 |
| The Rock at Sigiriya. |
I set off with chauffeur/guide Jim at 0830hrs from the Juliana Hotel ( shabby but good value ) in Colombo bound for Sigiriya in the centre of the country, about 5.5hrs drive away. Sigiriya is in the middle of what is termed in the guide books as the 'Cultural Triangle' of the Ancient Cities. Jim is a remarkably sensible and safe driver. He would certainly not qualify as a bus pilot here. He is also obsessively proud of his car which he religiously washes every day. I remember I once had a car which I never washed for 15 years, before it fell apart. We had a few 'pit stops' en route and the roads were relatively new and in good condition so, apart from evading some lunatic charging buses, we had a comfortable and uneventful journey. Jim's in-car sound system plays old 60s and 70s records which I found relaxing. There is a rigorously enforced speed limit of 70kph on all roads and Jim, for one, will wisely not exceed it. It is expensive to do so with on the spot fines levied by the many eagle-eyed and avaricious police with radar guns along the way. The buses must do, but I suspect they have an 'arrangement' with someone, or just don't care because their company will pay the fines.
I stayed at the Sigiriya Village hotel which is down a dusty potholed track in the small touristy village. Good hotel with a very open plan layout ( the reception and bar left ) with cabins for guest accommodation widely scattered in the surrounding woods. It was about a 10 minute walk through the trees to my cabin!It would, especially if you overindulged at the bar, be quite possible to get completely disorientated on your way back in the dark and end up lost in the forest for days as far as I could see.
Left: Lots of tourists rode around the vicinity on elephants. You could even book your own 'self drive' animal. For some reason I had no particular desire to ride one.
The first thing to do here is climb the Rock. This volcanic plug rises majestically out of the jungle. Local legend has it that on the top was a Royal Palace, but more recent and accurate research has revealed that it was indeed inhabited BC and then became an important Buddhist monastery in the 10th century before being abandoned ( as was much of the civilisation around here ) in the 14th.
There are many 'unofficial' guides who offer you a helping hand. I was far too proud ( and mean ) to accept their offer. There are 899 steps ( yes, I counted them ), either stone or metal stairway, plus some ledges to walk along, to get to the top. It was quite good exercise and some fairly dramatic vertical drops to unnerve vertigo sufferers like me. Halfway up, under a protective ledge, there are some very well preserved murals ( right ), painted in the 11th century I was told, of several ladies with enormous gazonkas. They are supposed to represent Tara, an important Mahayana Buddhist goddess.
The carved lion's paws ( left ) are part of what was a much larger carving of the whole lion's head which has either collapsed or was destroyed. Those metal steps supported on the rock face looked a bit dodgy but I expect they are safe enough. Nobody told me of any previous problems and I didn't hear anyone plummeting and screaming to their death while I was there.
Great views from the top ( right ) where there are the remnants of ancient monastic buildings including a rain-water filled reservoir. Some of the buildings, made out of small clay bricks, seemed to have been very well constructed considering their age.
Left: A couple from the Czech Republic who posed on the summit. A Buddhist Czech Point.
This sign ( right ) was displayed on the top. I kept very quiet.
The steps felt a bit less secure going down. There was a different route from halfway down which led you to somewhere in the trees at the bottom with no signposts pointing out where to go from there. I'm sure it was a cunning ploy by those 'unofficial' guides to take you, for a small consideration, to the exit car park. I refused all assistance and eventually, later than anticipated and sweating freely, got back to where Jim was waiting with the car. He then insisted on taking me to a Sri Lankan massage parlour to soothe my aching joints where I was oiled, beaten up and steamed for an hour or more. Nothing erotic about that place, I can assure you.
The next day we went to visit the old Royal Palace ( right ) and surrounding compounds and markets at Polonnaruwa, about 40 miles away. This was one of the two commercial and religious centres dating from the 12th century. The place was sacked and destroyed by invading Indians in 1415. Unlike the Mexicans and other 'protectors' of ancient ruins these buildings have not suffered the indignity of 'reconstruction'. They are as they were found with a bit of tidying up and all that you see is original stonework.
There were lots of monkeys around of two types. This one ( left ) is a grey monkey. It reminds me of someone.......
This one ( right ) is a Toaq monkey ( I have probably got the names wrong ). Nice toupee. It reminds me of someone else.
Left: The ornamental reservoir filled from a local man-made lake. The building and design of these structures is complex and sophisticated by any standards. They were built in the 12th century don't forget. I suspect they were in advance of anything that was around in what is now Europe and UK at that time.
The guy standing in front is one of the local guides, Rashid. He is very knowledgeable not only about the buildings here but about all the flora and fauna, especially the birds, in the country.
This ( right ) is what is left of their parliament building. There is much impressive stone carving and decoration still in evidence even after the place was trashed and burnt by the Indian invaders.
Something that Rashid explained:
CEY|LON
LON|DON
They spell the same downwards as across. He says that this is not coincidental. I don't know. Do you?
The whole area was covered with Buddhist temples, as per left, of one sort or another. There were a couple of Hindu ones as well. They seem to share a number of 'Gods'.
The remains of this one here ( right ) proclaimed to be the original 'temple of the sacred tooth' There was another nearby that said it was the 'subsequent temple of the sacred tooth'. The present one being in Kandy.
Left: This is one hell of a big and ancient 12th century Buddhist 'stupa' in the vicinity. It is at least a hundred feet high and built out of millions of those tiny clay bricks. Nobody is allowed inside it. I asked if anyone is curious to look inside, but was just told it is forbidden. Somebody must have been in there.
Right: More ancient Buddhas. To be quite honest, I was getting rather bored of looking at images of the Lord Buddha. Apart from anything else you have to take off your shoes in the vicinity. On this tour I had to do the shoes off/on routine about five times and I have lace-up walking boots. The procedure begins to wear thin after a bit.
Left: On the way back we passed over a river where a chap ( well known to Jim ) has set up a small cottage industry by hand feeding a collection of large monitor lizards which live in a pool beneath the bridge. Tourists, like me, stop and watch in some fascination as he feeds these ugly creatures meat. You are then expected to give him 100 rupees. He has a collection of about 15 of these fat, idle and pampered lizards. This is probably another guy with a holiday chalet in Gstaad who drives a Rolls-Royce.
We then proceeded to another Buddhist shrine, the Royal Rock Temple at Dambulla. This place is a very commercial concern and was helped by large Japanese financial contributions. They commissioned this rather vast and tasteless golden Buddha at the entrance ( right ). After paying a considerable entrance fee you walk up a lot of steps, I didn't count but it took 30 minutes, passing beggars at every level before you arrived at......
.......a series of five shallow caves in the rock face behind the white facade ( left ). These are supposed to have originated from the 1st century BC and subsequently enlarged and embellished by various kings. Collection boxes for further donations are placed at every entrance.
They contain about 150 Buddha images in various postures The big ones are reclining of course. Well, they have to, or they would need to crouch in a rather undignified way.
Note the collection box in front.
......and the smaller ones are sitting cross-legged or standing up.
There are more temples, Buddhist or otherwise, in this country than you can shake a stick at. Many more per acre, even, than churches and cathedrals in Central and South America. One wonders if the money and effort put into constructing and maintaining these and the vast amounts gathered from them could not be better spent on improving the infrastructure and other facilities in what is a cash strapped country.
I think I have seen, photographed and wittered on enough about temples and Buddhas. Shoes back on and no more mention of them, for the time being anyway.
Of more secular interest, indeed more interesting altogether to me, was this amazing cricket ground at the same town, Dambulla. It is the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium. Jim said we would not be allowed in, but I told him to tell the guard on the gate that I played cricket for Rutland 3rd X1 and wanted to check the place for possible future fixtures. No problem, we were escorted in and given a full guided tour of the place by the ground staff. One suspects that few people have visited this ground for a long time and they welcomed the opportunity to show the place off.
I think it was built about 3 years ago and is in the middle of the back of beyond. It has been carved out of the jungle and the reason for it being here is not immediately apparent.
It is magnificent ( left ), with a vast car parking area, an impressive set of stands, albeit in need of a bit of sprucing up, and a cricket pitch in pristine condition. It has hardly been played on. The grass is in immaculate condition and it has a picturesque backdrop of the surrounding forests, hills and a lake. It cannot be bettered by most international grounds. It has, however, seldom been used. The staff members here, I was told, as with the Sri Lanka team themselves, have not been paid for several months. Sri Lankan cricket is not in a good financial state at the moment. Unlike the temples.
I believe England are due to play a Test against Sri Lanka here in May next year, and nothing happens before that! What a waste of a superb facility ( if I have been informed correctly that is ).
The third ancient ex-capital city in the Triangle is Anuradhapura which is about 90 kms to the north. I have seen enough of ancient capitals by now and enough Buddhas to last me a lifetime. So, tomorrow, we are due to set off to Trincomalee ( Trinco ), which was unfortunately caught up on the front line of the 'war' with the Tamil Tigers until that ended in 2009.
No comments:
Post a Comment