sri-lanka-13-full-pdf-ebook.pdf

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Badulla

depending on the kind of tea being processed.
To be safe, visit in the morning.
To get there catch a bus towards
Bandarawela, get off at Kumbawela junction,
an d flag a bus going towards Badulla. Get
of f just after the 27km post, near the Halpe
Temple. From here you have a very steep 2km
walk to the factory. A three-wheeler from Ella
will charge Rs 500 return.

Rawana Ella Falls WATERFAll
(Wellawaya Rd) The 19m-high Rawana Ella
Falls are about 6km down Ella Gap towards
Wellawaya. During rainy months the water
comes leaping down the mountainside in
what is claimed to be the ‘wildest-looking’
fall in Sri Lanka, but during the dry season it
may not flow at all. There are vendors selling
food and trinkets. Catch any bus heading to-
wards Wellawaya.

Ravanna Ella Temple BUDDHiST, HiNDU
(map p184) This little temple and cave are as-
so ciated with the Ramayana story. The cave,
lo cated in a cleft in the mountain that rises
to Ella Rock, is reputed to be where the king
of Lanka lived before capturing Sita. To get
here, approach Ella from the direction of Wel-
lawaya, then veer off shortly before the town
along a side road. Boys will show you where
the steep, overgrown and slippery track up to
the cave starts.

Badulla

%055 / POPULATION 42,572 / ELEVATION 680M
Badulla marks the southeast extremity of the
Hill Country and is a transport gateway to
the east coast. It is one of Sri Lanka’s oldest
towns, occupied briefly by the Portuguese,
who torched it upon leaving. For the British
it was an important social centre, but beyond
the pretty gardens and clock tower, any ves-
tiges of a past – including a racecourse and
cricket club – are lost in Badulla’s typical Sri
Lankan bustle. The railway through the Hill
Country from Colombo terminates here. In
British times, it was an important hub for
transporting plantation products to Colombo.

1 Sights

M ost Sri Lankans visiting Badulla stop at
ei ther Muthiyagana Vihara or Kataragama
Devale.

Muthiyagana Vihara BUDDHiST
(off Passara Rd) A large Buddhist complex that
includes a whitewashed dagoba in spacious
grounds in the southeast of town. During fes-

tivals the resident elephant may be paraded

around.

Kataragama Devale HiNDU

( lower King St) The main objects of veneration

are statues of the gods Kataragama, Saman

and Vishnu. Uniquely, the devale was con-

structed in Kandyan style rather than South

Indian Tamil style, with a long wooden

shrine hall painted with murals depicting a

perahera.

St Mark’s Church CHURCH

(Church Rd) If you’re a history buff, take a look

through St Mark’s Church and peruse the old

headstones. Inside is a plaque commemorat-

ing the elephant hunter Major Rogers, who

was killed by lightning.

Legend has it that following a particular-

ly severe thunderstorm in Haputale in 1845,

Rogers stepped onto his veranda and pro-

claimed, ‘It’s all over now’ to his wife. Ahh,

not so fast, matey: one last bolt struck him

dead. Relatives of the 1500 elephants he

killed in a four-year stint probably trumpeted

in glee. Rogers’ actual gravestone near Nu-

wara Eliya is now cracked in half, reputedly

by another bolt of celestial energy.

Dunhinda Falls WATERFAll

(adult/child Rs 200/100; h6.30am-5pm) Five

kilometres north of Badulla are the 63m-high

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