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A Na forest and a quartz mountain
By Sirancee Gunawardana
It was another relaxed weekend with friends and relations in a villa, set in a mahogany forest in Dambulla. As we sat in the verandah, drinking coffee early morning, listening to the birds, three pink lotuses in bloom in a pond close by made a pretty picture.
Dragonflies were brushing past and long-limbed herons with their beaks in the water were ferreting about for fish, while six white ducks swam around. The sky was a clear blue and the Punchi Dambulla rock was partly covered by mist.

Suddenly the herons flew away and perched on the trees, hidden among thick green leaves. The ducks made a nosedive, for an eagle was circling the sky above. The previous week, the eagle had snatched up a young fowl. However, that day, the quick action of the ducks foiled the eagle's breakfast. Mid-evening, after a small snooze, we decided to explore Kekirawa and its vicinity and also visit the Minneriya wildlife park.

On another day we went to Namal Uyana in Ulpathgama, quite close to Dambulla, on the Anuradhapura Road. It is 12 km from Kandalama. This ironwood forest, with towering trees with the delicate, tender pink leaves contrasting with the dark, sombre leaves and fragrant white flowers, covers 260 acres. We were struck by the magnificence of this forest.

The tall trees standing upright like sentinels with their branches interlocked filtered the rays of sunlight. It was a different world. The silence, the beauty and tranquillity move you. It is a place to meditate and appreciate nature and the wonder of creation and if you are a Buddhist to distance yourself from worldly craving.

It is said that in the 1st century BC, King Devanampiyatissa wanted to dedicate Namal Uyana to the monks but changed his mind and gave them Mahamevuna Uyana in Anuradhapura. Namal Uyana came into prominence again in the 8th century AD when King Dappula created this ironwood forest by personally supervising the planting of Na trees. In later years, prisoners were made to plant Na trees as a way of rehabilitating them. Besides Na (Mesua ferrea), this forest also has many indigenous trees and medicinal plants. The 500-year-old ebony tree is unique, as it is believed to be the only one of its kind here.

After a mile-long walk through the Na forest, you come to another unique feature - a pink quartz mountain. The earth is composed of several layers of different kinds of rocks. There are strata of sedimentary rock, limestone, charnokites, gneiss and igneous rock and right at the bottom a layer of bubbling hot, molten lava.

Once in a million years the molten lava pushes its way up through cracks in the rock due to volcanic action. Rocks at the bottom are pushed up with this up-thrust. In Sri Lanka we have experienced three such up-thrusts forming mountains and peneplains. The peak wilderness and Horton Plains and other such mountains are the result of these volcanic actions.

Though many of these mountains are covered with forest, there are other areas which may be rock outcrops of gneiss, charnokite or quartz. Sigiriya-Pidurangala has areas covered with white quartz (kiri gal) and some places close to Matale have plenty of pink quartz, close to the surface. Due to the intense heat and volcanic action, these quartz crystals look like glass.

However, it is unusual to see a whole mountain of pink quartz, as at Namal Uyana. Though it appears grey due to weathering, the mountain is of rose pink quartz. This wonder of nature is believed to be the only pink quartz mountain in South Asia, 550 million years old. It is said that the Mogul King, Shah Jehan, on seeing the beauty of our pink quartz used them for the windows of the Taj Mahal.

On the subject of quartz, there is a unique white quartz archaeological feature in Yapahuwa. It is a beautiful window covered with flower patterns, made by King Bhuvaneka Bahu I for his palace in Yapahuwa. The window, seven inches thick and 4ft 7" x 3ft 3", is made of a huge slab of shining white quartz. It can be seen in the Yapahuwa museum, close to Maho. We may not appreciate the beauty of common kiri gal but remember it has been in the earth for millions of years.

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