Soulful Sri Lanka: A traveller’s reflections
Posted on By Flying Squirrel Holidays
Five of us, friends since primary school, decided to celebrate our 70th year in style with nine days of togetherness. We chose Sri Lanka and Flying Squirrel Holidays made our travel itinerary and arrangements. Sri Lanka, though in many ways is like parts of Southern India, has so much to offer – it has natural beauty, ancient history, Buddhist temples, stupas and statues that are truly impressive, colonial ports, buildings and churches, hill country, lush forests, as well as stunning beaches and seascapes.
It also offers a range of excellent hotels with amazing food spreads, clean air, polite people, orderly traffic. It has something for everyone! What was also very encouraging was that whomever we spoke to seemed confident about the future under the leadership of Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National People’s Power (NPP). They came to power after the overthrow of Rajapaksa in 2022 after the government announced that it was defaulting.
Reaching Sri Lanka and starting instantly
Despite having left Kolkata before dawn, making our connecting flight in Chennai, we drove to our hotel, dropped off our bags and were ready to make the most of the day. After a delicious Sri Lankan lunch, we headed off to the Gangaramay Temple in the heart of the city.
What was most impressive for me in this Buddhist temple cum museum was the rows of Buddhas, seated in neat lines, which made their way up to the spire. We explored the large grounds and admired the statutory and the artifacts, which included a carving of the Buddha on a grain of rice, only visible with a magnifying glass. Then we visited Seema Malaka that rests on a floating platform on a lake nearby. Though close in distance the two temples could not have been more different in style and ambience. While Gangaramay was cluttered, Seema Malaka was serene, minimalist, and open lending charm to the water body.
Of crabs and clandestine trysts
Two of the most intrepid of our five, trooped off to the Ministry of Crab, a renowned Sri Lankan dining experience famous for the delicate preparation of the enormous crabs it serves. While our two diners savoured the experience the rest of us luckily had crab legs, great fish preparations, and relished many other kinds of seafood throughout the trip.
Before leaving Colombo, we visited the Mount Lavinia Hotel, constructed in 1806 as the governor’s residence. We heard about the romance between the British Governor, Sir Thomas Maitland, and a local woman, Lovina. We went inside the tunnel he built that lay between a disused well near Lovina’s home to the wine cellar in the Governor’s mansion. I am sure their clandestine trysts made their affair ever more alluring.
Dambulla Cave Temple and Geoffrey Bawa’s masterpieces
The next day we drove to Dambulla, as one of my friends and I wanted to see the Buddhist caves that were developed from the first century BC right up to the eighteenth century. Though I had visited the caves before to experience their quiet majesty, the intricate paintings and the massive and multitudes of Buddhist statues, they once again took my breath away. The caves are among the most impressive of sites I have even seen, and I have travelled extensively across the world.
From this spiritual historically layered site we made our way to the very contemporary Kandilama hotel designed by the incredibly famous Geoffrey Bawa. This hotel, tucked away amid a forest with views of an enormous lake that borders the property, is a masterpiece of design. Bawa, brings together nature and stone in a monumental and inspiring communion, to create a truly sublime space for visitors.
After experiencing Kandilama we made sure we visited his estate – Lunuganga – which is an exclusive get-away in Bentota. We took the tour of his garden which was once a rubber and cinnamon plantation which is also on the shores of a lake that leads into a river. On this property he has not only built beautiful interior spaces but “designed” several of the massive trees on his property. He constructed walls around the towering mahogany to make the roots form what looks like an above ground curtain. He used and transformed found objects to merge with the landscape with an exquisite environmental sensitivity.
A Sacred Tooth Temple and a Kingdom from Kandy
At Kandy we especially enjoyed our visit to the Sacred Tooth Temple as it was a day when the shrine was open, and devotees flocked there offering flower garlands, artistically arranged flower filled platters and straw boxes of flowers to the deity.
From Kandy we drove a long distance to Anuradhapura, the capital of the ancient Anuradhapura Kingdom. While there was much to see what was of great historical significance was the Thuparamay temple, the oldest Buddhist temple founded in the third century BC, and the massive grounds and impressive Ruwanwelisaya stupa were truly awe inspiring. The level of engineering that it took to build the stupa is mind boggling.
Boat rides and beach time
We spent our last few days exploring Galle, going for a boat ride on the Madu river where we visited a small cinnamon island, and relaxed on the beach. Even our swim at the beach near Bentota was extraordinary. I spotted a number of small turtles sharing the waves with me. They seemed as joyous as I was in the warm water gliding by with the gentle waves.
Before our trip ended, we stopped at a roadside stall where we bought Sri Lankan souvenirs, shopped in Colombo, and managed to have tea at the very elegant Galle Face hotel that is one of the oldest hotels east of the Suez. It was established in 1864. We sipped tea as the waves crashed against the hotel boundary wall, enjoyed the vast ocean view and felt the foam spray upon us.
Our holiday went without a hitch and even the weather surprised us. Though it was monsoon we did not have a single rainy day but enjoyed clear skies that made our visit pitch perfect.
Thank you, Flying Squirrel for organising our trip and taking care of every detail for us. Sri Lanka, though small, is truly a gem that has something to please everyone. We certainly enjoyed its sparkle.
Jael Silliman is an author, painter, scholar and women’s rights activist.
