27/03/2025
People who struggle to make ends meet in life are always in a big fight with time. Such people work hard to balance every aspect of their lives, not to hurt the feelings of those closest to them, and to take everything forward in the right way. In the meantime, those people find their happiness in various things. This story is also a story that will never be forgotten in life ❣️
As Kalim was ready, he started his journey to Hettipola town, and after receiving the blessings of Lord Sumana Saman, he started his journey. First, he took the 13-Ella bend from Hasalaka town to Hasalaka town (there is a reason why I call this bend Lasitha bend). Then, the other friend who joined him from that bend finally stopped at Hettipola Hela Bojun.
I was so hungry that I had to cook and eat it ✊😍
We started our journey again towards Laggala, on the road that goes to the left side of Laggala town, and then the road that goes to Narangamuwa village. We went along that road to find a village called Narangamuwa and if we talk about the road, there are no houses on either side of this road, it's just like a carpet road through a forest. 🐘 Then we reached Narangamuwa village at around 9.30 am. We left here and started our journey on foot, taking the necessary things for the journey. As soon as we started, we all three of us went to the counter where we could buy tickets for Matalagala/Narangamuwa. From there, we bought three tickets and were about to start our journey. When the brother at the ticket counter asked if we were going alone, why was there a guide? I had to go on a journey with someone. When I told him my story, he told us to go. We passed Muthubanda Aiya's house and entered the Knuckles Reserve. At the same time, another person followed us on our journey.
Finally, I woke up and started my journey with a small chicken. The characteristics of the environment were changing little by little. All three of us felt that the trees were climbing up the branches, the animals were singing sweetly to the ears of the birds, the rivers were starting from a small spring and becoming large, the way that the water was crashing on the rocks, the sound of that water path was burning in our hearts, the wind was blowing in our minds. Because of all this, I couldn't imagine where I had forgotten the painful feelings that had been in my heart until now.
The great man of Hela, King Ravana, is associated with many places in the island of Sri Lanka. Sometimes it is about the blue pond in the Ella area, sometimes about the Sita Guli on Hawa Gala Mountain, sometimes about the Sita Kovil on Hakgala Mountain and Sita Eliya, sometimes about the mysterious Ravana gates in Kotmale and Kondagala, on the Chariot Path, the path of tears of Goddess Sita, and throughout Lakegala and Riverston. There are many stories and legends about the amazing procession of King Ravana. From this, it can be determined that Lakegala is a completely different location among the mountains of Sri Lanka and that some mystery is still hidden in the other locations around it, based on some facts from the villagers and legends. I will unfold a special note in search of the mysteries of such a heritage.
Knuckles or Dumbara Reserve is a large forest reserve covering an area of about 21,000 hectares. Known as Knuckles because of the mountain range with a conical shape and Dumbara (heavy with smoke) because of the forest cover that is often heavy with fog, the forest is home to 17 out of 128 species of birds endemic to Sri Lanka. Knuckles is also home to leopards, elephants, wild boars, deer, hyenas and monkeys, as well as a number of snake species. Knuckles is a protected forest that was designated as a natural World Heritage Site in 2010. Knuckles, which belongs to the Central Province and is administered by the Department of Forest Conservation, is a heritage site for both the Matale and Kandy districts. People from over fifty traditional villages live in the Knuckles forest area and make a living from rice paddy farming. The forest, which consists of about 1,000 hectares of savannah, plains and about 40 mountains, has over 25 waterfalls and 5 caves. Knuckles is a great place for sightseeing as well as adventure tourism. Especially now, the Meemure Adi Village, which is on the verge of destruction due to overcrowding, is being opened up to tourism without any hesitation, and the group of people who say 'Yaman' as soon as they say 'Yaman', is losing the historical and ecological value of Knuckles.
Lakegala, which faces Meemure village, catches the eye of many people, but many do not know that there is another mountain with a similar shape behind Lakegala.
Behind Meemure village in Kandy district is Narangamu, which belongs to Matale district. It is also part of Knuckles. When you come to Narangamu via Pallegama, Ranamure, you can see another mountain similar to Lakegala. It is called Narangamuwe Lakegala or Komalewe Gala. There is also another mountain between Meemure Lakegala and Komalewe Gala. It is called Meeriyagolla and Lakegala as a whole is a location of three rocks. All these three rocks are made up of huge black rocks and there is no tall vegetation. The story of Lakegala and Rama Ravana is influenced by the area between Meemure and Narangamuwa, and the event is currently a dangerous area surrounded by dense jungle and abundant wildlife.
Lakegala's unique location cannot be seen on any other mountain in Sri Lanka, and therefore, in search of the secrets of its mystery, we step into the middle of the Dumbara forest to find out the truth or falsehood associated with the remains of the power of the Hela king Ravana rather than the story of the Rama Ravana war.
We next had to climb the 70-degree rock cliff of Komalawa from Komalawa.
To reach the top of Komalawa rock, we first have to go to Labulassa Pathana, located between Meeriyagolla and Komalawa rocks. Climbing through Komalawa rock to Labulassa Pathana in the strong wind was a thrilling and near-death journey. Because we had to constantly lean on the rock and try to get back an inch on the other side, falling two or three hundred meters and becoming a certain death. When we reached the Labulassa waterfall, we took a short break in the scorching sun. The mana bushes in Labulassa, which had not received a drop of rain, were muddy. In front, we could clearly see the Vamarapu mountain (Katu Kitule Kanda), Udavannimana and Thunhisgala in the distance. On the other side, we realized that this mountain peak was the place where we could see the environment from Hasalaka and Mahiyangana to Wasgamuwa, and the Mahaweli River flowing straight for more than 50 kilometers.
Later, we climbed the Komalewe rock and then the Meeriyagolla and were able to see the back of Lakegala clearly. A very different shape was located behind Lakegala and although Meeriyagolla and Lakegala were close, it was impossible to climb Lakegala from there. Because there was a five-foot wide rock platform there, a 100-meter high 90-degree rock. Many people may not know that there is about an acre of space at the top of Lakegala. Because even climbing Lakegala is a deadly journey that must be done with the help of ropes. These eyes have been blessed to see the beautiful waterfalls between the mountains and the small springs that burst into a large waterfall, the Black River network, the Mahaweli River that flows into the sea in the distance, and the mountains covered with snow. However, we decided to come back down quickly because we were short on time. But I had a stupid idea that we should start from a small spring and go along a large watercourse, because I felt that the way we came was too far. So we did that. It was a stupid thing to do, even if we got lost, but somehow, in the end, we came to Uyangamuwa and fell back on the usual path. We said goodbye to the little chicken that came with us until the end and we ended our journey with the intention of coming back again, collecting many beautiful challenges and experiences in life and taking only memories. Art.❣️😍
