History:
You can find a history of this temple by the website of this temple
How to get there??
If you are taking the High Level road, you can use the 293 bus
route starting from Homagama. From there, it will be a half an hour journey to
the Ambulgama temple. You can get down straightaway at the temple so that you
don’t have to walk. If you are taking the low level road, get down from
Ambulgama junction and turn right (from Colombo) and you will have to walk 200m
to get there.
We would recommend that it is better if you could start your
climb as early as possible. When the sun rises, you will get tired easily. Also
avoid rainy days as the steps and rocks become slippery.
Climb
There are different levels of climbing and at the first level;
you will find several Buddha status in different postures. The largest one
being a standing pose and may be you can offer flowers/ light an oil lamp to
start the climb (if you remember to bring along those stuff). In here you can see a nice scenery down but keep on climbing, there is more to come…
Next there is a “Pattini Devalaya” a shrine, offered for the
Pattini deity
After you climb from the Pattini devalaya, you will find a
mini Mihinthale. In a rock there are statues of Arahath Mahinda and his team of
Bhikkus who first visited Sri Lanka to spread the noble message of Lord Buddha.
In a little downwards, there is the King Devanampiyathissa whom Arahath Mahinda
came across when he is out to deer hunting. If you observe more closely, there
is a statue of that escaping deer.
Near those statues, you can find a cave and hardly there is
sunshine coming down and it’ll be wet and cool even when you visit there in a
hot sunny day. The less light and the reverberations of your voices through the
caves will give you an eerie feeling.
Down there, it leads to another replica. It is of a Paththirippuwa
in Dalada Maligawa, Kandy and as of now, it is still under construction.
You can turn back and start your climb up and this time, you
will have to be quiet as there are some wasp combs on a huge rock. It seems
that the little fellas have abandoned those but to be on the safe side, keep your mouths shut…
Underneath those caves, there is another set of colourful Buddha statues
and do not forget to worship and offer a few coins into the “pin pettiya”.(by offering coins Buddhists believe that they will have the blessings of that sacred place)
Then comes the most difficult part of the climb but don’t
worry there is a guard rail to keep you from falling same time guiding the way
up. Watch your step specially if it is a rainy day. As you climb up, you will
find another standing Buddha statue facing the infinite stretch of beautiful
landscape of Colombo district. You will be amazed about the greenery and the
mountains which the highly commercialized Colombo district has. Down there you
can see a branch of Kelani river flowing gracefully. There are beautiful huts which
used as brick stoves. You can stay as long as you want enjoying the beauty down
there.
When you walk across the summit of the mountain, you will
find another Buddha statue facing the opposite direction of the 1st
Buddha statue.
From there also you will get a beautiful scene but this time
your photos may have been polluted with some factories scattering around the
mountains. That gives us a feeling how the natural beauty is wasted and we
cannot be sure how long we are to enjoy the scenery of the rest of the virgin landscape.
Climbing down is a not a daunting task and if you feel
tired, there is a small boutique on the opposite site of the road to have
refreshments. We would recommend buying few packets of tasty murukku from there
to enjoy on the way your journey back home.
If you are a photography enthusiast, this is a heaven to
have some nice shots. We would suggest you to take along a wide angle lens and
of course a telephoto lens to take closer shots down the hill. If you visit
there at the times of sunrise and sunset, we are sure that you will capture
splendid images of the sun and the surroundings.
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