Climbing Adam’s Peak Sri Pada in Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka – land of beaches, natural parks and beautiful hills cultivated with tea – there’s a holy mountain, whose climbing gives a unique and unforgettable experience.
It’s the Sri Pada (Sanskrit name of Adam’s Peak), the mountain with a 2,243 meters peak, that between January and April attracts a large number of pilgrims willing to climb its 5,200 steps.
SRI PADA pilgrimage
What makes it so special climbing Adam’s peak Sri Pada in Sri Lanka is that this mountain is a place of pilgrimage for 4 religions.
The journey lasts approximately 4 hours and it’s usually carried out at night to reach the top in time to admire the sunrise, a dawn that repays the effort made to climb.
DALHOUSIE SRI LANKA
Anyway the Dalhousie village becomes already animated in mid-afternoon, with the first buses loads of pilgrims and entire families with children and elderly persons.
There is who picks up food and beverage groceries, who looks for souvenirs, who buys a few heavier suits at the stalls and those who simply enjoy the serenity of these people full of faith and devotion.
Some people, who are less physically prepared, also employ all night to reach the summit, pushed by a truly admirable willpower.
Before nighfall, the path is already stippled with countless tiny lights that slowly go back the steep mountain slopes.
In the rest areas pilgrims grant a pause and a hot tea to give the tired muscles a break and find a little shelter from the cold wind.
Once arrived at the top, it’s touching to see so many people gathered, wrapped in blankets, while awaiting the dawn praying outside the temple.
the adam’s peak sacred impression
Built right on the top of Sri Pada, the temple houses the impression of a foot about a meter and a half big. The Buddhists refer it to Buddha, the Hindus to Shiva and the Christians and Muslims to Abraham.
The fact that pilgrims of four religions converge on its top, each with their own beliefs, is perhaps the deeper remembrance of this experience.
Then the dawn arrives, the first rays of light illuminate the sky and the hills, the view sweeps endlessly and a shadow in the shape of a triangle is projected on the west side of the mountain …another of the Adam’s Peak mysteries.
Now there’s only s to begin the descent toward Dalhousie, accompanied by the warmth and by the charming morning light, with tired legs and a peaceful mind, enriched with a hard and moving experience.
