Time of my Life in Ella

Today I lived fully. Hardly knew that this would be one of the best day of my life, when everything comes together. This amazing flow and sensation of submerge into the beauty of nature reminds me of a story about a small hillside village where a wanderer has arrived. When he visited the local church, he went out to the graveyard, and reading the scripts turned to an old man who was gardening nearby "How is it possible that I saw many aged people in the village yet everyone died below 30?" The old man answered with a calm smile "Because we count only those days when one was happy"

So that must be around 90 years in the mountains of Uva district :)

The person who advised these great trips around Ella, is Chandima, an old theraváda friend. He studied and practiced buddhism in-depth (almost became a monk), so we met on the community site of Pāli Text Society. We kind of globally "grew up together" on our spiritual path, and while I finished my buddhist teacher degree, and started to work in Poland, he became an experienced tourist guide (I think by this time he has climbed Adam's peak for the twentieth. He is a great trip advisor as well - he gave amazing tips (I can only recommend him). His contact in Ella, Buddika has been my guide, and also I stayed by them in La Ciel homestay, literrally in the sky.

First morning felt like waking up in earthly paradise - never had such a view for practice. We discussed the timing for breakfast, so I just started to make movements, yoga easily happened. I felt so glad, I remember I shared the below picture acknowledging this as a result of my practice (karmavipāka), and truly it was really time to have this kind of free relaxation of all type of blame and verbal abuse that describes the traumatized Western "civilization" nowadays. The reason everyone feels it's unhealthy because all the karmic outcome of the drug and non-renewables' system IS poison - exactly the opposite of everything āyurveda and the ancient tradition suggest. Briefly - we cannot digest plastic and live without oxygene, plus we need ourselves.

Breathing fresh air, listening to the morning birds and the far whirring songs of the rapids I felt completely released and happy after such a long time (I think the last time was my innocent youth in Lonavala in 2018.) People living and providing all this goodness are very very lovely and caring. This Sri Lankan breakfast was prepared on real fire :) Go and visit!

Right after eating we left. Couldn't imagine better weather for a bike trip! One can see all these fresh green tea fields, and vegetable gardens all around, and all the vegetation of a tropical jungle are just beyond expectation. Breathing this air felt like having immediate healing.

Dowa Rājā mahāvihārāya temple

There was still some chill in the air when we rode to this old temple, which is 15 kms from Ella, situated on the Badulla road. I remember, I was tricked by sensation twice here. Yes there is a small altar with a statue next to the main road, but the temple itself is much below, by the feet of a giant 39 feet tall Buddha statue carving (which I almost just passed by). Legends hold that King Walagamba made this small temple built 1st century BC, hidden on purpose in the mountains by a small river: he was hiding from foreign invasions (and he left the tall statue unfinished when left escaping from rulers of Kandy).

The monastery is an active community of practice still today, as they teach Buddha's dharma for children, Pāli canon is a major part of their education. This venerable theravāda monk wasn't just posing for a selfie, I assured him how beneficial Vipassanā is for many of us. He was delighted to hear that people learn Pāli and practice buddhism even in remote countries. (Participating a meditation course in Goenka's Dhamma centers you actually learn to tame your mind with a direct lineage of Burmese buddhism, and they think nirvāna can be reached, arhats exist still today.)

Donation was given, please do it whenever you visit such old heritages.

Actually this is a more than 2000 year old sanctuary with beautiful ancient frescoes. These have been painted during the Kandhyan period. One can see the past life stories of Lord Buddha (jātakas in Pāli). The fine facial expressions on the pictures were so lifelike, that I felt like watching Rawling's magic photos - so that each time the gates are closed, these tiny figures continue their archaic life - repeating the same stories again and again.

There was a small bunch of Sinhalese adults and children, and as they were quite curious "Western girl in a panjabi - who she can be?" we started to interact vivifying the biographical and Pāli birth stories - Māyādevi, Māra, Angulimāla, taming the cobra and the mad elephant, etc. They became excited and just talked in Sinhala, although I could catch words only, it was clear that the mothers explain the stories to their kids. I felt so much bliss, their cute tittering was like bird's song :)

There was also a mysterious door, they were talking about this with the guide, especially children were buzzing around. I thought it must be a statue or some rare painting, but as I read later - rather should be the entrance of the secret tunnels. The 11 km long tunnel is indeed guarded by a cobra statue, but it has been locked away for nearly four decades and its outlet in Ella too is prohibited to the public for security reasons and earthslips.

"The tunnels, which were in good condition until the 1960s, were used by many including treasure hunters, forcing us to cement and lock the entrance" said the guardian.

Walking out I took back my shoes and headed to the entrance. Buddika came and asked if I have seen Walagamba's tall statue - thanks to him I did not walk away from the main rock carving.. (sorry, it was 30 meters above my eyesight :D) Pillaring the statue there is a giant sapu tree supported by a granite slab fighting for its existence with the statue since the roots of the tree are weakening the structure of the granite base. So symbolic, isn't?

A bit bigger group of people were greeting me there, and when I climbed the stairs again, Buddika was teaching some Sinhalese words to say goodbye.

Āyubovan. Gihin ennam. Budusaranai, devi pihitai.

In response happy Āyubhovans were showering. Possibly reciting the Dhammacakkapavattana sūtta, we couldn't have left easily. I love Asian people, they are super lovely ♥

Uva Halpewatta Tea Factory

I could join a group, they exactly started their guided tour at 8.30, so it was brilliant! The guide was teasing me for ten minutes what informations have I missed :D I think he often cheered up his work this way - and it was really successful, as people connected each other here and there :)

A picture is worth a thousand words. You can see the stages of tea production on the second if you slide. At the end of the tour we were tasting all type of tea starting from the lightest towards the strongest.

Nine Arches Bridge

... actually belongs to Demodara, but is much closer to Ella. It was built during the colonial era by British engineers - and Lankan physical power. The area attracts more and more tourists due to this stunning view in the nearby hillsides. During my journey people kept recommending to visit Up Country and Ella for it's beauty, but I didn't expect to find such an earthly paradise. No other thing comes to one's mind, that Paradise exist.

One might feels it is needless to practice here, only karmayoga needed, prāṇa pervades everything, sometimes it feels like the body is just floating in it. However this is a well known phenomenon in buddhism also. This is why in devaloka there is a huge gong hit in each hour to remind the devas they haven't left saṁsāra yet.

Buddika made a phone call. In the morning he said he would have a couple of hours, but now he got to know it is a free day, so we can travel to other places as well. Yayy!! :)

That is how we started a whole day motorbike trip with this cute young fella.

The city centre was close from here, I shot this picture of Buddika and his friend after buying a new memory card.

The second picture is of a lovely mum and her baby - all the foreign travellers I met shared this idea that Sri Lankan babies are the cutest in the world. They have tiny little, perfectly fine regular Asian features - also the parents are balanced and nice - so how would babies there? Of course small little angels.

Little Adam's peak

Although the weather was changing, I enjoyed my time on this hilltop looking around quite far along the valley, making pictures, hugging trees, just merging in nature. If someone told me I would ride soon all the way through that far-far away road, possibly I would have screamed for 5 minutes with joy :D Riding is an addiction. Dopamin, serotonin, oh, riding is my love! Possibly an Indian or Sri Lankan person will never understand why is it so "safe" for us compared to our roads... and people.

It was a bit rainy and quite foggy - as it usually is in Lanká during monsoon - but seeing how the dharmas change so quickly... Incredibly beautiful.

So the hill was quite steep anyway - but not exactly for my screwed knee -it was just hard for my shoes. In other scenarios (like going w others n having more time in Ella) I would have possibly just go barefoot, but my guide was waiting so I turned to the right and walked up to the top of the hill where a small Buddha Śākyamuni was sitting in timeless meditation. I could capture a really pretty butterfly ;) People had chit-chat making pics with highly professional cameras.

Besides this tool, always go in a summer hiking shoe to Sri Lanká. You will see, that sooner or later you will end up on a hilltop or peak of a mountain, and as it is quite humid 365, you must protect yourself from minor injuries or slides - and I'm serious, that I was just lucky by Ella rock (next blog entry).

Rawanaella rock temple

The weather was a bit rainy, the darkening sky forecasted something is definitely in progress...

Legend has it that this temple and the cave behind was used by King Rāvaṇa to hide Princess Sītā. (There is an other place in Nuwara Eliya more possibly fulfilled this purpose, but who knows really.) Rāmāyaṇa is similarly to the Mahābhārata, history of royal families. Very rich ones. The fabulous city of Lanka was built by Viśrava (other Hindu sources say Viśvakarman, the celestial architect.) He had two wives: Varavarṇini and Kaikasi. Kubera, the King of Kings, God of Wealth was born to the first wife, while his rākṣasa siblings: Rāvaṇa, Kumbhakarṇa, Vibhīṣaṇa and Śūrpanakhā were born to Kaikasi. You can read the story any time.

Interestingly I found a Sri Lankan source, where Rāvaṇa stole Kubera's wife (not exactly

Rāma's) and his plane (puṣpaka vimāna in Saṁskṛt, dadumonara in Sinhalese), which was returned to Kubera after Rāvaṇa death. He drove Kubera away from Lanka, who settled on Gandhamandana mountain, near Mout Kailash, the cosmological abode of Lord Śiva in the Himālayas.

It is history of war between tribes, and there was a constant passage between the continents - by plane or not. Still the epic is one of the most enigmatic. If Rāvaṇa was prince of Lankā, why did he steal Sītā, a beauty from the forest, for instance? Godāvari river wasn't just in the neighborhood. Being in war with his brother, and now with a whole Indian army. And why would any hill tribe help a northern king? Definitely Kubera was the king of wealth. Lot of mysteries.

Rāvaṇa's cave and temple is thought to be connected to the mentioned Dowa rock temple in Bandarawella as part of King Walagamba's famous tunnel network. Archaeological findings include a human skull dating back to 20,000 BC.

These tunnels prove beyond doubt the architectural brilliance of King Rāvaṇa (or if the legend is true, his father, Visvakarman, who also built Ruwanwelisaya-stúpa in Anurádhapura.) The tunnels served as a quick means of transport through the hills and also as a secret passage. They networked all the important cities, airports and dairy farms. A close look at these tunnels indicates that they are man-made and not natural formations. (Existing tunnel mouths are also situated at Ishtripura in Welimada, Senapitiya in Halagala, Ramboda, Labookelle, Wariyapola in Matale, and Seetha Kotuwa in Hasalaka and in many more places.)

We went back to the center for lunch - as I chose Dreamcafé, my young friend was eating with his crew, as it is his workplace, n I sat alone. I like to eat alone, merge into the mysteries of food substance. It seems nothing yet it means everything.

I knew I gonna have masala, but I had to wait as the restaurant was full. It was literally hurtful for my senses after the sanctum of a forest to sit in the middle of a noisy place at high peak and people drinking alcohol all around (that small little line of smoke gets directly into your lungs, just bluoaaaah). Also I was thrilled what will we see in the afternoon :) So basically I was very impatient to leave.

Ravan's fall

It was still raining when we left so it was a bit tricky what should we do. My raincoat was back in La Ciel, and the rain just didn't seem to stop. While I was thinking how high is the chance to get pneumonia from heavy tropical rain (will I survive at all??), it started to fall really heavily. We found a roadside shelter and discussed how far Ravan's fall is. Based on the short distance we have agreed to go there and decide about the rest of the day later. But soon enough Merida's locks all popped out - aHHHaaa, what is some rain for us when we ride along huge harsh green mountains in the tropical rain with steam and clouds and palms and fog and vapor!!

/use landscape panorama on a mobile for resolution like this/

Maybe time comes when we will include Waterfalls as common heritages as well. There is just nothing compared to them. If I should choose the most magnificent places I have seen connected to water, Ravan's Fall is definitely one of them. At least during monsoon. All the primordial subconscious patterns. Oh yes. I want to climb it one day! The power of the elements even touches the locals during monsoon when the river is in it's greatest pomp.

But soon enough again we got a great load into our neck, so we decided to have black tea in Rāvans Fall restaurant nearby. When we shook our longsleeve jackets, cats and dogs jumped out creating huge ponds around us. After half an hour watching the rain spending the time by sharing short stories we went to the scooter. And then it started to withdraw. Grinning with winners smile we looked at each other. Yess! More further sights.

Buduruwagala, an ancient buddhist heritage site...

... is about 4,5 km along a side road from Wellawaya. As we run smoothly with the scooter the rain completely stopped, and we could enjoy the afternoon sun ex-raying the greenery of the trees. Leaving the mountains it was a plain territory we rode across. There were paddy fields around, coconut palms, and white waterbirds opened their wings from time to time drawing circles above the ponds seeking for a frog or any other miserable pray. It was complete freedom, the whole isle whirled thourgh my sūryacakra!!

Reaching the site I could here bees buzzing, loud sounds of cicadas and special tropical birds. I have seen termites live first time in my life.

There is s tall Buddha figure, and seven much smaller - well they rather seemed to be mahāyāna statues (as only they can be..?) Please never show your back to the the Buddha statue - or at least try to remember this.

We can read on the ticket that all the income generated from entrance fee will be spent on the protection and preservation of this heritage, it goes to Central Cultural Fund - and if you see my pictures it is likely believable. Not only the archeological sites are protected, but the natural habitats of the fertile lands and waters with all the smells and sounds.

Returning on the same by road of Wellawaya finally we rode to Diyaluma Falls. It was the last thing we saw before the sun started to decline. Buddika was so so happy to see this place, he said he has never seen this waterfall :) He was just laughing and smiling constantly watching. A really pure soul. I wish we woud have this level of purity in human minds in Europe.

Anyway it was really refreshing to sense subtle water vapor without rain ~ ~

After this we went to drink tea Buddika's friend's road restaurant. The lady had a very nice Indian accent she said its because she is listening to a lot of Hindí soap-opera - also I think she fancied Indian culture :) she had a cute baby and a son. Her hubby was very funny. Amazing how balanced Sri Lankan people are. I guess they are just genuinely happy for the peace after the 26 year long war.

Honestly I don't think I could express what exactly this day meant for me. How it has shaped and led me back to the roots - it is way beyond conceptualization, paradise!!

Kṛṣṇamācārya used to say for real life experience you need to travel. Sir Desikachar mentioned in the Heart of yoga that a retreat to a distance might help for seeing the whole picture, or shaping better decisions.

Buddha was a yogi in fact, but we can respect Viṣṇu's last avatār in him, also we can say Burmese buddhist yoga has preserved amazing amount of knowledge. Practicing longterm sooner or later you start to understand that philosophy of the human mind and words are orphan fiddles to describe the actual reality. That's when the Guru comes.