As this is our only full day in Anuradhapura we had originally planned for an early morning hike to Mihintale, which is a temple sitting on a mountain peak, to see the sunrise. Sadly, the weather had other plans and we had to postpone the hike due to rain to later in the day. On the good side we got a couple extra hours of sleep and ate a good breakfast at our hotel!
At 10 am, we got in the bus and had our first stop at Kaludiya Pokuna (Black Water Pool). There we saw some signs of early civilisation in Anuradhapura. Ajith explained to us how they had very good water and medical technology here, as there has been found equipment that was used in surgeries 2500 years ago. The advanced water technology they had in Anuradhapura at this early time, can raise questions about why Sri Lanka is a poor, developing country in contemporary times. This may be due to the fact that the this area was neglected due to a bigger focus on agriculture that could generate goods and wealth towards the colonial empires that colonised Sri Lanka (Abeywardana, N., et.al, 2018, p. 22).
We also learned about the backstory of the hike to the Mihintale temple we were about to take. The name of the temple stems from “Mahinda Thera” who according to ancient legends brought Buddhism to Sri Lanka. Before this the Sri Lankans worshiped nature such as rocks, the sun and the sky. On a high rock located by the Mihintale temple the king meet Buddhas wisdom through the munk Mahinda Thera for the first time. Some of the conversation is part of Sri Lanka’s ancient texts, and this significant event is considered the start of Sri Lanka’s Buddhist history.
We saw some of the remaining parts of the advanced water system they used in ancient times. One example we were told, was that the system was used when the Munks were given food from the King. Water came from the top of the mountain and was ushered down to their dinner area through small tunnels above the ground. This area also contained a huge rice bowl, which often was covered to keep the sun away, put this part was missing from the particular rice bowl that we saw. In addition, we also got to see indentations of parts of the original alphabet of Sri Lanka, however the signs has changed over time and today’s alphabet is not the same. It was a very beautiful hike and we got to see nice views of Anuradhapura and ancient ruins of the country.
Later in the day we went to City College of Business and Technology (CCBT) in the city centre of Anuradhapura. Here we got to interacts with teacher students and they had put on a beautiful show for us which included Kandyan dance performances. They served us traditional, local snacks and tea which was very nice after the hike. In return, Jenni gave a performance of Somebody To Love. This was not planned, and she deserves all the credit in the world for doing the performance with no way to plan it. To interact with the local students, Any put on a game as an icebreaker. It was very fun as we got to mix local and foreign students in a creative way. To end the session some of us got to try on the traditional Sarees the local students had brought. This was a very special experience.
To end the day some of us went to the Anuradhapura city centre for dinner, while some stayed at the hotel. It had been a great day and we have learned much more about Sri Lanka’s culture and history. This short stay in Anuradhapura has been very insightful for this trip, and we are looking forward for moving on to Jaffna tomorrow!
Group 5 - Katrine, Anja, Lea & Ada
