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Published: February 8th 2006
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FIELD STUDIES AT ANURADHAPURA After a morning class, it was once again back on the bus. The first part of the ride retraced the roads we had traveled heading to Giritale, but eventually we hit a fork in the road and turned towards Anurahapura.
During the bus trip, we made a few stops to see some early archaeological sites. The first stop was simply a small tank, or manmade lake, which was made to hold irrigation water for early farmers. Little or nothing else was left here, except for the grave site across the road. A short stroll led us to the rock graves, which had been cleaned up and cleaned out by the archaeologists. The dead were buried rolled up into large ceramic pots. This was also the place where Bob found a road-side knife maker, and purchased a unique knife for his collection. This one cost a whole 150 rupees (that's $1.50 American). The knife-maker sharpened it right in front of us, creating a cascade of sparks. Digital cameras clicked away at this sight.
The next stop was a group of shelter caves used by Buddhist Forest Monks long ago. This site was filled with large,
bright yellow dragonflies. I've never seen so many in one place in my life. We walked up to the caves, and when I saw the open, flat rock the monks slept on, I thought that I had finally found a resting place harder than my nightly bed. I lay down on the rock to test this hypothesis. The jury is still out on this one. These monks were not completely against a little comfort though. They had chiseled a rain ledge around the overhanging roof, so that the rain would drip down outside the cave, and not on the monk inside! There were inscriptions carved in the rock as well. These forest monks led a hard (monastic!) life. Their only permissible food was whatever the local villagers would place in their begging bowl each morning.
The main site of the holy city of Anuradhapura almost defies words, and this description is woefully inadequate. Anuradhapura is literally an entire ancient city. We drove around from place to place, which allowed us to see a lot of the high-lights, but also fragmented the total experience. It was hard for me to relate all of the sites to each other. Of course,
part of my problem was that I was very congested, and I felt pretty bad because of the heat. In short, I was not at my best that day. Still, I was in awe of what I was seeing. We toured a museum here as well; this one is rather small and everything in it is quickly seen. We climbed a few stairs, and emerged on a dike bordering an immense tank; it was so large that it resembled a real lake, and it was a challenge to imagine it as being dug by mere human hands. Below the tank were the elaborate water gardens, with both running water and bathing pools. BIG bathing pools! Once again I wanted to get in the water, as I fondly imaged what life would be like living here, and having access to these gardens whenever one wanted. The temples here are simply enormous. At sunset, we walked around a gigantic stupa (thus gaining much merit), and we visited the Bo Tree which grew from a cutting of the original Bo Tree in India- the one under which Buddha achieved enlightenment. Of course, this makes the place another must for Buddhist pilgrims.
In
the evening, we enjoyed a Sri Lankan buffet at a hotel, and I had a chance to sample arrack, the local liquor which is made from palm sap. It was quite smooth, and unique in taste. We saw this type of palm tree growing in many places around the island. Most of these trees we saw had climbing aids on them, and collecting cups high overhead. This is the same sap that is used to make the palm sugar that has sweetened a few treats we've sampled. Sweet.
The next day, we visited Sigiriya. This is not a holy site, but rather the pleasure palace of a "bad boy" king. The legend/history is that this "bad boy" murdered his father by sealing him up in a room, thus avoiding actual messy bloodshed. Afterwards, he assumed the throne. He then lived in fear that his brother would come seeking vengeance for their father, which of course he eventually did. "Bad boy" ended up confused and then dead in a swamp, having gotten lost and gone the wrong way. But in the interim, he had a lovely palace at Sigiriya, complete with swimming pools and water gardens and erotic artwork. Legend/history has it that he had lots of good times there too.
The erotic artwork is on top of the mountain (inselberg, or rock outcropping), where "bad boy" erected his palace. To get there, you must walk up many, many steps (no one seems to have counted them). I took one look at the size of the mountain, and decided to skip the steps, so I stayed in the water gardens and strolled around for an hour or so. It was almost peaceful, except for the intermittent offers of guidance, or wooden elephants, or a chance to peek into an empty cave. You really have to just ignore people after a while, and sort of hope that they may ignore you. I did wander into the market area, however. I found two exquisite, brightly colored masks- one featuring a cobra design, and the other a bright blue peacock. My skilful negotiations for these largely consisted of walking away, with the hopeful seller catching up to me a few minutes later. We both knew that I wanted those two masks, but sometimes it's fun to play the game.
We had one more scheduled sight to visit on this trip: Dambulla. You can't miss Dambulla when you drive by it. There is a gigantic gold-colored Buddha, gleaming in the sunlight. In fact it is so large that (meaning no disrespect whatsoever), it reminded me of something that would be right at home in front of a Las Vegas casino. We snapped a few pictures of this titanic modern sculpture, and then proceeded onward to see the historical art, high above us in the sacred temple cave complex. In the HOT afternoon we trudged up and up a steep hill or two, and a lot of steps to reach the real Dambulla, the Golden Mountain Temple. The Buddhist monastery at Dambulla was built on the top of two inselbergs- vast outcrops of rock that reach high into the sky. The view of the surrounding countryside from the top was well worth the effort spent in getting there. This sacred site consists of a series of HOT caves with incredibly beautiful stuff inside of them. Basically rows and rows of golden Buddhas, and elaborately painted ceilings. In spite of the beauty, I couldn't help but wish that someone would install air-conditioning in the caves to reduce human suffering just a little bit. This is not likely to ever occur, because the caves are not only a historical site, with most of the religious art dating from the 18th century, but they are also currently another important target for modern Buddhist pilgrims. Not to be tampered with. Endure and enjoy. And sneak outside to enjoy a faint breeze under the shade of the Bo Tree. Once again, worshippers and tourists coexisted peacefully, both appreciating the utter tranquility radiated by the multiple images of the smiling Buddha.
On the way back to the bus we walked past another cobra-charmer, and a few beggars. But there was a real treat for me as well. Somehow our driver had spotted a tiny, dappled Indian Spotted Mouse Deer (Tragulus meminna) in the dense underbrush. Wow! Another species I didn't even dream of being able to see in the wild.
Tired, but satisfied, we returned to the Bungalow to spend our last night there. After this, we will be on the road until we head home. It was sad to say farewell to our Sri Lankan home, and especially to Siri. We're going to miss him- and his cooking!
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