Echoes from the Rock: The Two Women's Cave of Buddama

“Beneath the sun-scorched rocks of Buddama Hela, two women whisper their stories through strokes of ash and silence. Theirs is not a tale of royalty or conquest—but of memory, survival, and the wild poetry of a forgotten world.” —Dr. Nimal D. Rathnayake

- BY IFHAM NIZAM

High above the sleepy hamlet of Buddama in Monaragala District, a silent hill rises like a guardian of secrets, Buddama Hela, a rocky ridge veiled in forest and time. It is home to a cave unknown to most, untouched by guidebooks or popular archaeology. But those who've walked its narrow paths and touched its cool stone walls speak of something extraordinary, a place where prehistory brushes against the present, in fading pigment and profound mystery.

They call it the Gehenu Dennage Galge or Two Women's Cave. It's a name that stirs curiosity, even reverence. Thanks to the dogged determination of herpetologist and field biologist Dr. Nimal D. Rathnayake and his dedicated team consisting of Ayoma Rathnayake, Kalinga Hewamathes, and Deepika Wickramasinghe, this sacred place is finally receiving the attention it so richly deserves.

What makes the Two Women's Cave so compelling isn't just its physical isolation or faded rock art but the human emotion woven into its walls. Within the weathered chamber, prehistoric drawings sprawl across the stone: animals, birds, indistinct figures, and one particularly stirring image of a man subduing a creature, perhaps a pig or a deer, with rope or stick in hand.

For Dr. Rathnayake and his team, these images are not just decorative; they are evidence of daily life, ritual, survival.

Speaking exclusively to The Sunday Island, Dr. Rathnayakehe added:"These are stories left behind in ash and pigment. They tell of a community living with and depending on nature. They show animals not only as food but as partners in survival. The art is raw, functional, and deeply human."

Unlike the grand frescoes of Sigiriya or the religious iconography of Dambulla, these paintings are humble. They lack grandeur, but not power. And herein lies their magic: they are a direct line to the pulse of a prehistoric people. They very likely the Veddas, Sri Lanka's indigenous forest-dwelling community.