Adam's Peak Sripada

 Adam's Peak Sripada Sri lanka

It looms into view, looking for all the world like the Paramount Pictures logo. That is at the new town of Maskeliya, Sri Lanka (the old town was flooded to make way for the tank). A perfect shape of a pyramid, but then again without the hallow of the white stars of Paramount logo. But then, in the absence of stars, mountain does even better with one of a kind phenomenon. That is at the summit: a light & shadow play few moments following the crack of dawn during the period January to April when the incredible sunrise produces the famous spectacle known as the "Shadow of the Peak", which leaves all ventured on to the summit spellbound.

As the first rays of dawn light up sacred mountain (2243m) you're treated to an extremely fine view: the hill country rises to the east; in the west the land slopes away to the sea; Colombo at sea level, 65km away, is easily visible on a clear day. Interesting as the ascent is, & beautiful as the dawn is, Adam's peak saves its mesmerising paramount show time for a few minutes after dawn. As the sun rises, the shadow of the Peak seems to be projected in from the air without lying upon the forest below as one's eyes expect: a perfect shadow of the peak onto the misty clouds in the direction of far coast. Still more as the sun rises higher, this eerie triangular shadow on the misty clouds races back towards the peak, eventually disappearing into on to its base. This is an awesome optical phenomenon in a magnificent summit of a sacred mountain of boundless beauty.

And that optical illusion is for the real, to the boot, unlike the Paramount logo. Herman Hesse had a transcendental experience on Adam's Peak. He later tried to witness a possible duplication of the light & shadow show in India, but it eluded him. Not even Incredible India of yester years Midnight Rainbow (Bengal) & of Maduri Dixit could fix it, could produce such a superlative spectacle as in Lanka. He then returned to Ceylon, climbed the Adam's Peak once again & it happened once again. Can I see it again? By all means. English author John Stills described the peak as "one of the vastest & most reverenced cathedrals of the human race". "When Adam was expelled an angel took him by the arm & set him down here," wrote the Papal Legate Marignolli over 500 years ago when he descended from the most famous of Lanka's mountains. This is paradise. Com'n let's dance at the base. And climb.

Then again, this is not simply a nature & adventure mountain climb to begin narrating with the matter as superficial as the logo of Paramount pictures. We have been light hearted. Please forgive me, god Maha Sumana Saman! Let's get serious now. No where else in the world is a pilgrimage site which is held sacred by the devotees of four religions, as Adam's Peak in Sri Lanka. Sanctity of the mountain has been held aloft by adherents of each of four religions of Sri Lanka, namely, Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Islamists.

The mountain has been climbed for at least 1000 years. King Vijayabahu (1055-1100 AD) built shelters along its route, work continued by Parakaramabahu the 2nd (1125-1169 AD) who cleared jungle & built a road & bridges to the mountain. Marco Polo commented on the chains provided for pilgrims in the 13th century, while Muslim traveller Ibn Battutah visited in the 14th century & described the two approach routes still used, labeling them the Adam & Eve tracks.

Sri Lanka's world famous Holy Mountain is the ultimate center of the attraction, epitome of pilgrimage where devotees from all parts of the little island engage in the annual pilgrimage. Their voices echo and re-echo from their innermost hearts in the cold clammy atmosphere with resounding chanting "Karunawai" (meaning compassion, a Buddhist ideal) as they ascend or descend.

When considering the mountain's history it lends a certain feeling of a supernatural aura brooding, a hidden divine power. On the 8th year after Enlightenment, Buddha visited Kelaniya at the request of the Naga King Maniakkika. On this occasion it is said that Buddha was accompanied by 500 monks. After His sojourn at Kelaniya Buddha visited three other places, namely, Digavaapi, Kataragama and this beautiful mountain in the Centrel highlands 7360 feet high. Here the Buddha left the trace of His left foot at the summit on a gemstone, on the request of God Maha Sumana Saman, the guardian of the Peak.

Some Christians say the "footprint" in the rock atop the rust-red, peak is where Adam first set foot (hence is called Adam's peak) on earth after being exiled from Eden. Other Christians say it is the Footprint of St. Thomas, who brought Christianity to Southern India in the 1st century AD, while to Hindus it is the Footprint of Lord Siva (hence called Sivan Adipadham or Sivanolipatha Malai), while some of Sri Lanka's Muslims call it the Footprint of Al-Rohun (Soul).

While beliefs of some depend on mere faith, the claims of the Buddhists alone refer to recorded history and partly legend. Buddhists, who have covered the original "print" with a larger than life concrete copy, say it was made by the Buddha on his third visit to Sri Lanka.

Whichever legend you care to believe, the fact remains that the mountain has been a pilgrimage site paid homage by kings & commoners alike for over 1000 years. King Parakramabahu & King Nissankamalla provided ambalama (resting places) up the mountain to shelter the weary pilgrims. The "season" for pilgrims is during the calm bright months from January to April.

Geographically Adam's Peak is important as the main watershed of Sri Lanka, four of the principal rivers of the Island, including the River Mahaweli, the longest & the largest, having their source from this mountain, and falling to the sea on the eastern, western and south eastern coasts. The districts to the south and the east of Adam's Peak yield precious stones-emeralds, rubies, sapphires, etc, for which the Island has been famous, and which have earned for its ancient name of "Ratnadvipa".