Location Tissa Wewa Rest House is located at Anuradhapura206km from Colomboin the north central dry plains of Sri Lanka.
Tissawewa Rest House, Anuradhapura
Tissawewa Rest House Dry Zone Garden
Setting
Located with grand views of the ancient renovated Tissa Wewa Rainwater Reservoir and ancient renovated Mirisavatiya Dagaba, Tissa Wewa Rest House, a two-storied, tiled-roofed building, a budget Sri Lanka Hotel stands in 11 acres of wooded parkland of north central dry plains (the ancient kingdom of reservoirs) of Sri Lanka. The waters of the ancient rainwater reservoir fan gentle breeze into Tissa Wewa Rest House to ease the effects of hot and dry climate of Anuradhapura.
Ancient Splendor Vs. Colonial Mediocrity Tissa Wewa Rest House or The Grand Hotel, as it was known in the British Colonial era at once brings in a bewildering contradiction and contrast: the building is simply another remnant of the British Colonial administration in Ceylon; yet it is located in the ancient Sinhalese Royal Pleasure Gardens of the Anuradhapura, the greatest monastic city (438 BC – 845 AD) of the ancient world.
The British rediscovered the lost city; renovated some of the cultural monuments; rebuilt the some of the ancient rainwater reservoir; and then thrust the mediocre colonial architecture into midst of the stupendous ancient edifices of the ancient city.
Location
Mountain Heavens Hotel, Ella is located just 500 meters south of Ella junction at Ella-Wellawaya (A23) main road. Ella is reached by railway line from Colombo as well as from main motor roads (205km from Colombo). Ella can be reached from the Colonial sanitariums of Nuwara Eliya (56km), Haputale (20km), Badulla (24km) and Bandarawela (8 km) too.
Ella Railway Station, Central Highlands, Sri Lanka
A view of Ella from Mountain Heavens Hotel
A view of Ella from Mountain Heavens
A view of Ella from Mountain Heavens
Mountain Heavens Hotel
Mountain Heavens Hotel
Mountain Heavens Hotel
Setting
The setting at Mountain Heavens Hotel, Ella cannot get any better: to make it short, the hotel overlooks the famous Ella gap of paradise village of Ella of Central Highlands of Sri Lanka. An opening in the surrounding mountains affords a long view from the supreme vantage point of mountainous Ella village to see as far as the southern coast of Sri Lanka. On a clear day devoid of mist, you would even see the beacon of the light house at Kirinda of southern coast.
Every breath you take
Everything about Ella is scintillating fresh: Every breath you take, every move you make, every step you take, every night you stay at Sri Lanka Holidays Ella. The air, the greenery, the waterfalls and streams, woods, plants and flowers, everything is fresh as if the world was created last night. Everything served at Mountain Heavens Hotel, Ella is fresh; fresh flowers, fresh vegetable, fresh fruits and freshly brewed Ceylon Tea straight from the nearby factory. Ella is your ultimate sanctuary; Mountain Heavens Hotel at Ella is your villa for value in terms of time, motion and money. The hotel’s hospitality and your delights aren’t still narrated.
Excursions
Mountain Heavens Hotel, Ella organizes and guides you all nature lovers to numerous Sri Lanka Holidays attractions surrounding Ella: little Adam’s Peak, Ravana falls, Ravana caves, Dunhinda falls and Bambaragama falls. Still more, Mountain Heavens Hotel is pleased to guide all you culture lovers to Dova temple, Bogoda wooden bridge and temples and shrines surrounding Ella.
Accomodation
All rooms are tastefully furnished and provided with hot and cold running water.
Restaurant
The cosy and comfortable restaurant and bar at Mountain Heavens Hotel is the perfect place for all of you to wine and dine while enjoying panoramic views of far and wide scenery presented by Ella Gap. Fresh fruits, fresh from the gardens at the village of Ella complements the Western, Oriental and Sinhalese dishes served at the restaurant.
Location Club Victoria Range Holiday Resort is located at the lovely Kandyan village of Digana by Ambakote Road off Kandy– Mahiyangana Dagoba Road that begins at Thennekumbura Bridge over the River Mahaweli.
Setting
The resort is set in the premises of the 62 acre mixed plantation is Victoria Range Bungalows overlooking picturesque Hantane and Knuckles mountain Range opens up breathtaking views of the misty mountains, and lush green forests.
Accommodation
Club Victoria Range Resort consists of two bunglows each with 3 elegantly furnished rooms.
Facilities
Club Victoria Range Resort features a swimming pool, gym, tennis court, squash court and open air restaurant.
A view of the beach from the balcony of Kingdom Resort
Location:
Kingdom Resort is located at Walagampokun, Godauda, Kottegoda 5km ahead of Dickwella of Southern Coastal Belt of Sri Lanka studded with pristine bay beaches. Distance from Colombo CMB Bandaranayake airport is 211km.
Reaching Kingdom Resort
Kingdom Resort is pleased to arrange your transportation from air port directly to the hotel by chauffeur guide driven car exclusively for your self.
Public transportation: Lanka Ashok Leyland buses operated by Sri Lanka Transport Board along Colombo Matara A2 main road. Seats aren’t guaranteed.
Intercity Transportation run by private bus owners: Japanese air conditioned buses. Seats are guaranteed.
Government Railway: Colombo- Matara southern railway line hugging the south western coast and then Southern coast.
Setting of Kingdom Resort: beachfront villa with landscaped Garden shaded by Coconut palm trees by the beach.
Accommodation
Each of the two air-conditioned rooms and non a/c rooms are set up with a private balcony having beach view. Facilities at rooms
Safety deposit box, ceiling fan, hot and cold running water
Facilities at hotel
Laundry service, foreign currency exchange, vehicle parking, restaurant and bar, taxi service, boat trip arrangement, Internet access, IDD, Hotel reservation, vehicle rental service.
Ayurveda treatment, meditation activities, fishing by boat trips
Food and Beverages
The hotel serves fresh sea food dishes, Italian dishes and traditional Sinhalese traditional dishes. Local and foreign liquors too are served.
Room Rates
Double room: 22 Euro; double room for single use: 18 Euro; breakfast: 2 Euro per guest
Half a day and One day Excursions arranged by Kingdom Resort
Dondra head at the southernmost point of Sri Lanka: light house and Vishnu Devale
Weherahena Buddhist temple: colossal statue of Buddha and underground chamber of paintings and sculptures. Matara: Star Fort built by the Portuguese, fortified by the Dutch and occupied by the British
Dickwella: a pristine bay beach 4k south of Kingdom resort.
Hummaniya Blow-hole at Mawella, 7km from Dickwella
Galle:VOC Galle Dutch Fort Ruhuna Yala National Park: a sanctuary rich in wildlife is home to elephants, leopards, bears, crocodiles, wild boars, deer and many varieties of birds.
Hambantota: salt lakes, fishing and agriculture
The setting: The villa nestles in the hills of Pantiya rubber estates. The serene environment provides an opportunity for the free yourself off the day to day worries. Further up are tea and coconut estates ideal for your walks and strolls.
Ambience: The colonial building built in 1907 brings in the old world charm, the class of those bygone days.
Accommodation:The villa set in extensive gardens consists of 2 air-conditioned rooms that can accommodate 6 guests. Two attached bathrooms consist of showers as well as bath tubs. Three separate double rooms facing the swimming pool share a veranda.
The Living Room:The spacious living room is furnished with a number of couches, a satellite TV and a DVD Player and a stereo set up
The Dining Room:Right next to the living room, is large dining room with a table for 12. Meals are served here in either seated or buffet style.
Rent a Beach Villa: Palm Beach Villa, Talpitiya, Wadduwa, Sri Lanka
Palm Beach Villa as its name suggests is a luxury villa by the beach among the coconut palm groves in the tropical island of Sri Lanka, the Land of Delights.
Location: Talpitiya, Wadduwa is in the Western coastal belt of Sri Lanka. The Western coastal belt & Southern coastal belt of Sri Lanka is replete with palm fringed magnificent bay beaches from Wadduwa onwards to Ambalantota.
Dusk at Palm Beach Villa, Sri Lanka
Setting: Beachfront. The handsome villa painted immaculately in white is set with a beachfront amidst coconut groves. The panoramic view of the beach, swimming and surfing is complemented by the shady and sheltered garden populated by an array of tropical birds such as parrots, herons and myna.
Living: The Villa spanning about 800 Sq. meters is set up with spacious sitting and dinning areas immersed in the tropical splendors to host 8 guests in all luxury. English speaking housekeeper, butler/driver and night-time caretaker are at your call and beck at all times.The villa on the beach offers a great view of the sea, safe swimming and walks on the golden sand. The next door garden restaurant is open for the guests.
Aquarium. Sit tight and enjoy the little joy of seeing numerous multi-colored aquarium fish floating, swimming around in 6000 liter state of the art aquarium. Soothe your mind.
Palm Beach Villa, Wadduwa
Dining: The elegantly appointed dinning room is designed for a group of twelve. The solid Mahogany dining table is invariably served with high quality china and gleaming silverware by the cohesive team at Palm Beach Villa.
Sleeping: Luxury suite, Large family room and Smaller room
Luxury suite: King Bed, sleeps 2 – The Master bedroom consists of a mahogany four poster king size bed. The private balcony overlooks the swimming pool and the sea. The roomy en suite bath features a 2 person whirlpool, granite shower and double sinks.
Large family room: 2 Queen Beds, sleeps 4 – The second bedroom contains two queen size beds and a fully equipped with en suite bathroom.
Smaller room: 2 single beds, sleeps 2 – The third bedroom located downstairs too consists with its own bathroom.
All the beds are furnished with luxurious euro top mattresses. Bed linen and towels are spun from the finest quality Indian cotton. The ground level of the villa is entirely wheelchair accessible.
Living Room consists of a TV lounge furnished with a 42? LCD TV (Satellite telecast). The guests are provided with complimentary wireless internet and free use of a laptop.
Palm Beach Villa, Sri Lanka
Pantry is fully equipped with a cooking range, an oven, a microwave, an ice maker, a dish washer, an automatic heavy duty washing machine, a cloth dryer and stainless steel kitchenware. Swimming pool is 20 meter long with Jacuzzi and chlorine free (salt water system.) Depth is 1.25 M. Sports and facilities include electric golf cart for use in the garden, a basketball net, badminton and beach volleyball nets, bicycles and a car.
Address: Palm Beach Villa, Talpitiya, Wadduwa, Sri Lanka. http://www.palmbeachvilla. lk/
Contact Email: info@palmbeachvilla.lk
Mr. Ranil Nanayakkara Mobile: Fax: +1 709 722 1273 Email: ranil@nl.rogers.com
Mr. Raja Nanayakkara Mobile: Email: rlsnanayakkara@gmail.com Rent Palm Beach Villa. Villa Rates begins at US$ 285.00 per night for entire Palm Beach Villa, Talpitiya, Wadduwa.
Sri Lanka Anaconda (Anaconda of Ceylon) Vs. Amazon Anaconda
South American name Anaconda is said to have been derived from Sinhalese name, Henakadaya. Among many other dictionaries, The American Dictionary of the English Language indicates that the name could be an alteration of Sinhalese Henakandaya.
It is interesting to noteColonol Percy Fawcett (1867- 1925), who had close encounters, the run-ins with Anaconda while on an expedition to mark the borders of Bolivia, had served in Ceylon too where he met & married his wife.
Could it be possible, in Ceylon, that the tales of Anaconda had fallen into the ears of the Englishman? The Scots magazine, in the year 1768 (99 years prior to the year of birth of Col. Fawcett, 1867), published a narration of an encounter with a 33 feet long monster with a girth as thick as a man’s waist, devouring a leopard of monstrous size, in the island of Ceylon. The narrator, an Englishman by the name E. Edwin, said to had been a resident in Ceylon for many years.
The Ceylonese seemed to know the creature well; they call it Anaconda, talked of eating its flesh when they caught it. And according to E. Edwin they did. “He was cut up; and afforded a flesh whiter than veal, & as they said that ate of it, finer tasted than any flesh whatever”
However there is no record of Sinhalese ever having taken to eat snake meat in Sri Lanka.
Could it be possible, Colonel Fawcett carried the name, Anaconda to Bolivia from Ceylon? Fawcett had a run-in with one not long after he arrived in South America. In his diary he noted: “We were drifting easily along on the sluggish current not far below the confluence of Tiger and the Rio Negro when almost under the bow of the igarit’e (boat) there appeared a triangular head and several feet of undulating body. It was a giant anaconda. I sprang for my rifle as the creature began to make its way up the bank, and hardly waiting to aim smashed a .44 soft-nosed bullet into its spine, ten feet below the wicked head. At once there was a flurry of foam, and several heavy thumps against the boat’s keel, shaking us as though we had run on a snag… ”
The Colonel made seven expeditions between 1906 & 1924. On 29th Many 1925, a message was sent from Fawcett to his wife, indicating that they were ready to enter unexplored territory. The three were sending back the assistants that had helped them to this point & were ready to go on by themselves. Fawcett told his wife “You need have no fear of failure…” It was the last anyone ever heard of the expedition. They disappeared into the Jungle never to be seen again. Despite Fawcett’s wishes, several rescue expeditions tried to find him, but without success. Occasionally there were intriguing reports that he’d been seen, but none of these were ever confirmed. So what happened to Colonel Fawcett. What danger that had eluded in the past had gotten him this time? Hostile Indians? A giant Anaconda? Piranhas? Disease? Starvation? Or was it, as one told, he’d lost his memory & lived out the rest of his life as a chief among a tribe of cannibals? Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad? Red by Somerset Maugham?
The South American anaconda (Eunectes murinus) is a semi aquatic boa that inhabits swamps. The family Boidae (boas and pythons) includes the world’s largest snakes, the South American anaconda and the Asian reticulated python, as well as the smaller boa constrictor and the tree and sand boas. Python (Molurus molurus) (Southern India and Sri Lanka), is a large (maximum length 6-7 meters) & powerful carnivorous snake with a large girth.
During the British colonial period in (1805-1948), a considerable territory of the dense jungles in the Central Highlandsof Sri Lanka was cleared for coffee plantations & then for tea plantations, following the Coffee Blight. Could it be Sri Lanka Anaconda, which ambushed upon prey ranging from leopards to deer, in trees rather than in marshy areas as its cousins in the Amazon, gradually became extinct? During Sri Lanka Holidays, you will have an opportunity to have a pet Python wrapped over your shoulders and pose for a photo shoot, if you are a lover of snakes.
Sri Lanka Holidays: Ancient Mahinda and all living beings; Modern Mahinda and all Sri Lankans. Written by bunpeiris
This earth belongs to all living beings; My Sri Lanka, Our Island belongs to all Sri Lankans. Carbon Clean Sri Lanka: A Tourism Earth Lung; Free Sri Lanka: One nation Sri Lanka Holidays Skanda Pandia Lanka Light and Enlightenment strive to shed light on you all.
More than a couple millenniums before the modern terminology of green earth, sustainable environment, preserving ecology, eco-orientation, eco friendly environment, sustainable tourism, eco–oriented hotels etc. came into everyday vocabulary as a result of global warming caused by environmental pollution-hazardous wastes, loss of forest cover, depletion of Ozone layer-the concept of United Biology was rooted in the ancient Indian ocean island of Sri Lanka Holidays.
Mihintale, Sri Lanka Holidays
Mahinda makes the Deer Hunter to give a fair chase
As the very life begins with water, Mahinda too began with water: Arhath (supremely enlightened) Mahinda following water festival in ancient Sri Lanka; modern Mahinda, the Hero of Modern Sri Lanka, with the humanitarian operation watershed at opening the sluice gates of the reservoir at “Mother River”(Mavil Aru) closed down by the enemy of the nation.
Following a water festival in Anuradhpura, King Devanam Piya Tissa went on to enjoy royal hunting at Mihintale. Having tracked a deer and found it browsing in a thicket. The king, ever the sportsman thinking in line of gamesmanship “It is not proper to shoot an animal while it is inattentive” twanged his bow string so that the deer could be alerted for a fare chase. The deer took to flight and the king, hot in pursuit, was at the summit of the hill of Mihintale in no time.
That was no less than a couple of millenniums ago during the reign of King Devanam Piya Tissa, (307-266 BC), great grandson of Princess Unmada Chithra and Prince Digagamini of Sri Lanka, the destination of Total Holiday Experience, Sri Lanka Holidays.
Mahinda poses a close encounter of the third kind to the Deer Hunter.
It was at the summit that the king found himself at a close encounter of the third kind. The king asked “How did you come?” Arhath Mahinda replied, “Neither by land nor by water” The state of supreme spiritual enlightenment of Buddhist missionary Arahat Mahinda, is believed to have enabled him to travel by air. The soothsayers foresaw the consequences of Mahinda in no time: the earth has been taken by them. They will be lords of the island.”
Mahinda preaches Sinhalese the equal rights to all living beings
Foremost of all matters, Arhath Mahinda infused upon the fledging nation of Sinhalese the value of all life. “Oh! Great King, the birds of the air & the beasts have an equal right to live & move about in any part of this land as thou. The land belongs to the peoples & all other beings & thou art only the guardian of it” said Arahat Mahinda to King Devanam Piya Tissa. That was to follow the very words of Buddha “all fear death; comparing others with oneself, one should neither kill nor cause to kill”. Following the sermons by Arhath Mahinda, Mihintale was declared a wildlife sanctuary by the king. The royal hunting grounds of Mihintale of Sri Lanka Holidays became the first ever recorded wildlife sanctuary in the world.
Mahinda instill upon the Sinhalese the doctrine of Live and let live
“The forest is a unique organism of boundless compassion and benevolence that makes no demand for its sustenance and extends generously the products of its life activity: it affords protection of all beings, offering shade and shelter even to the axe man, the lumberjack who destroys it.” Shakyamuni Gauthama Buddha’s concept of “Live and Let live” geared towards all living beings as preached by Arhath Mahinda took root in the glorious ancient Sinhalese civilization to run its due course.
Mahinda preaches the Sinhalese to arrive at conclusions only following reasoning and careful deductions.
The first ever sermon by Mahinda in Sri Lanka was Gauthama Buddha’s Chulla Hattipadopama Sutta or simile of Elephant Footprint. The simile brings to life how one must weigh all possibilities in a given situation prior to arrival at the deduction. An elephant hunter simply by seeing a large foot print wouldn’t come to the conclusion that the footprint was a tell tale sign of a large bull elephant. The footprint could well be that of specie of dwarf elephant (extinct today) with big feet. Then again scratch marks and tusk slashes high up wouldn’t allow for the conclusion either since a tall female elephant with prominent teeth & big feet could have been the cause. In the circumstance, these possibilities could call for conclusive evidence or even witnessing the elephant itself. During Sri Lanka Holidays you will enjoy elephants in national parks and reserves of Sri Lanka.
Mahinda’s arrival makes a singular watershed event in the history of Sri Lanka.
If ever a single event shaped and signalized the course of the Sinhala nation’s destiny, it was the arrival of Arhath Mahinda from India and subsequent conversion of whole populace of Sinhalese into Buddhism. The gentle sway of the doctrine was to take root in the Sinhalese civilization to last for 5000 years. Unbroken, recorded Sinhalese Buddhist Civilization has survived since 543 BC for 2553 years till today. We reveal for you to revel: Our Island, Our Nation and Our Faith will prevail for another 2547 years until the emergence of next Buddha, Maithri Buddha. Fear not, Prince Diyasena has arrived.
Mahinda, The Hero of Modern Sri Lanka
Mahinda hailing from Ruhuna rescues the nation and becomes the Hero of Modern Sri Lanka.
On 26th July 2006, having launched the unparalleled humanitarian operation liberation with “The Turn of the Screw” (opening the sluice gate of reservoir closed by the enemy of the nation) at “Mother River” (Mavil Aru) and overcoming the numerous meddle and muddle stands of western interferences and intimidations, peerless Prince Diyasena aka Don Percy Mahendra (Mahinda) Rajapakse, hailing from Buddiyagama Weeraketiya in the Ruhunu Giruwa Pattuwa, on 19th May 2009, at the ‘Sea of Conches” (Nanthikkadal) vanquished the enemy of the nation, who put the island to torch and sword, bullets and bombs for nearly three decades.
Mahinda proclaims we are one.
Having united the nation under one standard, the magnanimous victor, Mahinda proclaimed: “We no longer have any more minorities; we have patriots. And we have those who are not patriots, which is the minority”. This Land is My Land; This Land is Your Land, from Point Pedro to Dondra Head. This is My Sri Lanka, Your Island. What we see today is nothing less than the birth of Modern Sri Lanka and renaissance of the least promoted tourist destination in the world, the modern, medieval and ancient Sri Lanka Holidays.
The Stone Temple of Sri Lanka Holidays versus bunpeiris
Big Buddha & Little I at the Stone Temple (Gal Vihara) of Sri Lanka Holidays
My inspiration from Buddhism. Written by bunpeiris.
Robert Knox, escaping in 1679 from a long captivity among the Sinhalese, had brought home stories of “a world of hewn stone pillars” he had passed during his flight through Anuradhapura of Sri lanka Holidays. His narrative was printed in 1817. Nearly a century & a half after Knox’s journey, a pioneer officer, Lieutenant Mitchell Henry Fagan of the 2nd Ceylon Regiment, forcing his way through almost impenetrable undergrowth in 1820 had come face to face with a colossal statue gazing out at him from the foliage: Gal Vihara.
A colossal figure of Buddha cut from a granite wall was most serenely gazing at him from out of the foliage. “I cannot describe what I felt at that moment,” he wrote.
Neither could I when I first saw the great statues at the tender age of 8. It was like dream that you dream when just about to wake up. And you wake up with the dream & still on a cloud. But the upright Big Buddha most definitely smiled at me. Am I dreaming? No, Big Buddha smiled again.
Since then, for a decade, I had been traveling yearly with my maternal grandfather Prangige Silmon Peter Peiris Gunaratne ( P. S. P.Gunaratne-Podi Veda Mahataya, Sri Wijaya Ayurveda Medical Hall, Ratmalana) of Lakshapatiya, Moratuwa, who used to take all his relations & friends numbering around 30 for pilgrimage of fortnight at his expense on yearly basis during his prosperous days. Imagine 4 a.m. Lakshpatiya, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 1970s, young & old relations & friends all in full swing, pilgrim mode, spellbinding stories of village serpent medic Grand uncle Romeal (still tall and as straight as an arrow in Clint Eastwood style), Pol mal (coconut fronds), Ebert Silva passenger bus, Buddhist Homage Gathas (Thunyam sarane), large metal cauldrons & large clay pots, stuff & goods, baskets & sacks, dhal & dry fish, spices & local Palm honey sweet. How do you begin to write, how do you end writing? I have no idea.
My father (Baminaheennadige Donald Benedict Peiris, Lakshapatiya Rd., Moratuwa read “THERE’S A KIND OF HUSH” in www.bunpeiris.com) had been warning my maternal grandfather against excessive advertisements. Headstrong & flamboyant to the boot, my maternal grand father (Prangige Silmon Peter Peiris Gunaratne, Lakshapatiya, Moratuwa) had a devil may care attitude & paid scent respect to book keeping. Somebody had been following his two page advertisements in newspapers, musical advertisement at 11 am on Radio Ceylon: Aswaya gone tik tik. (then kids hit song Come’n Let’s ride the horse) Kumara Shanthiya (meaning Blessings to the Prince in Sanskrit) sure-fire Ayurvedic medication syrup of infants, toddlers, the tender young for all stomach upsets. The high flying stalwart was destined, most unfortunately, to have his wings clipped.
Another decade later, the greatest spoil sport of all time, Department of Inland Revenue of Ceylon made Ayu. Dr. Prangige Silmon Peter Peiris Gunaratne of Sri Vijaya Oushada Shalwa (Shri Vijaya Medical Hall, next to Vijitha Cinema, Ratmalana, Sri Lanka) bankrupt. How the mighty have fallen! Like an enormous tree that gave shade to all who came. My flamboyant philanthropist grandfather who had a couple of 1 Shri licence plate British made Austin Cambridge cars & a sizeable property of lands & houses lost all.
The concept of Sri Lanka Holidays commenced forming in the hearts of hearts.
Another decade later when I remarked I would love to set up luxury tour operations to draw in foreign tourists to show off my land & name the tour packages My Sri Lanka Holidays and Peter Peiris Fortnight, my father chuckled that my maternal grandfather would turn in his grave: his was charity pilgrimage with no pretensions of comforts at all; my dreams were of luxury travel with a view to profit. Not exactly, this is Sri Lanka Holidays, the Total Holiday Experience, I protested. I went on pushing my point. All the same, it’s a fair deal, I take my country to them, or rather bring them to my land, I argued. I reveal for them to revel with Sri Lanka Holidays. The concept of Sri Lanka Holidays commenced simmering in my mind.
In time, my grandfather was to provide me the inspiration to compose 108 web page website on Sri Lanka with great emphasis on the numerous Buddhist cultural attractions of Sri Lanka Holidays.
Unlike the German tourists, the British tourists seek for touring holiday packages with cultural orientation. After all it was them who rediscovered the lost cities of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa & Sigiriya of Sri Lanka Holidays.
Sri Lanka Holidays: Sunken Treasure, Golden Pearl Island and Ravana’s Swaymbhu lingum by bunpeiris
If a sheer single word could bring about the most divine joy, the word “treasure” would take the pole position to race against the most precious of all words: father, mother, son, daughter and lover. Of course, you may re-order the words, for your lover would hardly approve the sequence. Of course, you may hold the sequence at your peril but nobody would twitch a muscle nor bat an eye. Keep your eyes peeled and ears open for there’s more to swing low and final thrust of the argument is still ahead. If such is the magic of the single word, the ultimate magic could perhaps be encapsulated in a pair of words: sunken treasure.
The Great Basses Lighthouse off Kirinda
In the year1958, Mike Wilson discovered a hitherto unknown spectacular underwater territory that sparked interest in snorkling, scuba diving (skin diving), wreck diving and submarine photography (underwater photography) in the southern coast of Sri Lanka Holidays. The location was the Great Basses Reef, 6 miles away (as the crow flies) from Kirinda in the mainland (island of Sri Lanka). Great Basses Ridge and Little Basses Ridge run almost parallel to the southern coast of Sri Lanka. The wave-swept line of submerged rocks of Great Basses is home to Great Basses Light house while the Little Bases Ridge houses Little Basses Light house. Both light houses were then run by Imperial Light House Service of Great Britain. Close to the location of Little Basses light house is Daedalus Rock the site where Her Majesty’s ship Daedalus had been wrecked upon.
In the year 1959, Arthur C. Clarke and Rodney Johnklass joined Mike Wilson on an expedition. Arthur narrates: around the lighthouse was a fantastic submarine fairyland of caves, grottoes, coral-encrusted valleys-and fish in numbers such as I have never seen anywhere else in the world. Sometimes they crowded round us so closely that we could see nothing but a solid wall of scales and had literarily to push our way through. They were inquisitive and completely unafraid. During our visit we met eagle rays, turtles, angelfish, jacks, tuna (up to three hundred pounds!), groupers, and sharks, especially the latter. Arthur C. Clarke: The Indian Ocean Treasure (1972)
The Great Basses Reef and The Little Basses Reef
In the year 1961 Mike Wilson was once again at the Great Basses Reef. Arthur C, Clarke and Rodney Johnklass missed him. But then Mike managed pretty well without them, for he was accompanied by a couple of first class divers, members of the official U.S. community. They were young fellows. Arthur C. Clarke had no idea how his buddy Mike had managed to persuade the parents of Boby Kriegal and Mark Smith. They were only fourteen and thirteen years of age respectively.
Travel to Kirinda from Colombo (175 miles)
Quote Arthur C. Clarke: Mark Smith’s (14) diary, March 12, 1961 “Arrived.” That one word covers a 175-mile drive down the beautiful, palm-fringed, southwest coast of Ceylon-surely one of the loveliest in the world-past dozens of fishing villages with their picturesque outrigger boats drawn up on the beaches. The journey goes through the ancient port of Galle-which, say some historians, may be the Tarshish of the Bible–and beyond that into a lonely landscape of still lagoons and patches of jungle. You may meet wild elephants here, but they seldom bother motorists. Unquote
The tricky rope trip from boat to the Lighthouse
The seaport of Galle is home to VOC Galle Dutch Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Galle is a conveniently located to make visits to Sri Lanka Holidays Wild life sanctuaries Udawalave, Ruhuna Yala as well as to Sri Lanka Holidays ancient cities of Kataragama and Tissmaharama of Ruhuna, the cradle of the heroes of then Lanka and now Sri Lanka.
Boat ride from Kirinda to Light house of Imperial Light house Service at Great Basses Ridge (10 miles, as you sail)
Sri Lanka Holidays Kirinda, a small fishing village is home to the boat house built by the imperial Light house Service of the colonial ruler, Great Britain. The boat “Pharos” leaves for the Light house at the Great Basses at 4 a.m. in the morning, a god damn it hour to wake up and most of all, to get up. But that is when the sea put up its best behavior: calmest. Think of the boat ride calm instead of the blanket warm and get up and double up. Viola! Mike and the boys would take the ten mile boat ride to the Great basses Reef.
The tricky rope trip from the boat at Great Basses Ridge to the light house (height of the light house)
Having taken the 10 mile boat ride to the Great Basses Reef, with no place for landing, the boat would be anchored about fifty feet away from the rocks. The only way up to the light house is by means of a thick rope slung across and down to the boat from a crane on the light house. They were hauled up it, swinging back and forth. The equipment- Aqua Lungs, air compressor, underwater cameras, files, food too were hauled up to the light house by the same rope.
The Great Basses Reef to the sunken treasure (30 feet down in the bottom of the sea)
Boby Kriegal lifts one of the silver coin masses
Date: 17th March 1961: Mike Wilson, Boby Kriegal and Mark Smith, seabed of the Indian Ocean, around the Great Basses Light House, Great Basses Ridge, 10 miles off the Historical beach of Kirinda, Sri Lanka Holidays; skin diving with a single cylinder aqua lung.
Boby Kriegal (14) speaks to the tape recorder of Arthur C. Clarke: Mike told us, he thought he saw a cannonball. Then we saw a small cannon, about two and a half feet long. Mike dived down-no, Mile didn’t dive down to it. He showed it to me and pointed. I dived down and tried to pull it up. I couldn’t do it. So then Mike dived and lifted it free, then put it back down. Mike said that the wreck might have hit on one side of the reef and some more might be on the other side; so we swam around the edge of it. After we got to the other side, the first thing we saw a shiny cannon, about two and a half feet long, sitting on the edge of a big canyon; and it was worn smooth by the water, and shining as though someone had put it there the other day.
Arthur C. Clarke narrates: and when I weighed the big lumps that Mike and the boys had brought back, I found that each contained almost exactly one thousand silver coins. There could be no doubt they were the remains of 1000 rupee bags that had been counted and sealed-just as bags of coins are handled by banks today. When the ship had gone down, the material of the bags had lasted long enough for the outer layers of rupees to become cemented together by the action of the sea. Thus inside the lump were perfectly preserved, while the whole mass retained the shape of the original bag. The coins had been minted in the reign of the Emperor Aurangzeb, who was the last of the great Mogul rulers of India for almost half a century, from 1658 to 1701, but when he died, his empire broke up in civil wars which paved the way for the Western invaders-the Portuguese, the French, and finally the British.
The Great Basses light house to the location of the sunken treasure (more than a thousand feet, a tremendous distance to cover even for a good swimmer)
Boby Kriegal and Mark Smith
At the end of mere 2 days of diving on the wreck, without proper equipment and with no boat, the three musketeers had brought back some two hundred pounds of material, including two little swivel guns (30 pounds each). Swimming to the Great Basses light house the location of the sunken treasure often took more than an hour. In the words of Arthur C. Clarke himself it was an astonishing performance.
A wall of solid silver
Quote Boby Kriegel (14) as tape recorded: Well, the coins are in the bottom, next to the cannon-about five feet long, say up to two feet wide. Then if you went along a side of the wall, I’d say it could have got down to six feet long and still about two and a half feet wide. But this was perpendicular to the bottom of the sand, so if it is laid over flat, it would probably be three feet wide. Knocked three or four hunks off this wall; I mean by hunks about a thousand coins stuck together. Unquote
Now that’s the mother load: the hunt is on; the search is on for a boat and equipment.
One good thing leads to another: Golden Pearl Island
Arthur C. Clarke suggested his buddy Mike to rent a boat. Mike Wilson harbored another idea: their own boat. That was an ambitious one: a boat that would cost about USD10,000 (1961). The road to a seaworthy boat shook up indomitable Clarke himself. Mike Wilson was determined to make it in local movie business: a 2 and a half hour adventure movie in color on a sunken treasure.
Mike Wilson films PeterThrockmorton
A sunken treasure, the most fortunate discovery and then the Herculean recovery would make everybody call you “our captain Marvel” and greet you “what a daring darling you are!” And that’s how we would call and greet Mike Wilson the diver, cameraman, the accidental treasure hunter of cultured and sophisticated variety. As if such a rarity wouldn’t immortalize him in the history of marine treasure hunts, Mike Wilson also earned eternal glory in the general populace of Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon too by dream producing and venture directing the adventure movie, the first color film of Sri Lanka, Ran Muthu Duwa which meant Golden Pearl Island in Sinhala.
And at that point of time, it was a pretty ambitious project in view of Mike Wilson’s not so impressive experience being confined to single 25-minute, 16-millimeter Kodachrome film titled “Beneath the Seas of Ceylon”. Then again just a few years ago his time at Kitulgala of Sri Lanka Holidays helping David Lean to direct the Second World War epic “The Bridge on the River Kwai” must have done a world of good for his confidence. Mike Wilson wasted no time and at a brisk pace went about writing the script, assembling his unit, chasing bankers and film distributors, and doing all the thousand that would make everything in ship shape about the movie with underwater scenes at beautiful beaches of Trincomalee. That is what bunpeiris would call dream producing and venture directing a movie.
One good thing leads to another: Swayambhuwa Linga
While filming Golden Pearl Island, Mike went on to discover non other than Swayambhuwa Linga (self bodied regenerative organ, the symbol of Hindu God Shiva), one of the 69 authentic stone carved siva lingam artifacts whose antiquity runs into half a decade of millenniums, at the seabed of beautiful beaches of Trincomalee. Such discoveries would have made any other mortal content for the rest of his lifetime; but not indomitable Mike Wilson. Having restored Swayambhuwa Linga to where it belonged, Koneshwaram Kovil at Trincomalle, Mike Wilson settled down at the sacred city of Kataragama of Sri Lanka Holidays to become an ascetic in search of God Skanda.
Golden Pearl Island takes Ceylon by storm
In the year 1962, the first Sinhala color film Ranmuthu Doowa (RMD as Mike and the gang called it) meaning Golden Pearl Island in Sinhala produced by Shesha Palihakkara and directed by Mike Wilson with Willie Blake behind the camera was released by Serendib Productions, Sri Lanka. Let me switch you over to my hero: my father.
Baminahennedige Donald Benedict Peiris {that’s my father,1930- 2005, Lakshapatiya, Moratuwa, western coastal belt of Sri Lanka; Prince of Wales’ College of Moratuwa, Ceylon Technical College, Moratuwa, which was decades later to be upgraded to University of Moratuwa where story teller of 2001 space odyssey, Sir Arthur C. Clarke was to become Dean; Welikada Wireless Station, Ceylon; Department of Meteorology, Colombo, Ceylon and Sri Lankan counterpart to WMO expert of World Meteorological Organization Project in Sri Lanka and Maldives, then Meteorological station, Midway Islands USA Naval Base – ITT. Read There’s a Kind of Hush} narrates: The movie took the little ancient tropical island of Sri Lanka by storm; the Ceylonese were held enthralled. Such was the popularity of the movie, it was recorded that every one in ten in Ceylon viewed the movie at one of the cinema theatres of the island. Mike Wilson, Rodney Johnklass and Willie Blake became household names in then (1962) populace of 10 million in the island of Sri Lanka.
The star studded cast from our western coastal belt of Sri Lanka consisted of dashing and daring Sembuge Gamini Shelton Fonseka(Bandu) of Hatari mould, Jeevarani Kuru Kula Sooriya, an exotic beauty called “the gorgeous one” (Kumari), Joe Abeywickrama (Sena), Anthony C. Perera (Bandu’s uncle), Joe Shane Gunaratne (Rajo), Austin Abeysekera (Danapala) and Vincent De Vaas (Muttusamy) & Thilakasiri Fernanado (Swami). Maestro W. D. Ameradeva (W. D. Albert) of our legendary hometown of Moratuwa (western coastal belt) composed enchanting music. The master musicians of Sri Lanka, Ms. Nanda Malini, Narada Disasekera and Milton Perera turned out melodious Sinhala songs titled “The world testifies that the human life is a flowing river” “Blooming flowers in the wild dancing to the scintillating breeze” and “Creepers of flowery Saman embracing flagrant Sadun tree”. The catchy tunes, the toe tingling beats broadcasted by Radio Ceylon (later named Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation) were soon blaring out of every radio (then called wireless sets based on vacuum valve technology) and radio fusion (an elementary radio) of the island. If those were Sinhala hit songs then, today those are golden oldies; if it was everybody’s dream film then, today it is a vintage movie. One more round of Champaign is served for all on the house. Photographs are taken by Mike Wilson, Rodney Johnklass, Arthur C. Clarke and Royal Ceylon Air Force. Copyright by Arthur C. Clarke and Mike Wilson.
That wasn’t the end. That was only the beginning: the road to a seaworthy boat. Mike Wilson got his boat. You need to be careful what you wish for: if you work hard enough, in all probability, you would get it. Then it is all yours to ride the waves. Join Google wave. Episode 1 is presented to you by bunpeiris of Riolta Sri Lanka Holidays.
Learn CPR and save a LIFE
Learn first-aid and save a LIMB
