rice was LKR
200, the chicken and fish ones were LKR 250 – worth every cent.
Since we were sight-seeing and not quite on a pilgrimage we finally
saw everything in A’pura we wanted to. We saw Ruvanweliseya as the sun set
behind it and didn’t burn our feet trying to circle it as usual. We saw the night
view from the top of Isurumuniya temple and wondered at the beauty of the city.
Our only regret is that we didn’t have enough time to wander around Ranmasu
Uyana, the royal garden, because we only stayed one night.
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| Jetawanarāmaya |
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| Abhayagiriya |
We stayed at Rajarata Lodge and it was a gem of a find. Located off Jaffna
junction, this small but lovely hotel cost my mother, brother and I less than
LKR 8500 even after we ordered dinner for the night – breakfast included. I highly
recommend it to anyone who wants to stay over at A’pra. It also had free wifi
and the cleanest bathrooms I had ever seen.
If you are going there anytime soon, take hats, sunglasses and
plenty of water; the sun is quite brutal. And do NOT feed the monkeys or tempt
them with any food or drink hanging out of your bags.
Happy sight-seeing!
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| Friends at Abhayagiriya © S. V. Randeniye 2016 |
(Approx.) Total Time Taken : 7 hours
(Approx.) Total Cost : > LKR 10, 000 (for 4 people!)
Satisfaction : 4.5/5
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