Wrapping the enormous
Mirisawetiya Vihara
40
Fall 2018
AMA InsIder
Anuradhapura, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site, kicks off our history
lesson. The 40-square-kilometre
stretch is one of the world’s longest-
inhabited cities and has been a sacred
place for Buddhists throughout the
centuries. It’s an area dotted with
majestic domed shrines known as
stupas, which house Buddhist relics.
After seeing the truly immense
Ruwanwelisaya stupa, surrounded by
elephant statues and napping monkeys,
we continue on to Mirisawetiya
Vihara stupa. I walk barefoot with the
faithful, who leave offerings of fragrant
lotus and marigold. The stark white
structure pops with colourful fabric
wrapped around its base—the navy,
red, white, orange and yellow of the
Buddhist flag. Families gather and fill
the air with gentle murmurs of prayers.
Nearby, ancient ruins become an
impromptu cricket pitch for some local
boys. Before leaving the dusty site, we
visit smaller stupas and the Samadhi
statue, a two-metre granite Buddha,
one of the oldest of its kind here.
A couple of hours outside of lovely
Anuradhapura, we transfer to safari
vehicles to enter Kaudulla National
Park. We bounce along the muddy
road, passing strutting peacocks, until
we arrive at the Kaudulla Tank, a man-
made lake originally constructed in the
third century AD by King Mahasena.
My tour, National Geographic
Journeys’ Discover Sri Lanka
with G Adventures, begins with a
quick Sinhalese language lesson.
G Adventures CEO (chief experience
officer) Sam Jayathilaka teaches
our group to say ayubowan, which
translates to “may you live long” and
is used as an all-purpose salutation:
hello, welcome or goodbye.
Sam encourages me to sample a Sri
Lankan breakfast staple: mee kiri,
buffalo milk curd with palm treacle, a
sweet syrup made from the Palmyra
palm tree. As I dig in on the open-air
patio, I spot a toque macaque hungrily
eyeing our morning meal. The species
of brown-and-white monkey is ubiqui-
tous in the region; I see them daily.