The Buddha’s Footprint Mountain (Sri Pada) and Elephant Rock (Athugala) (Sri Lanka Pilgrimage V)

“Thus have I heard. The Blessed One once stayed in the Castle of Laṅkā which is situated on the peak of Mount Malaya on the great ocean, and which is adorned with flowers made of jewels of various kinds. He was with a large assembly of Bhikṣus and with a great multitude of Bodhisattvas, who had come together from various Buddha-lands.” –Lankavatara Sutra

For the fifth travelogue article on my Sri Lanka pilgrimage travels is about my visit to Sri Pada, a sacred mountain in various religions, especially Buddhism, and Elephant’s Rock on top of which is a huge white Buddha statue.

Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak) – the Buddha’s footprint

I briefly stopped at one of the most sacred mountains in Sri Lanka, called the Sri Pada (also called Adam’s Peak), said to be the place where Buddha taught the Lankavatara Sutra.

It is a 2,243 m (7,359 ft) tall conical sacred mountain well known for the Sri Pada (Śrī Pāda “sacred footprint”), a 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) rock formation near the summit whose name is also used for the mountain itself.  It is derived from Sanskrit and also has meaning in Pāli, and may be translated roughly as “the sacred foot”. In Buddhist tradition the print is held to be the footprint of the Buddha, in Sri Lankan Hindu tradition that of Hanuman or Shiva (its Tamil name, Sivanolipaathamalai), means “Mountain of Shiva’s Light”) and in some Islamic and Christian traditions that of Adam or St. Thomas, left when first setting foot on Earth after having been cast out of paradise, giving it the name “Adam’s Peak”.

The mountain is also known as Mount Malaya in Buddhist sources, particularly the Mahayana Lankavatara Sutra, which states that the Buddha preached this sutra on top of the mountain. According to this sutra, the mountain was the abode of Rāvanā, overlord of the Raskshasas and ruler of Laṅkā. Other names in Sanskrit sources include Mount Lanka, Ratnagiri (Mountain of Gems), Malayagiri (Mount Malaya) or Mount Rohana.

It was interesting to me that Buddha was said to have taught the Lankvatara Sutra there, as Chapter 8 of that Sutra, gives hundreds of reasons why humans should not eat slaughtered animals. Especially as I noted, like many other ‘Buddhist’ places that people eating animals tended to be the norm and widespread, unlike India where vegetarianism is still widespread in many areas. More on the difference between Buddhist practice and local cultural norms on eating animals, see  here.

I travelled solo there but did not plan on climbing up the steps to it (6 hours there and back) for a variety of reasons (too numerous and personal to mention here). However, I was glad I did not, some people I met on the way down told me the crowds were so huge at the summit, that they had to wait two to three hours in line when only a short distance from the top!

In any case, I felt blessed to see and be near the mountain and made some prayers and aspirations while there. The town itself below the mountain was very touristy and chock-a-block full of food and stalls selling souvenirs, clothes and merchandise. Buses would pull up all through the day and night with pilgrims from all over Sri Lanka. Many people would start their walk up at 2am in the morning.

I travelled solo to the nearest train station and grabbed a jam-packed overflowing bus (many people standing on it) arriving there around 10pm in evening and found a hotel to stay nearby. Many pilgrims climb the mountain starting at 2am in order to be at the top for sunrise. 

I was welcomed in the morning with a stunning sunrise visible from my hotel window, as well as the mountain itself.  See photos below:

The Giant Buddha at Elephant Rock (Athugala), Kurunegala town

The next stop near Kandy was the ‘Elephant Rock’ and huge Buddha statue called Athugala (also called as ethagala) is a rock that overlooks the Kurunegala town in Sri Lanka. The city is encircled by a series of rocks namely Athagala, Ibbagala, Andagala, Kuruminiyagala etc., the most prominent being Athagala, due to the rock bearing a resemblance to a majestic elephant.

There are two ways to reach to the top of the rock. Either following the steps in the rock or driving via car or rickshaw. The walk to the top takes around 15-20mins.

I took the bus from Kandy to the town and then a rickshaw up to the top. On arriving at the summit of the rock one can see the temple (Athugala Viharaya) and massive snow white 88 ft Buddha statue. There were no tourists there, and I was the only white female person, as was commonplace in many of these Buddhist pilgrimage places outside of Kandy. A few local Buddhist monks and local people, and a couple of Indian tourists arrived. The sky was overcast and not sunny, and it started to rain a little. I decided not to stay for the sunset.  Nonetheless, the view of Kurunagela city from the top of the rock is panoramic and worth seeing.