Relevance of Sri Pada in foreign tourism

NOT many Sri Lankans venture upon Sri Pada off-season. Yet any given time of day throughout the year this revered mountain remains a popular destination for foreign tourists who climb it, curious as to what they would find when they succeed uphill to the summit.

- BY SURYA VISHWA

Atop Sri Pada (Adam's Peak) one would find a large nature-induced rock formation resembling a footprint, interpreted as the sacred footprint of Lord Buddha in Buddhist tradition and the footprint of Shiva in the Hindu tradition while Christians and Muslims believe it to be the footprint of Adam. The space which has the footprint is now encircled off and locked, maintained as a shrine to be viewed only during the Lankan pilgrimage season. Surrounding the summit one also finds a resting place for pilgrims which can be accessed off season.

We climbed Sri Pada two weeks ago, starting off from Jaffna, traveling through the night and reaching Hatton by morning and then travelling Via Maskeliya, a scenic tea plantation area in the central hills.

Our objective was to find out how Sri Pada contributed as a foreign tourism destination in Sri Lanka.

We started the climb by 10 a.m., via the Nallathaniya route, which has cement steps and railings, considered the most popular path, although alternative routes include Ratnapura-Palabaddala, Kuruwita-Erathna, Deraniyagala-Udamaliboda (Ihala-Maliboda), Rajmale — Murraywatta and Dehenakanda-Mukkuwaththa.

Venturing through Nallathanniya we observed many foreigners climbing down briskly, showing no sign of weariness. They had set off earlier that morning between 2 to 3 a.m. and were returning after viewing the sunrise. Some however were climbing up almost alongside us, preferring to take it slower and return by sunset.

Trekking endeavour

It seems that Sri Pada is sought after as a trekking endeavour for many Europeans travelling as families. We spoke to Belgium, German and Japanese travellers which included members of two Belgium families.