Skip touristy Galle and Bentota, head to Kalutara

Kalutara, near Colombo, is a bustling city and home to one of the most sacred sites on Sri Lanka's Buddhist trail

- Teja Lele

take a beat before entering Kalutara Stupa, one of the most sacred sites on Sri Lanka's Buddhist trail. That's when I spot the elaborately carved semi-circular stone slab at the entrance. The sculptural design comprises a half lotus at the centre, surrounded by concentric bands showcasing a procession of animals, a foliated pattern and geese.

The local accompanying me to the temple tells me that the sandakada pahana, commonly known as moonstone (not to be confused with the gem mined nearby), is a unique feature of Sri Lankan culture and Buddhist architecture. "It first made an appearance in the later stage of the Anuradhapura period (377 BCE-1017 CE), synonymous with the Golden Age of Sri Lanka, and was typically positioned at the bottom of staircases or entrances of religious buildings," she says.

The Kalutara Stupa, one of the few hollow stupas in the world, houses 74 murals, each depicting a different aspect of Buddha's life. It is centred on a Bodhi tree (a sacred fig), one of the 32 saplings taken from Anuradhapura's Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, said to have originated from a branch of the tree in Bodh Gaya in Bihar under which Buddha found enlightenment.

But I'm taken by the rich artistry of moonstone, which evolved through centuries and is said to symbolise the cycle of samsara in Buddhism. In the Significance of Sinhalese Moonstones, a study eminent Sri Lankan archaeologist Senerat Paranavitana in 1954 wrote about the religious symbolism of the sandakada pahana, deducing that the concentric layers that progress inwards symbolise the journey from the outer states of consciousness to the final inner core of nirvana.

It appears to me that the moonstone is the stepping stone to inner peace. I stand in the sacred space, looking at the numerous people chanting and praying. In the backdrop the eponymic Kalu River, which translates to "black river", flows serenely.