Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, and Sigiriya: Exploring the Cultural Triangle

We traveled north to an area of Sri Lanka known as the “Cultural Triangle” that is host to most of Sri Lanka's World Heritage Sites. It's an area rich in history and cultural significance for Sri Lanka. We used Sigiriya as our home base and made day trips to Dambulla and Polonnaruwa, then spent a few days in Anuradhapura.



In these places the only elephants we saw were either in mural paintings or carved from stone!



Annuradhapura was the capital of Sri Lanka for over a thousand years. We were fortunate to make two new friends while we were there. Alex and Amy are a nice couple who were visiting from New York City. Seeing the ruins by bicycle was ideal, as there were many spread out areas to visit.



One of the most impressive things about Anuradhapura's history is that there were about 15,000 Buddhist monks and nuns living in two large monasteries. We saw a refectory that was used to cook alms food for the monks (that was offered by the king). The trough in the picture was used to hold rice.



This is the Abhyagiri Dagoba that was created in the first or second century and is said to house some of the Buddha's remains. The name Abhyagiri means "fearless hill", which illustrates a key practice of Buddhism: monks meditate alone at night in the jungle to overcome their fears (such as fear of being eaten by a tiger). We saw the jungle growing over the ruins. Here it was clear as the plaster exterior is completely gone and it didn't seem like there was mortar between the bricks.



By contrast this fully restored dagoba practically blinds with its brilliant white paint. Ruvanvelisaya Dagoba is used today as a place of worship by local Buddhists. It was interesting to compare the restored to the unrestored.



This is a moonstone, which is used by worshippers to clean their feet before they enter a temple. This one is exceptionally detailed as it has elephants, horses, lions and bulls, representing the challenges of life: birth, old age, sickness and death.



Polonnaruwa was the capital of Sri Lanka from 1,070-1,196, representing the last period that Sri Lanka was ruled as a single country until modern times. We toured the ruins of palaces of the three Kings who made big advancements. During King Parakramabahu’s reign, he built several large reservoirs and over 1,300 canals for distributing the water to farmlands. He brought malaria under control and ushered in an era of prosperity for Sri Lanka.

 

The ruins are quite extensive and in good shape for being 17 hundred years old! This is the Vatadage, a round temple with Buddhas in the four cardinal directions.



There were two exceptional Buddha statues at the Gal Vihara. Our favorite was this soulful looking Buddha with his hands in an unusual  “mudra” or hand position.



And this Buddha in Parinirvana (death of the physical body without further rebirth) was so natural; We could see an indentation of his head on the stone pillow. Each was carved in situ. We loved how the striations in the granite are like waves through the bodies.



Pete is standing next to a column in the shape of a lotus stalk. Polonnaruwa was the only place we saw these beautiful curves.



The Dambulla caves are known for tempura mural paintings, many of which were painted in the 18th century. But the history of Dambulla goes back to 3rd and 2nd century B.C. when one of the most important and largest Buddhist monasteries was located here.



This is a cave where King Valagambahu hid from south Indians during the first century, while he was in exile for 15 years. Once he returned to power in the ancient capital of Anuradhapura, he had a temple built in this cave, in thanks for the sheltering safety.



Over the years other kings also venerated the caves, including gilding the walls. The caves were quite large, with some beautiful Buddha statues. The colorful circular pattern above the statue was painted on the ceiling.

 

Sigiriya means "lion rock" in the Sri Lankan language, and is named lion in honor of the Buddha's family name, Shakya, which also means lion. This is a picture of the beautiful rock, which was the plug of an extinct volcano millions of years ago.



These lion paws are the only remainder of what was once an immense statue of a lion, an impressive entrance to the palace.



The King who had his palace at the top of Sigiriya, King Kasyapa, was only in power for 14 years,  477-495. During that time they figured out how to transport water up to the top by using windmills and storing it in ponds and using the water in fountains and gardens.



King Kasyapa didn't appear to be very religious. Instead he had a giant picture gallery created with 500 paintings of women like these. Only a handful are still visible today, but they have become iconic Sri Lankan images.




Our climb up Sigiriya was about one third the elevation gain of Sri Pada, and helped our legs to get over their soreness. We were happy that the steps were uniform and even height, and that the photo on the right was no longer the way to reach the summit!



Sigiriya was a monastery starting in the 3rd century B.C. and lasting until the 14th century. Here is Pete in between arched boulders, an interesting passageway on the way up to the peak.

In Memory of Susan Peterson: Climbing Sri Pada

(We are re-posting to include pictures of Susan, graciously provided by Ken.)

Susan was a good friend of ours who lost her battle with ovarian cancer on March 16th. She passed away about a month before her 49th birthday. Susan had been in our thoughts ever since we heard this sad news from her partner Ken Lowney. We decided to dedicate our pilgrimage to Sri Pada to her, as she enjoyed hiking and being out in nature. We will also share some of our memories of Susan that surfaced while we made the climb on March 22nd. This is a picture of Susan and Ken on a hiking trip in Yosemite.

Sri Pada is one of the highest mountains in Sri Lanka, rising 7,359 feet up with steep walls and sheer rock faces. The mountain has been an important pilgrimage site for 17 centuries for Buddhists; Hindus, who see Shiva's footprint at the summit; Sri Lankans, who call it Butterfly Mountain; and Christians and Muslims, as well as others, who call it Adam's Peak for the first place Adam walked after being exiled from the Garden of Eden. Buddhists call it Sri Pada, which literally translates from Sanskrit as “beautiful foot” or more eloquently as "sacred footstep". It represents the Buddha’s (metaphorical) visit to Sri Lanka in the 4th century, and the spread of the Buddha's teachings (or Buddhadharma).



We began our climb at 3 am, so that we could watch the sun rise from the summit. The photo of Kristina is at the official start of the Hatton trail. (There were lights that made visibility pretty good for climbing up at night, but there wasn’t enough light for photos until our descent.) We began our friendship with Susan in 2001. We met Susan and Ken on the Go Greenbelt bicycle ride that Pete participated in. The ride was sponsored by Greenbelt Alliance, an organization that is dedicated to protecting Bay Area open spaces while encouraging denser building in urban areas.  Susan, Ken and Pete, along with 50 other cyclists, rode 550 miles over the 7 days of Go Greenbelt ride. Kristina visited for a night and helped support the riders through a Support and Gear (SAG) stop. Both Ken and Pete continued to ride each year, and Kristina ran the Spring Hill SAG stop.

 

The Sri Pada path starts out gently, with occasional steps mixed in with gradually sloping up paths. Then it becomes all steps, 5,200 of them (according to the guidebook), of different heights that are made of stone and concrete. We would climb over 3,000 feet to get to the summit.  The trail has well-provisioned shops for pilgrims to get refreshments throughout the climb. We stopped for tea and a package of biscuits around 4:30 am. While sipping our tea and nibbling the bland biscuits, a memory of the best dessert Susan ever made for us came up: it was a crème fraiche panna cotta with stewed dried fruits, which she served as the last course of a New Year’s feast that went on for hours. Susan was an amazing cook. She’d been to cooking school in the late ‘90’s and when she graduated she became the personal chef for Steve Jobs and family (stretching her to learn vegan dishes that still tasted rich). She worked as a dessert cook at Chez Panisse for a number of years, and she shared with us a fantastic recipe for coconut cookies that had restaurant proportions, such as “2 cups of egg whites”.

 

We were climbing with hundreds of other pilgrims, many of them barefoot to show respect to the mountain, some of them families of several generations. We reached the summit of Sri Pada at 5:30 am, and took off our shoes, as was required. It was cool with a good breeze so we put on hats and jackets. We meditated in the darkness for half an hour, then enjoyed the first light of dawn and the beautiful sunrise. We thought of Susan and Ken. The four of us had enjoyed a 4-day weekend together at Tassajara each summer for the past 8 years. Tassajara was always a peaceful and rejuvenating vacation that we looked forward to all year. Located in the Ventana Wilderness, in a beautiful and remote valley with natural hot springs, it’s run by the San Francisco Zen Center. Part of the visit included getting up while it was still dark and participating in the morning zazen (meditation) in the temple together. Susan didn’t always make it to zazen at 5:30 am, as she was less of a morning person than us, but she always went at least once each trip.



Here’s a picture of Kristina ringing a bell at the summit, once for herself and once in memory of Susan. Traditionally, a pilgrim rings a bell once for each pilgrimage they've completed. Susan might have found a way to tie the clapper string to a friend's belt loop, so when they moved, the bell would repeatedly ring. She was quite a prankster. For example, at Tassajara we enjoyed soaking in the hot springs at various times each day. Susan would inevitably hide Ken’s shoes so that after he got out of the bath he would have to say, “Miss Peterson, where are my shoes?” as he searched until he found them or she relented and showed him where they were hidden. Ken frequently called Susan “Miss Peterson,” which was a very cute nickname. They were a very well-matched couple.



We started our descent and saw dogs along the steps as we climbed down. Susan had a beloved golden retriever, Waverly. They had over 10 years together, and when Waverly was diagnosed with stomach cancer, Susan didn’t hesitate to pay for surgery. As a result, Waverly enjoyed another year of life. Susan took Waverly’s ashes to her family farm in upstate New York. I remember her telling the story of how her Dad had said “we’d be honored to have Waverly here.” It was evident there was a close bond between Susan and her parents, and that she loved and respected them both. We heard about her Dad’s veterinarian exploits, one of which included having a drugged tiger in the back of a vehicle that got stuck in traffic and having to get a police escort to get through before the tiger woke up. We met Susan’s Mom, Cindy, when she came out 8 months ago to help while Susan was recovering from surgery. Susan would look forward to visiting her parents each summer, and enjoyed being on the land that they had put into a trust.



We continued our descent, and towards the bottom of the trail we started to see villagers selling local produce. Seeing the beautiful vegetables reminded us that Susan had spent a year in Santa Cruz for the Farm and Garden Program. During that year, she slept in a tent, organized daily meditation with other like-minded students, and got to know Nancy Vail (who was on the faculty). Over the next few years, Nancy and Susan stayed in touch while Nancy and Jered Lawson started Pie Ranch, a non-profit farm that teaches high school kids how to grow food and make pie. Nancy asked Susan to join the Pie Ranch Board, and Susan eventually became Board President. She had time to work with Pie Ranch because she worked part time at Chez Panisse and wasn’t concerned about making a lot of money. She was a wonderful example of a person who lived life to the fullest. Susan and Ken created a beautiful garden at their home in Oakland. We enjoyed barbecuing there, as well as touring the garden and seeing all the different and interesting plants.



It took us about 2.5 hours to climb down, and our legs were shaking with all the exertion. Near our hotel we spotted a beehive in a tree. Susan had enlisted the help of a friend at Chez Panisse to build a beehive for her garden. She took classes in beekeeping, and was interested to learn about colony collapse disorder when her hive started showing signs of decreased bee population. She had wanted to raise chickens to have fresh eggs. She took a workshop in how to build a chicken coop, but didn’t start this project due to being diagnosed with cancer about 9 months ago.

We deeply valued our friendship with Susan, and we miss her! She lived a remarkable life, with joy and wonder for the world, with a heart filled with compassion and love.

This poem by Mary Oliver, who was one of Susan's favorite poets, seems to us a fitting way to remember her by.

When Death Comes

When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse

to buy me, and snaps his purse shut;
when death comes
like the measle-pox;

when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering;
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,

and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth
tending as all music does, toward silence,

and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.

When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was a bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it's over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened
or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world. 

Uda Walawe: A Sri Lankan Safari

We hired a car and driver to take us to Uda Walawe National Park, as it is located in a more remote part of Sri Lanka. We spent the night in an Eco Resort with rustic cabins without air-conditioning so we took a lot of cool showers. The next morning we took a jeep safari, starting before sunrise so that we would be in the park when it's coolest and the animals are most active.



Sri Lanka has realized the value of their wilderness, and has effective policies to protect the animals and to charge tourists appropriately for the opportunity to experience a safari. At the entrance to the park we picked up a nature guide named Dinuisha. He had eagle eyes and was very knowledgeable about the birds and animals in Uda Walawe.



This is a Serpent Eagle. It almost seemed like he was posing for our picture.



These Indian Pied Hornbills were high up in the tree.



There were a number of water holes that we cruised by. At this one we got great views of this Painted Stork.



The reason we made the journey to Uda Walawe is because they have elephants there year round. And we were not disappointed. We saw single elephant males like this one.



This was a family of elephants, with a mother and two juveniles. When we first drove up, the mother got in front of her kids and wouldn't move until she felt comfortable that we were not a threat.



We got the treat of seeing them go into the water to drink. Elephants need between 80-220 liters of water per day for drinking, and more for bathing. A mature elephant can hold 4 liters of water in their trunk.



The elephant trunk is amazing. Wikipedia states there are 60,000 muscles in an elephant's trunk, and no bones. Elephants use their trunks for breathing, watering, feeding, touching, dusting, sound production and communication, washing, pinching, grasping, defense and offense. The trunk can lift 660 pounds. Here the mother is using her trunk to pull up grass, then she steps on the roots to break them off. Elephants need to eat continuously, up to 330 pounds of vegetation per day.



We also saw this group of 7 elephants, comprised of adult females, adolescent males and a baby. They were eating under the shade of trees.



The baby is a tusker, a male with tusks, which is rare in Sri Lankan Asian elephants. His mother is to the left in the photo. Elephant pregnancy is 20 months long. The baby is fully mature at 19 months, but spends another month growing in the womb, so that is is tall enough to feed when it is born. At birth an elephant weighs 220 lbs, and it will nurse for 3 years.




We were also fortunate to see elephant mating, which is unusual on a safari. We think this was likely a young male "practicing" as the female he mounted was a lactating mother who likely wouldn't get pregnant. And fully mature males are not allowed to be part of a herd with females.