Sri Pada Pilgrimage Season - 01 JANUARY to 31 MARCH

Sri Pada is the only mountains in the world where four major religions get together and worship. To the Buddhist, the imprint found on the summit of the mountain is the hallowed footprint of the Lord Buddha hence the Name ?SriPada?. To the Hindus, the footprint is that of God Shiva. To the Christians, it is the footprint of St. Thomas, and to the Islam, it?s the foot print of Adam, hence the title ?Adam?s peak?. Another name given by Sinhalese is ?Samanala Kanda? meaning Butterfly Mountain due to the fleet of butterflies fling around with the start of the season.It is 2243m in height above the sea level and about 27km (16 miles) from bottom to the top by foot or 14.4km(9 miles) by vehicle and 12km (7 miles) by foot to the top of the pointed peak.

Since the 11th century the mountain has been a place of pilgrims. King Vijayabahu the 1 and King Nissankamalla of Polonnaruwa both recorded their pilgrimage here. Pilgrimage season begins from the full moon Poya day of December and continues until the Wesak festival in May. At other times the mountain is wet and rains make the trail dangeruose. Thosands of people makes the journey every year. Most of them climb in the night. The trail is illuminated by lamps. Pilgrims rests and the refreshment stalls make the climb easier. Those who reach the summit by dawn witness a glorious view of sun rising.

Sri pada pilgrims follow a number of traditions proceders. It?s customary for first time climbers to bathe at the stream call ?Seetha Gangula? and to pile white cloth on their heads. At ?indikatu pana? (place of the needle). The devotees stop and hang a threaded needle in to a shrub by path?s side, marking a spot where the Buddha is said to have stopped to mend a tear in his roab. It is bad form, by the way, to ask how far is it to the top...? Instead just exchange the greetings ?karunawai?: ?peace?. Some sing folk songs. The huge bell at the summit is strucked by every pilgrim once for each time they visited. Present visit is not counted, as it?s not completed until they return home. Wearing a sweater is a must as it could be very cold at the summit.

From there the two monks probably would have taken the route to Sri Pada by crossing the river Mahaweli at Mahiyangana and then to the ancient city of Ratnapura which again was an arduous journey through the jungle and remote villages.

It was the tradition in those days to provide food and lodging to pilgrims by the villagers while monks were accommodated at temples across the route. The stopovers usually extended for few days more helped the pilgrims to recuperate, find new friends, exchange notes and commence the difficult climb.

While resting in such a retreat, fellow Sinhalese monks enquired the Siamese guests why they make a tedious journey from Siam all the way when a sacred footprint already exists in their own country.

It appeared that the Siamese monks did not know about it and was thankful to the Sinhalese monks for the information given. They were told that Saccha Badda Giri is supposed to be located in Suwarnabhumi and therefore the people of Siam should make a strong effort to find it.

Resuming their journey back home, the two monks reached Ayutthiya ten months later and straightaway reported to the pious King Song tham Indraraja what they heard in Sri Lanka and the good advice given by the Sinhalese monks.

Overjoyed by this happy news, the King ordered a massive search operation enlisting his Armed Forces, Government Officials, and general public. They were combing through the jungles closer to mountains, rock formations and hilly lands with no success.

Wilbagedera wrote his short account hundred and twelve years after discovery of Pra Buddhapada. Among other foreigners who put their views on record, the Dutch national Theodorus Jacobus von den Heuvel’s account written in the year 1737 remains prominent.

He was the head of the Dutch trade office in Ayutthiya during King Borromakot Dharmaraja’s reign and joined the journey under royal command once as a “honorary observer”. He kept a daily journal of the visit in detail describing the river cruise, jungle trek, places and temples they visited, prelates and officials they met and the hospitality of the Siamese. It is a valuable historical record.

However as usual among Europeans living in Asia in that era, it seems that he found it difficult to comprehend fully the oriental way of life and religious practices, and as a result, jumped into wrong and superficial conclusions.

He displayed his ignorance and failure to understand the primary Buddhist concepts based on the genesis of a wide universe depicted symbolically by 108 auspicious signs on Buddha’s feet.

Visiting the temple subsequently he saw everything with a critical eye. In contrast, Wilbagedera was a devout narrator always conscious of the fact that the most important mission he had been entrusted with was to escort the Siamese monks to Sri Lanka.

Awareness of Buddhist doctrines learned in home country, and rituals practiced from childhood made it easy for him and others in the entourage to understand subtle local nuances and take part in ceremonies at ease at the Buddhapada temple. He saw everything with a faithful eye.

There are many accounts on glories of Ayutthiya written by French, Dutch, Portuguese, English and Persian visitors Among them only two had described Buddhapada, namely the long account by the Dutch envoy in 1737 and the brief description by Wilbagedera in 1751 A,D. His work may be the only one written by an Asian Buddhist visitor having parallel thoughts with Siamese, a fact one cannot ignore when comparing him with other foreign writers. In that sense he holds a unique place.

Ayutthiya kingdom was completely destroyed by the invading Burmese army in the year 1778 the city was plundered, almost all the religious places were set on fire, thousands were killed, in short, the glorious city of Auytthiya vanished from the scene within few days.

It is presumed that Wibagedera was among the last few foreign visitors who wrote descriptions on the magnificent capital few years before it was destroyed.