විල ඔයේ සැඟවුණු බුදුපටුන (Hazardous expedition in search of Budupatuna)

The map Red = croc hole | Blue = where we got in to the stream, Yellow = Budupatuna (Click Map to Enlarge)

a news paper article

Wila Oya Budupatuna was a totally unheard place to me until few weeks back when I came across a post by NG on Lakdasun which made me go in search of these mysterious statues similar to Buduruwagala. The only information I had was about Two Japanese (archeologist) teams visits in 1985 and 90’s and some photographs in a book called ELOQUENCE IN STONE.

The most fascinating thing is there are 3 statues carved on a rock in the middle of the dense forest bordering Wila oya and as I know the department of Archeology guys even haven’t been there recently. The Japanese have paid special interest to this sight because these statues belong to Mahayana Buddhism and such findings are very rare in our country for obvious reasons.

One day I visited Kotiyagala and went on a wild goose chase and was unlucky to get any information, I was so desperate that the very next day I went there again and this time I was lucky to find some contacts thanks to Sumangala thero of Wattarama temple. During the following week it was all about planning the journey which included communicating with guides informing relevant authorities reading Japanese article’s and etc. and finally on the next Friday I went to Kotiyagala to meet up with my main guide who was Bandara of Karakolagaspitiya. After meeting up and preparing the stuff we needed to take on the adventure, we went to meet up with our other 2 guides and confirm their presence before ending the day.

Next day we got up early and had something for breakfast before we went in search of the other two guides again (Gamini and Sudda) who has not been to this said site for more than 8 years. After meeting up we rode push bicycles passing vast areas of Chena and paddy fields for about 4Km’s until we reached a dead end at Kara Gaha Ela. After halting our bicycles we had to cross few dried out paddy fields before we entered the forest patch and meet up with the river. At the end of the Chena there was an Elephant who didn’t want us entering the forest but after my guides shouted and chased him he had to vanish in to the forest. At the point where we got in to the river there were few water holes visible but 90% of the river, was a dried out sand bed since this was one of the driest months of the year. We didn’t have to go even few hundred meters towards panama side when we came across two wild bores who never noted us until we reached them.

Towards Wila oya

my 3 guides

they were every where

this is my territory

he was chased away

remains of a giant

dried out river bed

just before it vanished in to the dense forest

The river bed at this point had many foot prints of all the kinds of wild animals and out of all elephant prints were in plenty. After walking about 2km’s towards the east along Wila oya there were no more water collections and the last was “Kokkunge Ara” where giant stalks resided. Walking on sand was very much fun for about 500 meters but since then the walk got tougher. When you walk 100 feet automatically you will be back stepping at least 2 feet and the tiredness cannot be explained in words. We had about 2 stops before we reached a spot where the river divided and I didn’t notice that my guides took a wrong path for some reason. After traveling about 2Km’s the river gradually started to tail off and they stopped for a rest and started to discuss. Then only I knew that we were in a bad situation but I was too tired to listen or contribute. They were very knowledgeable about the distance and which direction to go towards. So after a small discussion we took a short cut through the forest until we reached the main stream of Wila oya. After further traveling downstream they said that they have not been to this area and probably we have passed our destination. So after refreshing ourselves we started walking back along the river towards Kotiyagala and after walking about 1Km we came to the relevant place which we intended to go.

the sand bed

spurting out of elephant dung

lots of left overs

ocassionaly shady

one of those huge trees

The most significant landmark is the “Goyam kole gala” in the middle of the river and there is a huge rock on the left bank of the river. We walked along that rock until we came to the rare aspect of it to find what we came for. Seeing 3 Statues carved out of pure rock through the bushes in a dense forest is a sight which I simply cannot explain but it is sad to see the statue of lord Buddha and Avalokatheshwara been vandalized by treasure hunters and the only remaining statue with the intact upper part was the Maithree Buddha statue. When the Japanese visited this site in 1985 all three sculptures were perfectly preserved and on their next visit they witnessed what I saw. There is a deep tunnel duged below the statues in search of treasure and its sad to see the stone pillars of the image house been fallen in to it. Next we explored around a bit and we came across the remnants of the Dhageba which has been excessively dugged up and it seemed like an old cesspit.

The goyam kole rock and the bordering rock with the statues

site map, the image was taken from the japanese site – Click Image to Enlarge

Goyam kole gala

Budupatuna hidden in the dense forest

what remains

note the drip ledge

monoliths fallen in to the dugged up hole

serene

close up of the budhdha statue

close up of the Avaloketesvara statue

where the dhageba is located

it looks like a deep pit

an ancient brick

We decided to have some bread with jam to tackle our hunger while the pot of tea was on fire. We had a nice chat lying on the river bed while resting because it was difficult to travel when its 12noon. After about an hour or so we decided to walk back but the muscles were too exhausted to carry on like in the morning session. We came across an interesting landmark called the “Kubuk Poottuwa” where two huge Kubuk trees have merged together across the stream and resembling a welcome arch towards Budupatuna. This site is about 1Km from Budupatuna(before budupatuna).

time for a rest

getting ready to make some tea

the kubuk puttuwa

note how the two trees have merged to gether

obstacles

elephant paths

Since the sand was hot and two of us never wore any slippers we had to take some elephant paths which went in parallel to the river to avoid the burning sand bed. After travelling about half an hour my guides noted an old tree with nail markings of a bear and they noted that there was a bee hive in the tree hollow. I decided to rest while they smoked the bees out and collected honey. This was the first time ever I experienced collecting of honey in the wild. I kept a safe distance since I didn’t want to get myself stung by bees but the locals seemed to be immune to bee stings . It was a wonderful experience to have bee honey straight out of the tree but even having small amounts made my hunger worse.

note the claw marks of a bear

smoking them out

the product

yummy

a pot full of honey

After this mini adventure we decided to get on our return journey which needed frequent stops and I was the main reason for the frequent pit stops. The exhaustion level and dehydration which I went through is difficult to explain by words at this moment. After about 4Km’s we came to a water hole where we refreshed ourselves and dug a hole in the sand to collect some drinking water and replenish our stores. We also had a wonderful opportunity to see two adult Samber deer’s drinking water from the river but I was unfortunate enough not to capture them in to a nice photograph. After having many pit stops we completed roughly 8.5Km’s and returned to the starting point where we got out of the river bed(4.30pm) and travelled further 1Km upstream until we came to a place called “Gale wadiya” where there is a huge water hole which never dries out and is an ideal place to camp. We had a dip in the hole which was home to 5 or 6 crocs (the villages said they were safe) until our tiredness was washed away. After having some bread with “Onion sambol” we walked back towards our bicycles and rode towards Karakolagaspitiya. The bicycle ride on the bar was not fun at all. When I got down I had acquired a back pain + buttock pain in addition to other problems but after having an icy cool cream Soda I forgot every trouble I went through. After returning to Bandara’s house I slept like a log until late morning next day. Where I got in to a bus and departed towards Monaragala. I must say after doing the Paada yathrawa I thought it was tough but walking on pure sand is tougher than any other surfaces I have ever faced. I hope you enjoyed this report. Thanks for reading.

there was a croc in this water hole

giant foot prints

good place to relax

returned back to the starting point. note the smiling faces

Gale vadiya where we had a swim

bottling the product

a croc

and another

Towards the Chena

time for a snack

and the numbers increased

dusk

note Namunukula peak

Dusk over Maragalakanda