Sri Pada as World heritage site

Ruwini Jayawardana

Named the ‘Sacred footprint’ (Sri Pada) and sacred to the devotees of the main religious groups in Sri Lanka the 7,359 foot pilgrimage site towers over the Ratnapura district of the Sabaragamuwa province. This blessed summit which is visited with much faith all year round by thousands of pilgrims was declared a world heritage site last week by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)

A part of the Samanala mountain range in the hill country, Sri Pada lies surrounded by unique natural beauty. Each year Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and

Muslims venture to the peak to worship the sacred footprint carved on the rock. Dubbed Adam’s Peak among Christians, Sivanoli Padam for the Hindus, Al-Rohun (soul) between Muslims and Sri Pada for Buddhists it is probably one of the few meeting points which joins four of the world’s religions.

This is one of the main aspects that came under UNESCO’s preview when they noted the significance of the site.

“There is no other place in the world that is similar to Sri Pada. It is a symbol of the religious and ethnic harmony of the nation because there is no dispute over the site belonging to a particular religion. Though Jerusalem sparked the conflict over Christians and Muslims, pilgrims of all religions visit Sri Pada embodying their own beliefs and faith. It projects that Sri Lankans respect other religious ideologies,” National Heritage and Cultural Affairs Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi said.

She also stressed that Sri Pada signifies multinational, multicultural and multireligious diversity of the country.

Seven historical sites in Sri Lanka have been named World Heritage sites under the International Convention on Protection of World Culture and Environmental Heritage which was passed by UNESCO.

They are Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Kandy ancient cities, Sigiriya rock fortress, Dambulla rock temple, Galle Dutch Fort and Sinharaja rain forest.

Five of them are being managed by the Central Cultural Fund.

Now Sri Pada joins the clan as the eight natural wonder our ancestors had handed out to the modern world.

“Sri Pada has archaeological value as well. Brahmin letters which have existed from the time of Arahath Mahinda Thera have been located at the site.

Sigiriya and Anuradhapura are popular tourist destinations. Sri Pada too will join the list because people are keen on exploring globally significant areas.

This will boost our economy of the country with many tourists visiting the Sri Lanka. Though we are a small island we are gifted with 250,000 places of archaeological importance.

“We need to preserve them as well as show them to local and foreign travellers. Our country is also enriched with many traditional and cultural festivals and ceremonies. We need to showcase these to the world and show our dignity to the world,” she stressed. Sri Pada is most often scaled from December Poya to May though the pilgrimage season is in April. Six trails are accessible to the mountain: Ratnapura-Palabaddala, Hatton-Nallathanni, Kuruwita-Erathna, Murraywatte, Mookuwatte and Malimboda. Out of these the Nallathanni and Palabaddala routes are the most popular.

Though the sacred mountain peak had been noted as a world heritage site Minister Wanniarachchi said that they wished the route from Mahiyanganaya to Seruwawila be recognized for its importance. She said that many globally important places are scattered along the area.

“We have not given up our attempt to propose this route as a world heritage. That will be included in our second attempt,” Minister Wanniarachchi noted. Another place which had caught the eyes of the National Heritage and Cultural Affairs Ministry is the Batadomba Lena located in Kuruwita. The cave is an important archaeological site after evidence related to pre-historic human activities was discovered.

“Research shows that this is one of the locations in which the Buddha stayed during one of his visits to Sri Lanka. We hope to uncover more details and create awareness about the value of the place,” she concluded.