Saturday, January 31, 2015

Bomburu Falls - widest waterfall in Sri Lanka



The beautiful Bomburu Falls is a collection of about 10 little-known jungle waterfalls, situated between 1500 and 2000m above sea level in the Sitha Eliya Kandapola Forest Reserve. They are served by the upper segment of the principal tributary of the Uma River, known as the Duulgala River. Bomburu Ella is the widest waterfall in Sri Lanka

The fall is in both the Nuwara Eliya and Badulla districts, Uva Paranagama Divisional Secretariat, in the Pewella GS area. From the Welimada - Pusselawa road, turn off at Ambagasdova junction and follow the Pewella bus route. The route then ascends and becomes a slightly perilous-looking winding track, with difficult boulders and jungle to negotiate, before the fall is reached.





Friday, January 30, 2015

Adisham Bungalow - Must visit place in Sri Lanka

Adisham is the kind of place seekers of peace dream about. Now a religious house where tranquility lies like a blessing and the grandeur of sweeping mountain vistas takes your breath away, Adisham was originally the country seat of Sir Thomas Villiers. The spirit of Thomas Lister Villiers strongly pervades this stately house. Villiers came to Ceylon in 1887 with 10 sterling pounds in his pocket. He was born in 1869 in Adisham Rectory in Kent, the son of Rev Henry Montague Villiers. He was a grandson of Lord John Russell, twice prime minister of Britain.

Villiers received a public school education but instead of settling down to a business or political career in England chose adventure in the colony of Ceylon. Soon after his arrival, he began life as a trainee planter (a creeper) on Elbedde Estate, Bogawantalawa. In 1896 he married the daughter of a tea planter and went to Brazil. He returned to Ceylon four years later and soon began his own tea estate, Dikoya Group.

In 1905 Villiers joined the firm of George Steuart, a trading and estate agency house in Colombo, and rose to be its chairman in 1928, a position he held till retirement in 1948. He also played a role in Ceylon politics.

It was while he was chairman of George Steuart that Sir Thomas commenced building a dream home in the country. He selected an idyllic site at Haputale, surrounded by virgin forest and commanding views across hills and valleys and the highest mountain ranges of Ceylon. The house was designed in the Tudor style, on the lines of Leeds Castle in Kent, with stout granite walls of locally quarried stone, long, narrow turret windows and chimneys. It looked in every detail an Elizabethan country mansion, the retreat in the tropics of a homesick Englishman, nostalgic for the scenes of his boyhood.

Villiers spared no expense to ensure that his country home was luxurious in its appointments. The roof was covered with flat Burma teak shingles. The doors, windows, paneling, staircase and floors were all of Burma teak. The elaborate pillared landing on the main staircase adorned by portraits of his relatives, the Clare dons and the Dukes of Bedford, consists of four stout English oaks, polished, but otherwise all natural.

The garden lay-out was also British and, as in the house, the incomparable scenery is used to best effect. The terraced lawns, flowerbeds and orchard, like the drawing room, study, library, dining room and bedrooms, look out on lofty mountain ranges, all between 1,800 and 2,100m above sea level, etched sharply on the skyline to form a curious outline called the Sleeping Warrior.

Villiers imported fine period furniture, linen, carpets, porcelain, silver, and glassware from England for his home and named it Adisham after the Kentish village where he was born. English tea and cabbage roses bloomed on the lawns. Albertine’s and honeysuckle climbed over the porches and windows; strawberries, apples and Victoria plums ripened in the cool mountain air and the tropical sunshine. Villiers even had an English chauffeur for his Daimler.

Adisham entertained the social elite of Ceylon at the time: Its house parties included the governor and distinguished visitors to the island. Lady Villiers, chatelaine of Adisham, was a gracious, gentle person and a charming hostess. She was a painter of considerable skill and her oil paintings and watercolors, mostly of marine subjects, adorn the walls of the library and the drawing room. The Villiers had two sons but both predeceased them: Their only grandson, Stephen, who lives in England, recently visited Sri Lanka with a BBC team for the preparation of a feature on Adisham. Sir Thomas retired to Kent and died on December 21, 1959. In 1949, after Sir Thomas left George Steuart, Adisham and its furniture, fittings and other effects were sold to the Sedawatte Mills. In 1961 the Roman Catholic Church acquired Adisham with its 12 acre grounds and turned it into a monastery and novitiate run by the priests of the Congregation of St Sylvester, A missionary order that came to Ceylon in the 1840s. Today, the spirit of Sir Thomas and Lady Villiers linger in their living rooms kept in impeccable order by the Sylvestrines. The logbooks and its cases of polished oak, is meticulously orderly even though the Regency clock on the mantelpiece of the handsome fireplace, with its gleaming fire-irons, has stopped ticking. A long line of the Dukes of Bedford look down from the walls and one gets the feeling that any minute Sir Thomas might come in, calling to his dogs.

The drawing room has been preserved in every detail. David Painter’s study of Sir Thomas looks down from above the William IV furniture which is polished even if the Lancashire broadloom on the chairs and the Ax Minster carpets has aged gently. On the Dutch marquetry card-table is a half-finished game of patience and the Georgian gate-legged table is set for tea with Wedgewood jasper china. The rustle you hear is not the swish of silk dresses on the beautifully kept grand staircase; it is just the wind sighing in the forest trees. Outside the morning room the terrace looks out over the sunny lawns, rioting with a hundred varieties of roses. A signboard near the gate reminds you that if you can't find happiness along the way, you will not find it at the end of the road. One of Adisham's most wonderful sights is its natural bird sanctuary. Brilliantly plumaged orange mini-vets, green barbets, blue magpies, paradise flycatchers, horn bills, golden orioles and a host of others which live in the forested slopes of the nature reserve above Adisham swoop down to feast on apple and plum trees.

Today's Adisham is primarily a monastery, where a small community of six novices and a few monks follow a schedule of prayer, meditation, work and service. Adisham has made itself famous for fine products such as strawberry jam, orange marmalade, wild guava jelly and fresh fruit cordials.

When Adisham was purchased, the priests found half-wild strawberries, Seville oranges and guavas from the original Villiers orchards, which they developed and extended. The priests as well as a few villagers work in orchards, vegetable gardens, and dairy and in the processing of produce.

The day begins early for the novices and priests when the rising bell tolls at 05.30 hrs. in the mist covered dawn. If is always chilly and, from November to January when the north-east monsoon howls down the Tangamalai wind-gap, freezing. The gong sounds for muster for tea-estate laborer’s on neighboring Glenanore Estate when the priests kneel in prayer and meditation in the little chapel adorned with an image of St Benedict.

Breakfast is at 08.00 hrs. and is wholesome and home grown: It is served, like all meals, in the plain and austere refectory. Two hours of silence, contemplation and study follow. Next come two hours of manual work in the orchards, flower and kitchen gardens, dairy, house, laundry or kitchen. Prayer at the chapel is followed by a lunch of rice and spicy curries with fresh vegetables from the gardens. A period of recreation follows, when a sense of humor and a cheerful heart are encouraged. An hour's manual work, a short break for tea, silence, prayer, studies, more prayer, dinner, recreation, study and then, after 22.30 hrs. the great silence of the monastery reigns. From their bedroom windows, the brothers can see the mist swirling round the Sleeping Warrior. On clear, moonlit nights, the view is stunning and heaven seems within touching distance.

Although it should be emphasized that Adisham is not in any way a commercial guest-house nor a Villiers museum open to casual callers, accommodation is available for 12 guests. It would suit people appreciative of a Christian spiritual experience, counsel and guidance, in a place of surpassing peace, solitude and beauty. The large rooms are comfortable and have some of the best mountain views in Sri Lanka. The food (three main meals and afternoon tea) is simple but excellent and the atmosphere edifying and serene.

Guests should not expect hotel amusements and are expected to be considerate of the rules of the community.

www.lankalibrary.com  






Thursday, January 29, 2015

Galaboda Waterfall - Sri Lanka



Galaboda is an isolated village located in between Nawalapitiya & Watawala, in the Colombo-Badulla, the upcountry railway. Since there is not a well-developed road system yet, the railway is the only source of transportation for the villages & travelers.

Galaboda is important to travelers due to two reasons. One is the famous Galaboda waterfall. The other is the natural water spring located in the back yard of the railway Station. It is known as the source of portable water with the highest in gravity in the south Asia. On the other hand the tastiest water in the south Asia. Therefore it had been used to supply portable water to the Governors’ palace at Colombo in colonial times.

Galaboda waterfall is situated within
45 minutes walking distance from the railway station.You need to walk through the tea estate to reach the waterfall. It is 30 meters in height, beautiful, virgin & ever young due to the high rainfall received to the catchments area throughout the year.( the closest town is Watawala, where received the highest annual rainfall out of the country ). Therefore, not like other waterfalls, travelers are advised to visit Galaboda waterfall in August, the dry season. Because the natural water pool is suit & safe for bath in dry seasons. 
Land Route
If you are traveling from Colombo to visit this place there’s only one public transportation is available. Travelers must get the Colombo – Badulla Train which leaves 5.55 a.m. from Colombo and it will reach Galboda station by 10.25 a.m.  Then the most important factor is travelers need to check the time of the Colombo train from the station master of the Galboda station. In case missing the Colombo train the best possible solution is getting a train to Nawalapitiya and from their getting the bus to Colombo.





Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Bogoda bridge Sri Lanka - Oldest wodden bridge in the world.



The Bogoda wooden bridge was built in the 16th century during the Dambadeniya era. This is said to be the oldest surviving wooden bridge in the world. The bridge is situated at 13 km south of Badulla city, Sri Lanka. All parts of this bridge were constructed from wood, including the use of wooden nails as fixing material. The roof tiles show the influence of Kingdom of Kandy. The bridge was built across the Gallanda Oya, which linked Badulla and Kandy on an ancient route.

The Bogoda Bridge is over 400 years old and made entirely from wooden planks, which are said to have come from one tree. It is an exclusive construction as it has an 8 foot tall tiled roof structure for its entire span of nearly 50 foot length with a 6 foot breadth. Wooden fences of the bridge are decorated in various ancient designs and have been erected on either side. The structure of the bridge is standing on a huge tree trunk 35 ft. in height. Jack fruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) logs and Kumbuk (Terminalia arjuna) logs were mainly used as the constructive material of the bridge. Furthermore, Kaluwara (Diospyros ebenum) timber and Milla timber were used for the wooden decorations.

The Bogoda Buddhist temple is an ancient temple situated beside the Bogoda Wooden Bridge. The temple has a much longer history than the bridge. It is from the 1st century BC, during the period of the Anuradhapura era. The temple was built per the instructions of King Valagamba. The stone inscription by the temple, in Brahmin scripture, says the temple was donated to a priest called Brahmadatta by Tissa, a provincial leader in Badulla.

Inside of the temple were elaborate lovely paintings, bearing resemblance to the Kandyan era. The walls were built with a paste made of cotton wool, bee honey and extracted and purified white clay. The paintings were painted on this walls.