We took a
Polonnaruwa bound bus @4.15 am from Colombo and reached our destination around
10.30 am. There are buses working in half an hourly basis and they are really
fast! (Otherwise, how could we cover a span of 240.km in six hours? Don’t
forget there are traffics in major cities like Kurunegala and ever busy
junctions like Peliyagoda. After reaching Pololnnaruwa, the next bus to catch
was Diyasenpura which is starting from Kaduruwela. We learnt that the bus is
not working regularly. However, we were lucky enough to catch the bus leaving
from 11.00am at the hospital junction. Our destination was the Lankapura Maha
Vidyalaya where one of our friends teaching there. First thing which noticed of
the school children was the simplicity of their lifestyle. I wish I could go to
school again, this time to a school like this where children do not know about
a competition and rivalry. Instead, they help each other and living like
brothers and sisters of a closely knitted family. The principal and teachers
are treating them like their own children. They seem to know about every
individual child personally and would do anything to help a child to see the
light at the end of the tunnel.
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| School premises; a heaven under the scorching sun |
Somawathie Temple
We hired a van
from Lankapura and drove through beautiful surroundings on our way to
Somawathie temple which is 25km from Lankapura. There were small villages where
multi ethnic groups living in harmony and the next; it was the beautiful
greenish paddy fields far as the eyes can see. On the next, a huge reservoir
nourishing the paddy fields and finally, it was a thick jungle where we saw
bunches of peacocks like crows in the streets of Colombo.
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| A lake; on the way |
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| On the way to Somawathie Temple |
We saw a wild
elephant on the way. He seemed a little nervous by our presence and shied away
deeper into the jungle. Somawathie temple is located in the middle of
Somawathie natural reserve and there is a road leading to Seruvila some 54.km
away. We went to see the newly built bridge for the purpose of getting to the
other side of the mighty Mahaweli River.
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| Somawathie Stupa |
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| Statues circling the stupa |
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| Sun down in juxtapose with statues |
At Somawathie,
constructions were under way to some buildings of new rest houses for both
bhikkus and for devotees. All the new buildings were built raised above the
ground level and connected with a network of bridges, probably to get away from
the wild elephants that come to worship the sthupa. We saw an elephant very
nearby to the temple. He seemed oblivious to the constructions and the human
presence, and was peacefully munching some leaves.
Coming back
We spent the
night in a temple in Lankapura with the courtesy of the chief incumbent thera. We
had dinner at one of our friend’s place and the dinner was mostly filled with pleasant
conversations of their agricultural lifestyle.
Village tour
On the next day,
we had a bicycle tour around the village and breathed in the beauty of the
village life with paddy fields. We were able to talk to few farmers.
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| Paddy fields with saplings |
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| Early morning dew drops on the saplings |
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| Hut and the coconut tree, posing nicely for the photograph |
They were
very genuine and even though we were strangers from the city, they treated us
like their own neighbours. After having breakfast back at the temple, we packed
our bags to explore our next place on our way back home.
Parakrama Samudraya
One has to pass
the Polonnaruwa town and take a left along a canal which carrying the water
from the Parakrama Samudraya reservoir. Even though we were under scorching
sun, we never felt it because we were mesmerized by the beauty and the vastness
of the lake. The environment was so calm and quite other than the gentle
lapping of the waves.
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| Parakrama Samudraya |
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| Parakrama Samudraya 2 |
We met a lonely elderly gentleman who came to catch some
fish for his meal. There was a canoe, puddled by able young men and our old
gentleman explained how they catch fish laying a net and trapping a herd of
fish. He further said it is for commercial purpose. We took some photographs of
him trying in vain to catch a fish which he hadn’t succeeded on the past 2-3
hours since he came to the lake. We wished him luck and long-life and bid
farewell. He taught that the life is not always fair, but we felt that it is
still good.
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| Our old gentleman - the dark sky shows the uncertainty of the weather; a catch for this poor person is equally uncertain, just like the sky |
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| Waiting all alone for a fish to catch his bait, the empty space above the water supports his loneliness. |
Exploring the ancient city
The rest of the
day was spent on exploring the ruins of ancient city of Polonnarwa era. It is a
sad fact to see a proper conservation is not being carried out as we saw some
ancient brick walls strewn on either side of the main road and vendors have
converted them into makeshift stalls.
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| A dead tree, still doing it's duty; making a wonderful scenery |
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| A pond, well preserved. Please let us protect these!! |
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| Reclining Buddha statue at the Gal Viharaya - never losing the tranquility |
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| Road is free and open for a ride!!! |
The best thing
you could do is to hire a bicycle which you could afford for a maximum Rs.350
per day and you can take your time and roam around the ruins.
We took a bus
around 3.00 pm and reached Colombo by 8.30 pm
Summing up
It was a
wonderful travelling experience, being away from the busy city and stay two
days with serene village life. It will be in our memories for the rest of our
lives. The people in the village are surprisingly genuine and do not have high
hopes. Their lifestyle is so simple and they seem enjoying the simplicity of
their lives to the fullest. They further convinced us there are a lot of things
money cannot buy and as people from the city, we envy them on every single
moment spent in their tranquil lives.
