News Line : I wonder if I have achieved nirvana

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Wednesday, January 09, 2013 - 05.15 GMT

I wonder if I have achieved nirvana – Sri Pada traveller

I spend as much time as I can just gazing out over the landscape as the most spectacular sunrise I’ve ever seen imbues everyone and everything with a deep orange glow. I feel close to tears and wonder briefly if I have achieved nirvana... Catherine Eade wrote after visiting Sri Pada.

Following her tour in Sri Lanka including Sri Pada and many other tourists attractions, Catherine wrote in Daily Mail,

UK that there is a pleasant air of bonhomie amongst the swelling numbers of pilgrims who arrive in a steady stream, panting, at the top of the steps.

Sri Pada, or Adam’s Peak, has been venerated as a sacred site for centuries. A depression at its summit - said to resemble a huge footprint - has been identified variously by Buddhists as the Buddha's mark, by Hindus as that of Shiva, and by Christians and Muslims as belonging to Adam, she wrote.

Isurumuniya temple, hewn from the natural rock in 25 BC (yes, you read that right) boasts some of the most exquisite stone carvings in Sri Lanka.

It’s refreshing to be so free to roam about these sites without the restrictions you find in many archaeological

sites today. We particularly find this during our subsequent visit to the amazing Polonnaruwa, where the ancient citadel in the Quadrangle is full of temples and ruins worn by the bare feet of thousands of visitors over recent years, she wrote after touring Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.

Although my tour was jam-packed with sights and experiences, I know I’ve only scratched the surface of Sri Lanka. With every fibre of my body, I hope to return. And when I do, I will certainly climb Sri Pada again – even if that makes me a bloody fool, the writer said.

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Last modified: January 09, 2013.