At Ella, there were many boards put by tourism department providing information about the nearby tourist places. Most of them were in my list but the one showing the rock carvings of Buddha drew my attention. It was not in my itinerary but our driver mentioned that it only required a small detour on Ella Galle road. So, it got added to our list!!
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| Budurwagala rock cut statues |
We had to stop our car a km from the place due to ongoing road construction. The walk was along the backwaters of Budurwagala reservoir which was very beautiful. Our driver mentioned about the presence of crocodiles in the lake. My daughter was eagerly looking out at the lake for the crocodiles while at the same time keeping healthy distance from waters!! But we did not find any crocodiles.
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| Budurwagala reservoir |
The temple complex made its appearance at the end of the road. It was in a very picturesque location surrounded by trees.
The handout provided at the entrance mentioned that “The remnants of the rock carvings visible at the site reveal the image of the Buddha in the standing posture in full relief and seven standing images of Buddha images of much lesser size engraved from a vertical rock face in the semi relief form. The features of the images are enhanced by the application of stucco finally impregnating their surfaces with different hewed pigments. In addition to these rock carvings believed to belong to the 7-8c A.C a large number of ruins are seen scattered around the site”.
The size of the largest Buddha statue is about 52 feet from head to toe.
In general, it was a nice place to visit. It is about 35 km from Ella in Monaragala district. There are many Buddhist places nearby like Rakkhittakanda monastery, Maligawila, Yudaganwa, Wettambugala, Budupatungala, Mailla, Dematamal vihara and Galabedda.
Labels: Abroad, Buddhism, Sri Lanka, travel
