Before my trip to Sri Lanka, I had some trepidation about traveling solo to this teardrop-shaped island nation reeling from a brutal civil war. But the excitement of ascertaining the unfamiliar triumphed over my lingering doubts, and a few days before I headed out to Kuala Lumpur for my connecting flight to Colombo, I learned about the “Cultural Triangle”—of which Sigiriya (which I'm familiar with because of the Duran Duran music video for "Save a Prayer") is a part.
Counting UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka
The Cultural Triangle is situated in the central part of Sri Lanka and covers an area thriving with UNESCO World Heritage cultural sites showcasing the splendor of the beautiful ruins of the ancient cities of Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura, Kandy, and Dambulla.
Arriving in Colombo, I felt the busload of apprehension deserting me, instantly replaced by euphoria as the friendly locals made me feel right at home. When I missed my bus stop on the way to the hostel, a group of young men pointed me in the right direction, complete with a map hastily drawn on a crumpled piece of paper. Later that night, eschewing my spiciness restriction, I took one bite too many of a chicken biryani, thereby scorching my tongue. A hand appeared from nowhere to offer me a glass of water. "Too spicy for you?" the man eating at the next table said to me. "Here, drink it quick!" Imagine my relief downing that glass of water. Those little things further amplified my excitement about exploring Sri Lanka.
My two-week journey across Sri Lanka became chock-full of encounters with gregarious people, weaving in and out of the many historic UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Galle Fort
After a couple of days in Colombo, I hopped on an 8:45 train to Galle, where a massive seaside walled structure gifted me with my first UNESCO World Heritage Site. Almost an aesthetic brother to our own Intramuros in Manila, Galle Fort keeps within its thick fortifications a rich past that witnessed the country shift allegiance from the Portuguese to the Dutch before finally being colonized by the British, up until its birth as an independent country in 1948. The imposing walls of Galle Fort occupied my whole afternoon. There were families on a Sunday picnic, fellow travelers, vendors, cricket junkies, and all sorts of people from different backgrounds. The locals in their colorful weekend garb would always smile at me each time my eyes greeted theirs.
Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic
While I didn’t exactly lay eyes on the sacred tooth relic of the Buddha, I stood under the same roof where it has been kept ever since the temple’s erection in 1595. Situated in the scenic city of Kandy, the last capital of Sri Lankan Kings, the Temple of the Tooth houses the Buddha’s left canine tooth that was retrieved at his funeral in 543 BCE by his disciple Khema. Today, the relic is considered a symbol of the living Buddha and attracts Buddhist pilgrims from all over the world. The rest of my stay in Kandy was spent circling the oval lake downtown on foot, trying out various local dishes, and endlessly observing the local way of life.
Golden Temple of Dambulla
After a few days enjoying the foggy weather in Kandy, I headed to the dry lowlands of Dambulla, where I set up base for the remainder of my cultural triangle incursion. I was the lone guest at Dambulla City Hostel, managed by Zhenya Katashynska, a traveler from Russia and one of those round-the-world explorers who find jobs on the road. It was here that I learned the ancient art and history of another UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Golden Temple of Dambulla. Consisting of a five-cave monastery perched atop a hill one hundred sixty meters high, the impressive ancient structures and paintings found inside give you a major reason to make the slow uphill hike and see them for yourself. Under the torrid gleam of the sun, I hiked my way up as dozens of monkeys goofed at each other around me. Arriving at the top, a smiling guard signaled me to take off my shoes as I prepared to enter the first cave.
I saw the main hallway leading to the first cave positioned underneath a large body of granite rock. What impressed me was discovering the cave’s interior directly hewn into the massive boulder. Inside, a looming Buddha statue greets the visitors; behind it are equally impressive Buddhas in different poses standing in a semicircular row. Instantly, my attention was drawn to the stunning murals inscribed on the walls and ceilings. The artworks, as I eavesdropped from a nearby tour guide speaking, depict the life and times of Buddha, the temptation by Mara the demon, and Buddha’s first-ever sermon. Most of these magnificent works of art date back to the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, with some going all the way back two thousand years ago.
The Ruins of the Ancient City of Polonnaruwa
Bearing witness to numerous civilizations and a major representation of Sinhalese and Buddhist history, the ancient ruins that lay stunningly around Polonnaruwa comprise the fifth UNESCO World Heritage Site. I arrived at Polonnaruwa under the hottest of days; a tuk-tuk driver, as if on cue, greeted me at the foot of the bus the moment I stepped onto the hot asphalt road, offering to take me around. Ditching my original plan of riding a bicycle, we agreed on a reasonable fixed fare.
Just like in Siem Reap, Polonnaruwa reminded me of the engineering and agricultural ingenuity of the civilization that flourished more than a thousand years ago. The lakes connecting to the ancient ruins provided an effective irrigation system that is still in use today. Left and right are scattered remnants of a historic past teeming with influences of both the Buddhist and Hindu faiths. One by one, I hopped in and out of the tuk-tuk and into the many surviving structures dating back to the reign of Parakramabahu I, which began in 1153. We started at the ancient Royal Palace ruin before proceeding to the Polonnaruwa Vatadage—a circular temple ruin housing four symmetrical Buddha statues that served as the original place where the tooth relic of Buddha was kept.
One particular artifact piqued my attention: the stone book of Gal Pota, because it contains hand-carved texts narrating detailed information about Nissanka Malla, the Sri Lankan king who ruled from 1187 to 1196. My temple hop continued to the Lankatilaka temple, a favorite postcard subject highlighted by its emblematic forty-foot-high statue of a headless Buddha. Two massive pillars made of bricks greet you at the entrance, flanked by walls filled with ancient artworks and carvings. My tuk-tuk driver also took me to the Citadel and the Quadrangle, which are located further north.
At Gal Vihara, I saw the twin statues of Buddha starred by the reclining one. The two stupas of Rankoth Vehera and Kiri Vihara are also imposing in their sheer size, particularly Rankoth, which is the largest in Polonnaruwa and the fourth biggest in all of Sri Lanka. Nourished with new information and impressive sightings, I must admit that my body felt drained by the time my tuk-tuk driver dropped me at a local restaurant to grab a late lunch. It was around three in the afternoon when I finished my meal and realized the sun wasn't quite as scorching anymore. Wanting to give the ancient city of Polonnaruwa another go-see, I rented a bike for a half-day rate and pedaled around on my own until I satisfied my craving for visual delight and a relic overdose of olden times.
Sigiriya Rock
Right from the onset of planting my first step, I felt my pulse racing with excitement at the thought of setting foot at the palace ruins of an olden Ceylon civilization atop this six-hundred-foot massive rock column. It seemed dreamlike but was finally about to happen. Selected by King Kassapa during his reign from 477 to 495 CE as the site of his kingdom’s capital, the “Lion Rock” represented the peak of his rule both literally and figuratively. Abandoned after his death, it became a Buddhist monastery until the fourteenth century. Reaching the halfway point of my climb, I reached the Mirror Wall, which at the time of King Kassapa appeared almost like a looking glass due to its smooth texture made of extremely polished white plaster and masonry brick wall. Fading as centuries passed, the wall now appears bare, but upon a closer look, one can see some of the oldest graffiti known in the world, as scribbled poems dating back to as early as the eighth century can be read.
A renowned Sri Lankan archaeologist, Dr. Senerat Paranavitana, interpreted a total of six hundred eighty-five verses believed to have been written between the eighth and tenth centuries CE on the mirror wall.
One of the verses, apparently inscribed by a lovelorn soul, reads (as translated from Sinhala):
“The girl with the golden skin enticed the mind and eyes. Ladies like you make men pour out their hearts. And you also have thrilled the body, making it stiffen with desire.”
I negotiated the spiral staircase and came inside a small cave housing impressive fresco artworks. Known as “The Maidens of the Cloud,” the impressive paintings of twenty-one women partaking in various religious rituals astonished me with their smooth color tones and the retention of fine rich details after the passing of many centuries.
Heaving a torrid series of deep breaths, I drank the last portion of my bottled water and made my way to the ruins of the lion’s mouth, where two gigantic lion paws sandwich the last stairway leading up to the summit.
A few more dozen paces and I found myself rising slowly at the top, summoning the unearthly views of the Sigiriya gardens from below. Spinning my neck, I saw the rest of a palatial ruin forever lost in the passage of time. As I sat and rested, I felt the sense of grandeur associated with this UNESCO World Heritage Site. I trudged my right foot over a mound of soil on the very same ground where Buddhist worshipers stomped theirs as early as the third century BCE. At that moment, elation filled my mind; I dared not wish to be anywhere else.
