Today we take a trip to Mihintale, a small town 11 kilometers from Anuradhapura. The plan is to take the bus from Anuradhapura, but we get chatting to a man in the local pastry shop who,it turns out, has a tut-tut and a taxi and runs tours mainly for German tourists. To cut a long story short, we allow ourselves to be talked into taking a tut-tut instead. He also arranges a very good guide to take us round the ruins on Minhintale Hill.
A series of 1840 granite steps lead up to the top of this shady hill, but we take the easy option and start from the car park half way up. Our guide turns out to be very knowledgable and imparts a lot of information about the history and background to the site, the ruins and dagobas. Particularly useful as none of the sites we have visited so far either here or in Anuradhapura have any signage and the information provided in the Lonely Planet can be a bit patchy and in some cases unreliable.
The first two dagobas here are in varying states of disrepair (Kantaka Cheiya, 12m high c 247-207 and Mahaseya Dagoba), which are decorated with stone carvings unlike those in Anuradhapura which are quite plain. There are a number of other ruins which are little more than the foundations of monastary buildings including the hospital, refectory and assembly hall.
Few ancient buildings in Sri Lanka were built of stone; most were constructed of brick foundations, stone pillars and wooden beams with tiled roofs, which means little remains of what were once grand and imposing buildings. But two carved stone slabs provide detailed information about the regulations of the monastary and details of daily life even down to the token system used in the refectory. There are remnants of water channels, pit valves (invented by the Sri Lankans), stone troughs which were used as bain maries to keep food hot in the refectory and a water tank that fed a stream of water through the mouth of a stone lion for showering. All evidence an orderly and sophisticated society.
It is said that Mihintale is where Buddhism was first introduced to Sri Lanka. Here Mahinda, son of the Buddhist emperor Ashoka, met the Sri Lankan king Devenampiya Tissa by a mango tree and, after testing him with a riddle, considered him a worthy disciple and converted him to Buddhism. Where the mango tree once stood now stands the small but rather lovely Ambasthale Dagoba, one of the oldest in Sri Lanka. Entry to this sacred site is not included in our Cultural Triangle round ticket, as with most sites run by monks, so there is an additional 1000 rupees to pay. As with all sacred sites shoes and hats have to be removed, but although we have remembered our socks today it is quite a shady spot and the ground is relatively cool.
From this point it is possible to scramble up the rock to a lookout at the summit with the help of roughly hewn foot holes and a handrail. The handrail is so hot that the hands need more protection than the feet and so the socks come in useful after all. The views from the top are quite spectacular.
We return to Adhadradhapura in time for a late lunch before taking a gentle stroll to the Isurumunya Vihara rock temple about 1.5km from the guest house. This temple, as it’s name suggests, is hewn into the rock alongside the Tissa Wewa man-made tank. Anaradhapura has three great tanks, Nuwara Wewa (1600 hectares, 20BC), Tissa Wewa (160 hectares) and Basawakkulama (120 hectares, 4th century BC) which feed the surrounding rice paddies.
There is a huge reclining Buddha in the temple, which is also home to a colony of swifts which fly in out at remarkable speed. There is also a fine carving in the rock alongside the small stone pool full of fish. It’s also possible to climb up to the top of this small outcrop of rocks for a view of the surrounding countryside and a closer look at the stupas which sit on the top.
We stop to chat to a policeman on the way out who is very interested in our travels, but the skies are looking very threatening and there are distant rumbles of thunder,so we make our apologies and hurry off, not sure if we will find a tut tut before the heavens open. And we don’t! Fortunately we have our capes with us and we manage to find shelter in a police hut just as the torrential downpour takes hold. The policeman tries to flag down a tut tut for us, but none are inclined to stop; they are either set on getting home or reluctant to be pulled over. Eventually Andy managedto stop one with his piercing whistle and we jump in. There are no side curtains so the rain pours in, but at least we are on our way. When we get back we find the garden is awash with rivers of water but at least there is electricity!