3/10: Climbing 1,840 Steps to Mihinitale Near Anuradhapura!

You can see Steven and I didn't starve at breakfast time when our hotel manager's wife made a huge breakfast for us our last morning in Dambulla! Sorry for the fuzzy photo.

A little later Rohan, our fabulous driver and guide for many of the sights Steven and I had been lucky to see the last few days, kindly drove us in his tuk tuk to Anuradhapura, the last of the Ancient Cities in Sri Lanka. As you can see, it was quite a tight fit but I was still able to knit the entire two-hour drive!

Dambulla Produce Market was one of the biggest in the country with trucks lined up on the side of the road for as far as we could see filled to the brim with produce.

One of the traffic circles in Anurahadpura:

Every town in Sri Lanka had a clock tower, we'd noticed. We'd come here as it had been the epicenter of the island's Buddhist civilization from the time it was founded in the 4th century BC for about 1300 years. The city was still an important pilgrimage site for Sri Lankans because it was home to the Sri Maha Bodhi or sacred Bodhi tree.

Nimal, the owner of the small property where we stayed in Anuradhapura, assured us there was no rush to go see half the sights that afternoon and then the rest the next day as we could comfortably see them in one day and therefore not pay the steep $50 admission fee twice. While Steven read and rested, I looked for another place for us to stay in Aleppey in southern India as the hotel that we'd reserved nine months earlier had just canceled on us because of concerns about the coronavirus. Were we very concerned about how dangerous the virus might become and how we might have to return home in virtually no time from our four-month-long trip? Nope, not one iota. We were still blissfully ignorant and in our own travel fog. In hindsight, we should have seen this as the first inkling of how life was about to change for everyone all over the world. 

After finding another place to stay in a week's time and getting rather antsy come mid-afternoon, Steven and I hired a tuk tuk via Nimal to take us to Mihintale, revered as the birthplace of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Nimal told the driver to make sure to stop at a famous 350-year-old banyan tree en route. 

Our tuk tuk driver had no idea about the importance of this skeleton by the tree!

En route to Mihintale, we came across lots of rice drying on the side of the road for two days.

We didn't have much information about the importance of Mihintale so the following information is from the Insight Travel Guide: "According to legend, it was at Mihintale – literally “Mahinda’s Hill” – that the Indian missionary Mahinda, met and converted King Devanampiyatissa in 247 BC, establishing Buddhism as the island’s state religion. Mahinda was the son of the great Mauryan emperor Asoka, sent by his father to bring word of the Buddha’s teachings to Sri Lanka. Buddhism was immediately embraced with fervor by the Sinhalese people and soon became firmly established in the island – unlike in India, its birthplace, where it would subsequently fall into terminal decline."

We stopped first at Kaludiya Pokuna or Pond of Black Water, a peaceful artificial lake that supplied water to a 10th or 11th century monastery. A sign said no wedding photos could be taken at the sacred site. We were so touched that our tuk tuk driver had thoughtfully held his hands up to stop the traffic as we crossed the road from the parking lot - what service!

It is believed that on new moon day Kalu Buddha Rakkhita Thera sat under the Thimbiriya tree, close to the Kaludiya Pokuna, and preached a sermon based on the Kalakarama Sutta.

The temple complex was built between 898-914 AD and was declared an architectural site in 1926. Monks here enjoyed the comforts of indoor toilets and bathhouses. 

As Steven and I had seen from our extensive travels, high places all over the world have been given religious significance, with the result that devotees are always climbing steps, sometimes on their knees. Mihintale was one such place with its various shrines connected by a total of 1,840 daunting steps to the summit built during the reign of Bhathika Abhaya (22 BC-AD 7).  

At the end of the first flight of stairs up was access to the 2nd century BC Kantaka Cetiya, one of the earliest religious monuments on the island, and originally excavated in 1934. Though a sign said it had the "best ornamental frontispiece (??) found in Sri Lanka depicting the most ancient ornate stone carvings of the island," the thought of climbing more steps to reach it was just too much. We certainly felt less conflicted after chatting with a German tourist who stated it wasn't very interesting so we gave it a pass as did his friends!

We took a well-deserved breather to 'admire' this beehive hut but there was no sign indicating what it had been.

The second tier of steps:

And then the third! Thank goodness we'd had waited to climb in the mid-afternoon as there was lots of shade. The temperature was still a pretty brutal 94 degrees so it was no walk in the park!

We were curious about the importance of the stupa up even more steps.

Atop the third level was the tiniest Buddha statue we'd ever seen in a public space. 

A few steps away was the diminutive Ambasthala Dagoba or Mango Tree Stupa, surrounded by stone pillars. It marked the place where Arahant Mahinda first met King Devanampiyatissa. The ruins show that there had been a house built encircling the stupa. The dagoba itself is said to enshrine the relics of the great Apostle Mahinda. 

By the time we reached this next set of steps, both of us were feeling pretty faint because of the non-stop climbing and the heat. We were only halfway up so we really had to pace ourselves. 

What an incredible sight after climbing what seemed like endless steps! It was such a relief to know we had almost reached the large white Buddha statue. The final ascent was up a flight of rock-carved steps. The last hundred or so steps had been without shoes, as a sign of respect. Steven also had to put his sarong he'd bought in Brazil over his shorts for the same reason.

We rested for some time atop the terrace where the massive Buddha statue was as we were beat!

From the terrace, we could see across to the gleaming white stupa, Maha Seya, on the summit of the Mihintale hill. It was built by King Mahadathika Mahanaga of Anuradhapura whose reign lasted from 9 to 21 AD. 

We vowed these steps to the stupa would be the last we would climb for a while!

A view looking back at the immense Buddha statue as we climbed up to the stupa:

From the stupa, we looked across at Aradhana Gala, where Buddhists believe the Arahath Mahinda landed. I read that, even during very windy weather, pilgrims don't fail to visit the rock, which had iron railings to help them to climb up. It was written in ancient books that Mahinda came to Sri Lanka by traveling through the air! He came down and landed on the top of the Aradhana Gala where he met King Devanampiyatissa for the first time.

Steven and I considered, albeit briefly, walking over and then up to Aradhana Gala but the heat, all the climbing we'd already done, plus the presence of all the schoolchildren, combined to make us at peace with seeing it from afar.

There was a stiff breeze so we heard the flags flapping in the wind and also what sounded like an ice-cream truck far below us which seemed quite incongruous in such a holy spot. We would have paid a pretty penny for some ice cream right then, let me tell you!

From the stupa, we had extraordinary views of the countryside.

The stupa, which had been in a dilapidated condition, was completely restored.

Near the stupa was Mihindu Seya, a burial mound from 210 BC.

Views from the burial mound:

I wish there was someone we could have asked what this was.

Lots of monkeys were our companions on the long walk down the steps. How was it that the steps didn't seem to take much time at all going down?!

Next post: Touring the UNESCO-recognized Anuradhapura World Heritage Site.

If you've been reading the blog recently, you know I've also been trying to finish writing about our trip last fall to Ireland and the UK - about time, I know! Here's a link to my most recent post, to the most important church in Scotland, St. Giles Cathedral, located in Edinburgh:
https://bergersadventures7.blogspot.com/2020/06/104-edinburghs-st-giles-cathedral_2.html

Posted on June 4th, from our home in Denver. Steven and I hope you, your family and friends, are healthy and safe in these trying times that beset our country.