Chariot Path of Ravana & Sitha on top of Piduruthalagala range and James Taylor’s Loolecondera!

In red trail ends, green chariot path, blue loolecandura estate – Click Image to Enlarge

It was dawn of Sinhala & Tamil New Year and I wanted to make it a memorable one. All started one year back after hiking Yahangala which was linked with Ravana epic. Yahangala prompted me to go through few Ravana documentaries and important places related to the legend; though I’m not a blind believer I think he was one of the greatest kings in Sri Lanka. While going through some articles I came across a site called chariot path which urged me to pay a visit someday because of the unusual location of it. There was very little information about chariot path and the only way to find out was to go in search of it! This place is being visited by Indians regularly so then why not us been Sri Lankans should not!

3 of us arrived at Gampola on a sunny day trying to figure out a way to get to Frotoft estate so after talking with few locals we were told to go towards Pussellawa. From Pussellawa we gott in to a crowded “Pettarasi” bus which ascended through the delta estate and kept winding around tea estates producing some of stunning scenery which we couldn’t capture due to many reasons. After a bumpy bus ride through the upper Ramboda estates we reached the old Frotoft hospital. We were told that there is a clear trail to the said site but finding the trail head was the main problem. Fortunately we met Nimal at Frotoft estate line houses and he agreed to show us the way. We were extremely lucky to come across this guy at that moment because it was already 1pm. After walking about 1.5km through the scenic tea estates of Frotoft we reached the trail head at the boarder of the estate.

now abandoned old frotoff hospital

kotmale reservoir as seen to Frotoft

on the way towards the trail head

getting misty

this young stream later forms devathura oya

ladscaped perfectly

a lonely tree

this is what we are going to climb

There was a clear path almost all the way and even if it was bit covered at some places, it was not so difficult to keep in track. The initial stretch was almost flat and ran through the bushes and within no time it was a mild continuous ascend. This foot path is used by locals to cross over to the tea estate on Hewaheta side so it will not get completely covered for any reason. Even If you have a look in google earth the trail can be easily identified. The last bit was the toughest since we had to climb in a zig zag manner continuously uphill until we reached the top of the Piduruthalagala range. At this point we tipped of our helpful guide and walked through the mountain range with ease. The walk was through a classical mountainous forest just like walking in Horton plains and in no time we reached our destination which was a large plain area middle of no ware.

entering the forest

it continues through the nelu

Frotof watta line houses where we started the hike

its gonna rain soon

Sitha flowers(Ashoka)(Maha rath mal)

Bowitiya decorating the sideways

spookiness at its best

guess the direction of the wind

colourful mountainous forest tops

It took us about 1.5hours to reach the plains from the trail head and after we got there our exhaustion simply disappeared. It is a bare area with a huge grass land surrounded by short Nelu trees and mountainous forest. The chariot path is a road like path where the “Dandu monara” has been landed and it is said that King Ravana brought Sita devi to this place to show the beauty of his kingdom while flying from Lankapura to Ashoka Vatika!

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The summit of the mountain next to the mountain range overlooking Frotoft Estate in Pussallawa is the place where Lord Hanuman first set his foot on mainland Lanka. This mountain known as Pawala Malai is visible from this mountain range. These hills stand tall in-between King Ravana’s capital city and Ashoka Vatika.

The barren land top of the mountain range is believed to be the route in which King Ravana took Sitadevi from his capital city Lankapura to Ashoka Vatika, which was a paradise on earth. Till date no vegetation grows on this passage except grass. King Ravana is believed to have taken this passage on top of these hills to show Sitadevi the beauty of his kingdom.

The Sita tear pond is found en route by the chariot route, is believed to have been formed by the tears of Sitadevi and has not dried up since, even during severe droughts when the adjoining rivers dry up.

In this area there are many large trees whose bright red blooms add colour to the scenery. These flowers are called Sita flowers. The peculiarity of these flowers is the configuration of the petal’s, stamen and pistil’s, which resemble a human figure carrying a bow, and is said to represent Lord Rama. These flowers are unique only to this area in the whole of Sri Lanka

the chariot path where Ravana took Sita to show the beauty of his kingdom

towards hewaheta

beautiful layers

one of those birds we met

experiencing a different world

The area was gloomy and there were signs of a rain within no time but that didn’t stop us from exploring around. It is truly a paradise and we experienced it at the fullest only on the next day. There was a clear water stream close to Sithas tear pond. There was evidence of recent illegal mining in the area and the other disheartening sighting was all the biscuit wrapping papers left over by visitors. Just before we pitched our tent we came to the edge of the mountain range which was at an altitude of 2000m to enjoy the panoramic view towards Kotmale and upper Ramboda regions. We found a suitable grass patch to camp on and when we were done with our tent it started to rain at around 4pm which lasted until 7pm. During this period drops of rain water started to seep through the zippers and made our life much more difficult! After the rain seized we did mop up our tent and had some bread and butter as dinner before we fell in to an interrupted sleeping process. Neither of us tried to get out of the tent to go in search of Samber because of the misty freezing climate on that day.

mist cleared off a bit

where we climbed from

the drop

we camped here

the plains

Sita’s tear pond(i didnt taste and see if it was salty)

without flowers

here comes the mist and rain

tree tops

Next day at around 4am we woke up and wanted to have a look outside, once we opened the cover of our tent we saw something we never expected to see. It was Adams peak with Hatton- Nallathanni trail lit up and that was simply an awesome unexpected sighting for us. We were pumped up and waited impatiently until the sun rise. We were also expecting some stunning scenery because the sky was already cleared off, so at around 5.45am we jumped out of the tent and proceeded along the path towards Rikillagaskada side where the sun seemed to be rising from. And it finally appeared behind an isolated cloud which lightened up the plains with its shiny orange rays to form some magical scenery. At this point mountain peaks at Rikillagaskada , Knuckles range and Mool oya estate started to become clearly visible.

dawn of day 2

the view of sri pada from chariot path note the hatton route lit up

Dawn over the chariot path

towards rikillagaskada

towards knuckles

the sun is covered

mool oya estate

grandfathers beard

here she comes

breathtaking…!

colourfull indeed

magical path

sun was shining on my tent

scenery at its best

We rushed back to our camp site and proceeded towards the opposite edge of the mountain to witness the beauty of Kotmale valley. It was totally cleared off and only a small patch of mist covering Nawalapitiya town far away was seen. It is obvious why Sitha devi was brought here by king Ravana! From one end to the other one can easily spot Piduruthalagala summit, Kikiliyamana, One tree hill, Pundalu oya, Great western, Totupola, Adams peak at the center, Galaboda range , Kabaragala of dolosbage, Peacock hills, Kotmale reservoir and New Kotmale town, Frotoft estate, Peacock hills, Alagalla, Gampola and Ambuluwawa. This is one of those places which I will re visit in near future for obvious reasons!

the shadow of the cameraman

golden rays

drops of water

more scenery

the three shadows

perfect framing

walking to the edge from the tent along the chariot path of Ravana

towards pundalu oya and great western

Kikiliyamana range with its towers also one three hill towers can be seen

summit of Sri Lanka

wake up kotmale

sun is shining over frotoft

kotmale reservoir and its dam

Piduruthalagala summit and kikiliyamana

towards peacock hills

gampola kanda and ambuluwawa

not much of water these days

new city of kotmale

peacock hills and dolosbage

top of peacock hills

valley of kotmale

the holy peak

sri pada zoomed

Ramboda area

kabaragala of dolosbage range

the tea estates of upper ramboda

beauty of the wild

living in harmony

Panorama of kotmale valley

team spirit

nawalapitiya covered with mist

Though we were unlucky to spot some samber around there were plenty of signs suggesting that there is a healthy population around. Also we did here a barking deer running screaming through the bushes. Only in the morning did we notice that the stunning view of Adams peak is seen in line with the chariot path symbolizing the importance of this place and the folklore may be true though we don’t have pure evidence. They have also found Ravana Guli(nutritious Aggala prepared by Ravana for Sita to keep her a live) around Frotoft estate, according to some articles I read these were thrown around the area by Sitha who refused to have any.(check this video  to get more info on Seetha guli) at around 8am we started descending towards our next target which was loolecondura estate. According to our guide the path leads towards Loolecondura but later we figured out that he was not correct at all.

clear sky

grass at the plains getting sun burnt

adms peak is directly seen from the chariot path

the three webs

good bye is only for now, i will be back

Descend was very steep and seemed never ending plus the loose quartz were not helpful at all. The scenery towards the estate which we thought as Loolecondera was simply amazing also the mist was kissing the tea estates reminding us how beautiful our mother land is. We rushed down to the estate within one hour but after getting to the estate we faced an awkward situation while trying to get directions towards famous James Taylor bungalow and seat because neither of the estate workers new anything about it. When we showed them few photographs even they didn’t recognize the place so we finally asked the name of the estate and we were told that we were in Mool oya estate and loolecandura was two estates away. So we had to hire a trishaw and head towards Loolecondera. Rather than descending to Hewahata and taking the main road the trishaw guy took us through a tea estate which was totally worth it because the ride produced some panoramic views towards Rikillagaskada. After a rough ride we came towards Loolecondera James taylor museum but unfortunately it had been moved towards Pussellawa. From there onwards we proceeded towards the entrance point which begins near a road side shrine and continued uphill along a poorly maintained estate road. I wonder why they can’t maintain it despite getting good revenue from the visitors.

the steep descent

wow the misty mountains

mool oya our destination

refilling at a water way

finally back to civilization

oh i love these flowers

welcome to mool oya estate

all of them were busy

a yellow eared bul bul

petals every where

After about 1.5km there was a junction and if one took the 1.1km road to the left it will lead to the first ever tea patch planted in 1867 but we decided not to go that way due to lack of time. Further 3.5km along the winding road through one of the most beautiful tea estates in Sri Lanka one will reach another junction where the road to James Taylor’s log cabin and Seat divides. When you wonder around the tea estate you will note how James Taylor has blended with nature and tried to protect the forest as possible while carrying out his tea plantation. Some places are fully shaded with huge trees and other tea patches concealed with mountainous natural forest. A 100m walk will take one towards the remains of James Taylors log cabin and only the chimney and few scattered rocks can be seen at this present day. The location was simply one of the best places on earth to build a cabin. Near by the cabin the well he used can be found and from there onwards there is a foot path which will lead up towards Dotelagala rock.

somewhere close to james taylor museum at loolecandeara

the museum which is closed

the shrine close to the entrance from the main road

name boards

yes you have to pay to go on a broken road

sub mountanious forest blended with tea

lush green

the 3way junction – Click Image to Enlarge

on the way scenery

trees everywhere

well trimmed and tea bushes grown along contor lines

view towards Piduruthalagala range

well maintained tea estate having many summer huts to have a rest

we went to the cabin and pettiyagama estate

peak at galaha very tempting

Dotelegala may be on another day!

the well

the well is not in good shape

remains of the log cabin

few words…. – Click Image to Enlarge

ode to james taylor – Click Image to Enlarge

only the chimney remains

beautiful garden view

We returned back to the junction and proceeded towards James taylors seat and summer hut also there is a pond close to the summer hut. James Taylors seat is really one of those relaxing places you would love to sit on for hours and hours. I just could imagine how this guy would have spent his evenings smoking a pipe and enjoying a cup of tea with leamon overlooking Knuckles mountain range. The panoramic view towards Galaha , Delthota, Rikillagaskada was unforgettable also we noted Hunnasgiri peak, Knuckles / Kalupahana area, parts of Victoria reservoir, a peak at Galaha, Rikillagaskada peak and plenty of paddy fields of Hewaheta region. It was time for us to return back at least before the Nonagathaya so we had to say good bye to James Taylor and the lovely memories of our journey and rush towards Colombo to prepare for the New Year!

james taylors summer hut

meaningful words

James taylor seat

endless view

view from the seat

towards rikillagaskada

Panorama of hewaheta- galaha taken from james taylor seat

kaputagala rikillagaskada

note hunnasgiri peak and knuckles mountains

wow what a view james taylor had

paddy fields of hewaheta

Delthota

the road which leads to the seat

it sums up our day

Mr James Taylor(taken from internet)

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The first commercial planting of tea was on Loolecondera Estate, some 18 miles southeast of Kandy, No.7 field is where the first tea plants were planted.

Mr James Taylor of Loolecondera – now acknowledged as the Father of the Tea Industry – was quite unassuming man who arrived in Ceylon towards the end of 1851 when he was but 17 years old and took up duties as Assistant Superintendent on Lolecondera. He remained on loolecondera for his entire planting career of 40 years and only left Ceylon on one occasion in 1874, when he went to Darjeeling in India to absorb as much tea lore as he could. He was painstaking in the extreme and by reading and experimentation took every opportunity to increase his knowledge of the tea-bush and its fragrant product. In a letter written by James Taylor he starts by recalling that how in his China phase a Cachar (North Indian) planter, Mr Noble, showed him how to pluck, wither and roll tea with a little leaf growing on those old bushes near his bungalow. All the rolling was done by hand and Noble also told him about fermenting and panning and the rest of the process.

Taylor made a further batch under the direction of the old Assam Planter, W.J.Jenkin, whom he met earlier experimenting on Condegalla for the Ceylon Company. A sample of this batch, together with seven samples Taylor had made before, was sent to Weinholt in Calcutta, India, in 1872. Taylor says with justified pride that while the Jenkins-controlled sample was valued a little higher than his own single-handed effort, all but two of these were ‘reported on as being better than the Indian teas then sold in Calcutta’. Up to this time Taylor explains that his entire tea making had been with ‘arrangements in the bungalow verandah’. Many famous Coffee Planters learned the art of tea growing and manufacture from him.