Ramayan Sites in Sri Lanka - places of Hindu pilgrimage
Randenigala Reservoir with Knuckles Range in the background
For devout Hindus Sri Lanka is of significance as the setting of the episodes and culmination point of one of the two great national epics of India, the Ramayana. The core story of the Ramayana. narrates the abduction of Lord Rama's consort Sita by Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, who brought her to his island. Two of the seven books of the Ramayana are about events occuring on the island of Lanka, namely Book 5, the Sundara Kanda, and Book 5, the Yuddha-Kanda. The Sundara Kanda, "the beautiful book" is about Lord Hanuman's searching for Sita and his adventures on the island. The most important scene is how he found Sita and could prove that he is a messenger of her husband by showing her his ring, a scene that took place in a garden called Ashoka Vatika. Sita had refused to live in the palace of another man thn her husband, so Ravana kept her in captivity in this grove-like garden. The Yuddha-Kanda is the "battle book". It contains the episodes that ensued, after Lord Rama himself came to the island via a bridge, the Rama Setu, together with the monkey army of Sugriva. On the island he commenced the fight against the demons of Ravana for the liberation of Sita. During that fight, Rama and his brother Ravana got injured in a way that was incurable except from being treated with special herbs from the Himalayas. Hanuman leapt through the air from Lanka to the mountains, but because he could not ientify the correct herbs, he took the entire range of Mount Dronagiri, where the medical advisor then could identify them. After the cure of Rama and Laxmana, Hanuman brought the mountain back to the Himalaya. On the way through the air, five peaces of the mountain fell down on Sri Lanka. The chunks are now places in Sri Lanka that are extraordinarily rich in Ayurvedic herbs. Rama finally managed to ocervome and kill Ravana in a final battle, by shhoting his magical arrow, and to meet his wife in Ashoka Vatika. But as a prove that she had been faithful to him during the long time she had to live under control of another male, she underwent a fire ordeal, the Agni Pariksha.
A few dozen places in Sri Lanka are now associated with episodes of the Sundara Kanda and the Yuddha Kanda. These places known as Ramayana Sites or Ramayana Trail Sites are attracting Hindus from India and all parts of the world. Some of them have become much-visited pilgrimage sites in recent years.
The most important one is the Ashoka Vatika, which is believed to be the compund of the Sita Amman Kovil, the only temple dedicated to Sita. The Sita Amman temple is at the edge of a village and a clearing known as Sita Eliya, not far from Nuwara Eliya and very close to Hakgala Botanical Gardens, which are sometimes also said to be part of the Ashoka Vatika.
The second most important Ramayana Site is Divurumpola near Welimada. It's on the way from Nuwara Eliya and Hakgala to Badulla or Ella. Divurumpola is a Buddhist temple today. The Agni Pariksha is said to have taken place at its Bo-tree.
Less visited but highly venerated are the five so-called Sanjiwani drops, the chunks of Mount Dronagiri that fell down when Hanuman brought it to Sri Lanka. Ritigala near Habarana in the Cultural Triangle is the most significant one. Dolukanda near Kurunegala can be seen when travelling from the Munneshvaram Temple near Chilaw to Kandy. Rumassala Rock is the small spit below the Japanese Peace Pagoda at the harbour bay of Galle. Thalladi is a coastal wetland on the mainland of Sri Lanka close to the bridge to the island of Mannar. One Sanjeewani drop is not accessible, the island of Katchathivu in the Palk Strait.
Rama Setu, now a chain of islets formed by sand dunes between Mannar and India's Pamban Island, is very sacred, too, but not easy to reach and therefore less visited by Ramayana pilgrims. Rameshvaram on the Indian side of the bridge, however, is South India's most important pilgrimage site. It's a place where Rama erected a Lingam in honour of Shiva, as a penance to atone for having killed a Ravana, who was a Brahmin. This is India's only Ramalinga. Sri Lanka has a Ramalingam, too, namely in the small temple of Manavari near Chilaw.
Many places of the Ramayana Trail are sites where Sita was kept in hiding during her abduction. The Ravana Cave near Ella is one of them, the Istripura Caves (Shtripura Caves) to the north of Welimada are another one. Such caves in many parts of the central highlands are said to be connected by secret tunnels. Not all Sita-visited places are caves, however. A highly venerated place is Chariot Path, were ponds are left by her tears. But it's only reachable on a three- to four-hours hike from the remote Frotoft Estate.
A few dozen places in Sri Lanka are now associated with episodes of the Sundara Kanda and the Yuddha Kanda. These places known as Ramayana Sites or Ramayana Trail Sites are attracting Hindus from India and all parts of the world. Some of them have become much-visited pilgrimage sites in recent years.
The most important one is the Ashoka Vatika, which is believed to be the compund of the Sita Amman Kovil, the only temple dedicated to Sita. The Sita Amman temple is at the edge of a village and a clearing known as Sita Eliya, not far from Nuwara Eliya and very close to Hakgala Botanical Gardens, which are sometimes also said to be part of the Ashoka Vatika.
The second most important Ramayana Site is Divurumpola near Welimada. It's on the way from Nuwara Eliya and Hakgala to Badulla or Ella. Divurumpola is a Buddhist temple today. The Agni Pariksha is said to have taken place at its Bo-tree.
Less visited but highly venerated are the five so-called Sanjiwani drops, the chunks of Mount Dronagiri that fell down when Hanuman brought it to Sri Lanka. Ritigala near Habarana in the Cultural Triangle is the most significant one. Dolukanda near Kurunegala can be seen when travelling from the Munneshvaram Temple near Chilaw to Kandy. Rumassala Rock is the small spit below the Japanese Peace Pagoda at the harbour bay of Galle. Thalladi is a coastal wetland on the mainland of Sri Lanka close to the bridge to the island of Mannar. One Sanjeewani drop is not accessible, the island of Katchathivu in the Palk Strait.
Rama Setu, now a chain of islets formed by sand dunes between Mannar and India's Pamban Island, is very sacred, too, but not easy to reach and therefore less visited by Ramayana pilgrims. Rameshvaram on the Indian side of the bridge, however, is South India's most important pilgrimage site. It's a place where Rama erected a Lingam in honour of Shiva, as a penance to atone for having killed a Ravana, who was a Brahmin. This is India's only Ramalinga. Sri Lanka has a Ramalingam, too, namely in the small temple of Manavari near Chilaw.
Many places of the Ramayana Trail are sites where Sita was kept in hiding during her abduction. The Ravana Cave near Ella is one of them, the Istripura Caves (Shtripura Caves) to the north of Welimada are another one. Such caves in many parts of the central highlands are said to be connected by secret tunnels. Not all Sita-visited places are caves, however. A highly venerated place is Chariot Path, were ponds are left by her tears. But it's only reachable on a three- to four-hours hike from the remote Frotoft Estate.
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