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Treading on hallowed ground

By D. C. Ranatunga
“In the height of the pilgrim season (which begins about January) the scene is most extraordinary - men, women, the old and the young, some almost decrepit... many who have to be pulled or carried up - people from all over India, China, Japan, Burma, Siam, Ceylon, Africa and from all the seats of the great religions, priests and laymen, princes and paupers are seen striving, toiling, perspiring upwards from either Maskeliya and Oosamallee on the south-east (which was the direction I took) or by the much more arduous, and therefore more meritorious, ascent from Ratnapura on the southwest.
“On the way - particularly at Oosamallee - the Buddhist pilgrims suspend long threads of cotton from the trees, for here, tradition has it, the Buddha stopped to repair a rent in his robe... Then the pilgrims reach, as the ascent becomes steeper and more difficult, the curious, ancient chains, which have been affixed there for centuries to assist those who would ascend.

“It is even alleged that these chains were affixed by Alexander the Great, who journeyed to Ceylon in 330 B.C. Anyhow, we know they are extremely ancient, if not quite so old as this, for Marco Polo mentioned them in the thirteenth century...The pilgrims call these chains 'The Chain of the Creed' and on each link they utter some word or expression of devotion.

"Then at the top, covering the footprint, is a little temple or 'vihare', and a priest or two live up here in a small and very dirty hut; and the pilgrims perform their devotions, and take their well-earned rest; and about the shrine they suspend their touchingly simple little votive offerings - pieces of calico, strings of cotton, flowers and little worthless ornaments, a few of which the priests allowed me to take away... There is a bell here, and it is usual to toll once or twice, or as often as you have made the ascent."

This account of the ascent to Sri Pada by Sir Vivian Majendie dated 1 January 1896 is quoted by Archibald Campbell Lawrie, District Judge of Kandy (1873-92) and Senior Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court in 'A Gazetteer of the Central Province of Ceylon'. The height of the pilgrim season referred to at the beginning of the article falls on Medin Poya day, the full moon day of the month of March. For centuries, Buddhist pilgrims have been trudging to Sri Pada during this time of year to pay homage at one of the sixteen places of worship -Solosmasthana - hallowed by the visits of the Buddha himself.

As the Mahavamsa narrates, during the last visit to Sri Lanka, after having preached at Kelaniya, the Buddha "rising aloft into the air displayed the impression of his foot on the mountain Samantakuta (by imprinting it there). On the side of that mountain, He with His disciples, having enjoyed the rest of noon-day, departed for Dighavapi." Thus the name Sri Pada (sacred footprint).

The place is also referred to as Samanta Sri Pada or Samanta Kuta Parvataya, the latter names referring to Saman, the old tutelary deity of Sabaragamuwa.

Most of the pilgrims prefer to be at the summit by dawn to see the most absorbing sight of sunrise -'ira sevaya'. To quote Sir Vivian: "The mountain presents another interest and that is the opportunity which it affords of witnessing the most glorious sunrise that is possible to conceive, illuminating an enormous tract of country - a radius of some eighty miles, and stretching away in one direction out to sea, and with this sunrise the wonderful and celebrated 'Shadow of the Peak'.

This is a shadow - due to the rising sun - of the peak itself, which lies stretched over the misty land and sea for a great distance. And as the sun rises the shadow seems itself to rise up as it were and approach, and at last it suddenly topples over towards the spectator like a ladder that has been reared beyond the vertical."

Writing in the Philosophical Magazine in January 1887, Ralph Abercromby, F.M.S explained this phenomenon.

"The apparent up-standing of the shadow is simply the effects of passing mist, which catches the darkness of the peak at a higher level than the earth; and when the condensed vapour moves on, the shadow falls to its natural plane on the ground.

“There are not many mountains that are over 7,000 feet and that rise in an isolated, well-defined pyramid. Still fewer can there be where a steady wind (the north-east monsoon) blows up a valley for months together, so as to carry the rising morning mist to a suitable height and distance on the western side to catch the shadow of the peak at sunrise."

Lieut.Malcolm has been identified as the first European who ascended the Peak and according to his measurements its area was 74x24 feet. It was surrounded by a stonewall 5 feet high, built in some places on the brink of the precipice.

The Sri Pada, the foot impression has been described as a superficial hollow, 5ft. 3 3/4in. long and between 2ft.7in.and 2ft.5in.wide. Dr John Davy wrote in 1818: "It is ornamented with a margin of brass studded with a few gems of little value; it is covered with a roof, which is fastened to the rock by four iron chains and supported by four pillars, and it is surrounded by a low wall.

The roof was lined with coloured cloths."

The Moor, Ibn Batuta who came to Sri Lanka in 1347 climbed Sri Pada. Sir Emerson Tennent writes about Ibn Batuta's trip. "In the ascent from Gampola to Adam's Peak he speaks of the monkeys with beards like men and of the fierce leech, which lurks on the trees and damp grass. He describes the trees with leaves that never fall and the red roses of the rhododendrons.

At the foot of the last pinnacle, which crowns the summit of the Peak, he found a minaret named after Alexander the Great; steps hewn out of the rock and iron pins, to which chains are appended to assist the pilgrims in their ascent; a well filled with fish; and last of all, on the loftiest point of the mountain, the sacred footprint of the First Man, into the hollow of which the pilgrims drop their offerings of gems and gold."

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