Pussellawa - tea plantations & rewarding excursions

Pussellawa, pronounced by locals more like "Pussella", is a town in Udapalatha Divisional Secretariat of Kandy District, bordering Nuwara Eliya District. Situated in an elevation of around 850 m (2,800 feet) above sea level, Pussellawa the largest town along the scenic mountain road A5 between Gampola and Nuwara Eliya. It's exactly halfway between Kandy and Nuwara Eliya.

Attractions of Pussellawa's immediate surroundings

Though administrationally part of the Kandy District, Pussellawa belongs to the Nuwara Eliya tea region and is the town with the largest number of tea estates in its vicinity. Most tourists enjoying Sri Lanka's tea region and scenic hillcountry cross Pussellawa, may be unaware of the the name of the inconspicusous town, though several visit one of the famous tea estates such as Rothschild and Helbodde. But only few travelers consider Pussellawa to be a destination for one or more overnight stays, though it is a perfect starting point excursions to discover highly rewarding less-known attractions the city's surroundings, such as Kotmale Valley, Peackock Hill, and the hidden Frotoft Estate, which is on the way to the fascinating hiking destination of Charioth Path, the latter situated on the ridge of Sri Lanka's main mountain range. Some smaller waterfalls are near the city, such as Helboda Ella or Delta Falls.

Pusselawa is the perfect starting point for the said three excursions, Charioth Path, Peacock Hill, and Kotmale Valley, each of which requires half a day for exploration. The mountain roads to Frotoft and to Peacok Hill are in a poor condition, a tuctuc or jeep should be preferred over a normal car or van. The attractions at the Kotmale Reservoir, however, can be reached in a more comfortable way.

Chariot Path

Chariot Path got is a barren piece of land amidst the forests covering Sri Lanka's main mountain range, which stretches from Hanthana near Kandy to Piduratalagala near Nuwara Eliya. Smaller in size, this mix of open grasslands and pygmy forests resembles the famous Horton Plains and offers even more spectacular views. But because Charioth Path can only be reached via a small footpath, which takes around 1 hour uphill, it is much less frequented by tourists. The amazing locatin got its name from the popular belief that the barren land is the result of being touched by the Pushpaka Vimana, the flying chariot of Lanka's legendary demon king Ravana, who came here with Sita after captivating her and flying with her over his realm to impress her with its beauty.

view from Chariot Path to Adam's Peak

Frotoft Tea Estate

Peacock Hill

The backyard mountain of Pussellawa is Peacock Hill. A bumpy dirt road crossing the tea plantations called "New Peacock" and "Old Peacock" winds up almost to the summit. Only a short hike of 30 minutes, moderately uphill, then leads to the spectacular rock formation high above Lake Kotmale, which offers one of the best panoramic views of the central highlands of Sri Lanka, particularly of the tea plantations surrounding Pussellawa and Ramboda.

easy hiking destination Peacock Hill

view from Peacock Hill to Kotmale reservoir

Kotmale Valley

In the course of Sri Lanka's ambitious hydropower and irrigations scheme known as Mahawela Development Project, the Kotmale Valley was flooded and the Kotmale reservoir created. Several temples submerged. However, the ruins of the most famous one, Kadodara Viharaya, occasionally reemerges, when in dry periods the water level of the reservoir descends significantly. In commemoration of the flooded sanctuaries and habitations, a new stupa was erected at the slopes of Peackock Hill, not far from the Kotmale dam. The so-called Kotmale Mahaweli Maha Seya is the largest modern stupa construction in Sri Lanka.

ruins of Kadadora Vihara at the Kotmale reservoir

Kotmale Mahaweli Maha Seya near Kotmale dam

History of Pussellawa

Legend says that that kings of the medieval Gampola Kingdom whenever threatened by enemies took refuge in the then forested hillcountry region between Pussellawa and Kotmale, where now the tea plantations of Peacock and Rothschild are established. However, before having become a main tea growing area of the British Empire, the island was used by the British land barons for coffee cultivation. The area that is now Melfort Tea Estate, which is the tea plantation closest to the town of Pussellawa, became one of Sri Lanka's first coffee plantations in the 1820s, till coffee rust devasted the island's coffee production almost entirely in the 1870s. Rothschild Coffee followed in the 1840s. So what is now the Rothschild Tea Estate, was originally a coffee plantation during the period the brothers Maurice and Gabriel Worms, nephews of Nathan Mayer Rothschild, were in charge of the estate. However, Maurice was also one of the pioneers of tea cultivation in then Ceylon. Long before James Taylor founded the first Ceylon tea plantation, Maurice bought tea cuttings from China and grow it in a small garden at Condegalle as early as 1841. Nonetheless, the Worms brothers remained coffee producers in the first place, and the transformation to a tea estate occured only after their retirement and demise and was the result of the said coffee rust. Due to the location halfway between Kandy and Nuwara Eliya, the British also chose Pussellawa as a location of their network of rest houses for European commercial travelers in the 19th century.

Only as late as 1918, more than one generation after the beginning of the tea boom in then Ceylon, Melfort also became a successful tea plantation. In contrast to most other Ceylon tea producers, Melfort is more specialised on green tea than black tea. Today, the Melfort Green Tea is mainly produced at Pusselawa's Sanquhar Estate, the history of which goes back to the 19th century and which today also produces rubber in 20% of the property. Rothschild Tea, however, is now by far the largest tea plantation in the area of Pussellawa and the Rothschild tea factory definitely belongs to the most modern ones in Sri Lanka. Rothschild is the world's first tea plantations that received the Global G.A.P. certificate, a standard for safe, socially and environmentally responsible farming practices introduced by the Cologne-based FoodPLUS GmbH.

Lord Murugan at the Gopuram of the Kovil

guardian statue at the Sri Kathirvelayutha Swami Kovil

As many Tamils live in the tea growing areas of Sri Lanka's central highlands, it can come to no surprise that the Hindu shrine is the largest religious building in the twon center of Pussellawa. The Sri Kathirvelayutha Swami Kovil Murugan Temple was originally built in around 1885. This is the period when Tamil coolis first settled in Sri Lanka permantly. On coffee plantations Tamil labourers were only seasonal migrant worker arriving from India only for the annual plucking season. However, tea has to be plucked throughout the year and therefore required the permanent settlement of Tamil labourers since the 1870s. The said Murugan temple after restorations was reconsecrated in March 2016. The oldest Christian church of Pussellawa is Holy Trinity Church from 1859.