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Published: November 28th 2015
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A morning walk along the 'Tank' (manmade lake) before breakfast at Habarana a bounty of water lilly's and abundance of Birdlife. Janika arrives after breakfast to transfer us to our next stop Sigiriya Rock. The Rock appears majestically out of the landscape, a huge hardened magna plug of an extinct volcano. Janika gives us the history whilst he drives, popular myth states that the formation served both Royal and military functions during the rein of King Kassapa, a new theory supported by archaeological evidence, rather than local legend, suggests that The Rock was a Buddhist Monastery, whatever its purpose it is an awesome sight. As you walk towards the steps that will take us to the top of the rock you past ruins of buildings and The Royal Gardens, water gardens, and then the terraced and bolder gardens. The first spiral staircase takes you to some well preserved 'buxom frescoes' considered the female forms representing Tara - one of the most important figures in Tantric Buddhism. Along the Mirror Wall which originally had a smooth glaze and people would write their impressions of the women above! The last ascent is a steep set of steps, which set me into a panic,
a loathing of heights it takes me a lot of reserve to get me to the top, but boy is it worth it, 1.6 hectares of low lying walls, the remnants of the buildings on top, there are 360c views and we stay and take in all we can see before undertaking the less scary return to the bottom. A drive to Dambulla and our nights rest, with a beautiful pool, which we gladly take advantage of for the afternoon.++
Day Three and we visit Dambulla Caves The caves sit 100-150m above the road. The Caves history as a place of worship is thought to date from around the 1st century BC, when King Valagamba, driven out of Anuradhapura took refuge here, When he regained his throne, he had the interior of the caves carved into magnificent rock temples. Further improvements were made by later Kings including one of the Kings who had the caves interiors gilded. There are 5 caves and each is a homage to the Kings of the times and Buddhism the painted statues and ceilings are all still very vibrant and very special. The 2hr Drive to Kandy gets us there in plenty
time for a tour of the Temple of the Tooth Relic, this is Sri Lanka's most important Buddhist relic - a tooth from the Buddha, the tooth is said to have been snatched from the flames of the Buddha's funeral in 483BC and smuggled into Sri Lanka in the hair of a princess. It is said that the tooth is occasionally brought out for show with only 24hrs notice due to the crowds that congregate, ahead of tonight's procession there are already people here praying and chanting. We continue around the buildings and come across the Elephants resting ahead of tonight's procession.
After a short rest we head off to find a seat to watch the show, plastic garden seats are now adorn the roads waiting for people (mainly tourists!) to pay for, we do as it beats sitting on the floor for 3hrs. The procession is held to honour the sacred tooth enshrined in the temple. It runs for 10days the first six nights are relatively low-key and then it escalates and the route lengthens and more elephants join in. The procession is led by hundreds of Kandyan dancers and drummers beating drums, cracking whips and waving colourful
banners. What everyone is waiting for is the Maligawa tusker which is decorated from trunk to toe, and carries a huge canopy sheltering a replica of the sacred relic cask. It appears and the crowds all stand and start praying, the tusker is huge and looks magnificent and seems to know his star role in tonight's show, and soon the end of the procession passes and everyone disperses, it has been an honour to view this historical religious festival but now it's time for bed!
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