Heritage around battered Kotiyagala and Hidden Frescoes of Mailla

Year and Month	August, 2012
Number of Days	One Day
Crew	2 (One guide – Chandana Kotiyagala)
Accommodation	N/A
Transport	Public transport and motor bike
Activities	Archeology, trekking
Weather	Sunny
Route	Moneragala -> Kodayana -> Kotiyagala -> Mailla -> Kotiyagala -> Kodayana -> Monaragala
Tips, Notes and Special remark	Take a bottle of water Do not carry Plastic items (Minimize), Make sure you bring back everything you took. Need a 4WD or a bike to visit Mailla Get permission from the head priest if available Get a guide for Mailla Beware of wild animals
Related Resources	Related Disucssion: Heritage of Uva – Wellassa (වෙල’ලස’සෙ’ දායාදය)
Author	Ashan
Comments	Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread Heritage around battered Kotiyagala and Hidden Frescoes of Mailla

The map

There are days when you plan to go somewhere and end up been at another place, this was one of those days. My main objective was to find Vila Oya Budupatuna but ended up visiting few other places I never intended to do so. My journey starting point was Monaragala, so early morning I took the first bus towards Kotiyagala and got down at 5th milepost junction to inquire about Vila oya budupatuna but unfortunately no one had ever heard about the place, so I had to call my friend Theshantha to get some help because he knows the region better than me. Finally after numerous phone calls I decided to go to Kotiyagala and meet Theshanthas friend Chandana to get some help to find this mysterious place.
On the way to Kotiyagala after passing Wila oya I came across Wattegama Temple which was known for its frescos. So I decided to drop in and meet the head priest and have a quick look around. The main attractions I found was the ancient pagoda with many flower alters and “chatra stones” fallen around. In addition the ancient image house in the vicinity also was filled with surprises. The paintings seen in the image house seemed to be faded out with time and there were some frescoes suggesting that British ruling had influenced on these Kandy era frescoes. Since I didn’t have much time to hang around I had to cut short my visit and head towards Kotiyagala. (On a latter day I heard go to know that there were drip edged caves on the opposite mountain)

Wattegama sthupa and image house

the pagoda

Flower alters

piece of chatra gala

a moon stone

Entering the image house

the statue

roof paintings

Paintings on the inner wall

offering

Diferent situations

inner wall frescoes

Outer wall frescoes been faded with time

more of those outer wall painting

unique

contrast

The lion on the outer wall

very interesting

My next stop was Kotiyagala where I met Chandana who was a very welcoming chap and he volunteered to guide me to Buduruwayaya which he wrongly attributed as Budupatuna. Buduruwayaya is a cave monastery located 2Km from Kotiyagala and the main archeological findings are the main cave with inscriptions, some carved in steps, a stone with seven cobra hoods and the modernized Sthupa on the summit (which is been modernized without the knowledge of relevant authorities as the villages said). After having a look around I understood that this was not the place I intended to go to and Chandana noticed it clearly and gave me a good suggestion which I simply loved. “මහත්තය මයිල්ල කියල මරු තැනක් තියෙනව ‍යමුද?” was the question and the answer was a very positive one. I really wanted to visit Mailla one day but I didn’t know that it was so close to Kotiyagala

Buduruwaya cave

extending further

it seemed like one of those never ending caves

An drip ledge inscription

and another

towards the sthupa

modernized sthupa under construction(note the yupa stone in the middle)

another cave in the vicinity

So we got in to a “Pulsar” and started to travel along the 4WD road which ran through dried out Chena’s for 4Km’s until we came across a long Cave which simply resembled a house built by an architect. I have never seen a fine-looking cave designed by Mother Nature like this. It has been slightly modified recently for a monk to reside. The entrance to the cave complex is through the main cave and once you get in to it you will come across few “vedda” paintings too. From here onwards there are plenty of caves around and some have been recently occupied by three or four Buddhist monks, there are few natural ponds which has been the main water source for years for the meditating monks. After visiting few caves we came to a cave with a huge “sathapena Pilimaya” and it is clearly evident that it has been vandalized by treasure hunters over the years. The most unique and fascinating findings were the paintings which resembles “Sigiri Paintings” and dated 5th century. I was amazed about the condition of these paintings despite been battered by natural hazards over the years. There were few more paintings on a wall which resembled the “Sigiri Lalanaviyo” too. After hanging around a bit we came across a huge tree where it is said the goddess who protects the monastery resides and not so far away we found some remnants of an “akasha Pagoda”. From this “Akasha Pagoda” we could easily visualize the main Sthupa of Mailla on the summit of the opposite hill which Chandana said will take few hours to conquer. Since we were running out of time and the risk of been attacked by wild bears we decided to return soon as possible to the Village.