Ambalamas - traditional shelters for wayfarers in Sri Lanka
Panavitiya Ambalama
Ambalama is a Sinhalese term meaning 'resting place for wayfarers'. Mostly made of wood, with only a few pillars, Ambalamas were simple shelters provided for pilgrims and other travellers free of charge. Abalama halls are airy, they have no or only semi-high walls, but with planks serving as as seats. Ambalamas were often erected near streams for the comfort of the wayfarers and had big pitchers made of clay or stone for sanitary purposes. Constructing an Ambalama way a meritorious deed, polluting them a sin. The donors of Ambalama constructions were rich families or entire village communities collectively. They were also used by locals as resting places and for another purpose, viz. for socializing in leisure time or for meetings to discuss communal affairs. Rest houses for traders or pilgrims are known from written records (Ashoka inscriptions) to have existed already in 3rd century BC. Ambalamas are also known from late medieval and early modern poetic works that describe mythic jouneys.
As Ambalamas are secular buildings and therefore wooden constructions. Decaying parts were replaced in the course of time. This is why some of them still exist. The oldest that have survived in Sri Lanka are from the Kandyan period. They can be up to 400 years old like the wooden bridge of Bogoda that also served as an Ambalama. Most Ambalamas (the Sinhalese plural is 'ambalam') are much younger and the newer ones are made of stone. The famous Ambalama at the Kadugannawa Pass between Kegalle and Kandy is from the British colonial period. The ancient ones, however, are among Sri Lanka's oldest surviving wooden structures. Their plain but meticulous architecture is pretty charming. Particularly, the timbering of the roofs are of excellent craftsmanshipl. Some capitals are decorated with fourfold hanging lotus ornaments in the Kandyan style. But only the Panavitiya Ambalama in the western lowlands is lavishly decorated with woodcarvings. Actually, concerning quantity and quality of original figurative carvings from the Kandyan period, it ranks only second to the Embekke Temple near Gampola.
As Ambalamas are secular buildings and therefore wooden constructions. Decaying parts were replaced in the course of time. This is why some of them still exist. The oldest that have survived in Sri Lanka are from the Kandyan period. They can be up to 400 years old like the wooden bridge of Bogoda that also served as an Ambalama. Most Ambalamas (the Sinhalese plural is 'ambalam') are much younger and the newer ones are made of stone. The famous Ambalama at the Kadugannawa Pass between Kegalle and Kandy is from the British colonial period. The ancient ones, however, are among Sri Lanka's oldest surviving wooden structures. Their plain but meticulous architecture is pretty charming. Particularly, the timbering of the roofs are of excellent craftsmanshipl. Some capitals are decorated with fourfold hanging lotus ornaments in the Kandyan style. But only the Panavitiya Ambalama in the western lowlands is lavishly decorated with woodcarvings. Actually, concerning quantity and quality of original figurative carvings from the Kandyan period, it ranks only second to the Embekke Temple near Gampola.
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