Sri Pada or Adam’s Peak is located in central Sri Lanka, acquiring the borders of both Sabaragamuwa Province and Central province. This is a mountain elevated 2,243 m above sea level. The meaning of SriPada is the ‘sacred footprint’. This is a high traveler attraction of local people. Since this is a pilgrimage destination, for the season the crowd is big. If you are a traveler who values calm enjoyment of a beautiful environment, you can visit Sri Pada in the off-season. People believe this place is very important to Buddhists because there is the footprint of Lord Buddha at the top of the mountain. However, this is a religious place to Chritians, Muslims and Hindus also. What travelers love most about Adam’s peak is that the mountain is surrounded by greenery of forests and the vicinity is very cool so that you won’t get very exhausted climbing to the summit, if you really enjoy the scenery.
Location
You will encounter this sacred mountain about 45km northeast to Rathnapura and 32km southwest to Hatton. The mountain and the surrounding area is home to a dense biodiversity. In addition, the four major rivers in Sri Lanka Kalu, Kelani, Mahaweli and Walawe start from the upper points of the Sri Pada mountain. There are steps to climb the mountain and side fences to help the climbers. It takes approximately two to four hours for the average climber to reach the top. The very end of the journey towards the summit is usually tough because the mountain goes a bit straight upwards. This area is called Mahagiridamba. But, you have a fence as a helper to climb. It is a bit adventurous but surely it is a beautiful experience.
Starting points
There are several paths that the travelers can utilize to reach the summit. They are Malimboda, Ratnapura-Palabaddala, Murraywatte, Hatton-Nallathanni, Mookuwatte and Kuruwita-Erathna. These routes are linked to populated towns so that the travelers won’t go without any necessities that they may need before starting the voyage. The most preferred routes among the above six are Palabaddala and Nallathanni. If you enjoy solitary voyages, you can select less crowded routes, but Vishmi Travels recommend you to stay close to a crowd, if you are not familiar with the environment.
Interesting habits of the people
On the way to Sri Pada summit, there are significant places that the travelers can stop by. There are small temples with statues of Lord Buddha. There is a place called Idikatupana. This place is important for the maiden wanderers to Sri Pada. In Sinhala these maiden travelers are called ‘Kodukarayo’. The usual tradition is that in order to mark their first arrival, these maiden travelers to Sri Pada fix a needle with a white thread at Idikatupana. Moreover, if you dare to bathe in the Seetha Gagula, this too is an indelible memory to collect. Usually, the higher you go the more it becomes cold. It is very hard to bathe in the Seetha Gagula even if it is daytime. However, people take the challenge because the journey to Sri Pada is an important journey for all the comers. However, make sure to be careful if you wade into water because the water flow is very rough during certain times of the year. The travelers who go on pilgrimage chant Thunsarana Kavi. This echoes around the vicinity and adds a beautiful experience to others as well.
Panoramic view of the sun rise
You can literally see heaven, if you wait till dawn to see the sunrise from the peak of the mountain. Apart from worshipping the sacred footprint of Lord Buddha, many travelers’ other important aim for coming to Sri Pada is seeing this heavenly scenery.
Other stories
There are beliefs woven around the pilgrimage. It is advised not to say pessimistic things about the journey because the God of the mountain, Sumana Saman is watching the voyagers from the beginning and he would punish them. Recently, it was found that there are secret habitats of tribes who descend from very ancient ancestors of Sri Lanka.
Food and other facilities
There are a plethora of small boutiques from where you can drink a cup of hot tea and taste hot rotti with spicy katta sambol. Not only that, boiled maize, rice and curry, fruit pickle, fruit juice and many other local food items are available along the way. If you need sanitary facilities, there are places for that also.
Clean environment
Unfortunately , travelers who come to Adam’s peak leave polythene and plastic everywhere because of why the vicinity around becomes uninviting. However, it is cleaned by cleaners and some voluntary groups and you won’t get disappointed by the garbage. We invite everyone to keep this beautiful place intact.
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