The ruins of Ritigala and Mihintale

Part of the hospital at Ritigala, including a herbal bathing area.
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Driving part way to Anuradhapura, really only about an hour and half, we veered off the road, near by some elephants heading to a lake, in search of the ruins of Ritigala. Ritigala was formerly a King's defensive fort, but later was donated by the king as a buddhist monastery. It was built of granite and we hired a guide for about $2 to show us up the hill and tell us about it. Fawmy came along, since he was Buddhist and had never been. It was quite an interesting place set in the deep jungle. The bulk of the excavation and presentation was done in the 90's, after my family had left, so it was all new to me.

Grinding stones to mix herbs for medicinal baths.
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We found many granite boulders along the way that had straight lines of deep holes cut into them. The guide explained that these holes were drilled into the rock before the masons would then split them and move the squared off blocks uphill for construction. He claimed that they had a herbal mixture that masons would apply to the granite first that softened it and made it easy to carve... I thought he was a bit soft himself to believe that. I tried to suggest that maybe they were inserting wood into the holes and then soaking it until it expanded and split the rock. But he insisted that there was a lost herbal remedy for softening granite and making it as easy to carve as butter. Maybe $2 was too much to pay for his services.

Our guide across a granite bridge, alledgedly cut with the help of some softening herbs.
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Anyway, the site was neat, incorporating a hospital for the 500+ monks that were thought to have once lived there. Near the top there were 2 large pools, now empty though, that had platforms built in the center for the monks to meditate on. It was supposed that the water helped keep the monks cool and focussed. And near by these were urinal stones that had feet carved on them, to help guide the user.

On the descent we found numerous stone pathways that lead off into the forest, and yet did not have any ruined foundation unearthed. The guide explained that these were either the site of a wooden building, long since gone, or a place waiting for investigation by the archaeologists.

The pool area at Ritigala with raised platform for meditation.
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The afternoon found us scrambling over yet another hill in the hot tropical sun, the temple at Mihintale. This had a big fat Dagoba at the top, as well as a bathing pool (with semi naked tourists) with a bas relief 5 headed cobra guarding it. This was the place that the disciple Mahinda met King Tissa for the first time and tested his wisdom to see if he was a fit candidate to receive the Buddhist teachings. There followed a quiz about mango trees that the king did indeed pass and so Sri Lanka was blessed with the teachings of Buddha. The quiz goes:

A finely carved urinal stone!
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"What is this tree called?"

"It is a Mango tree," answers the king.

"Are there any other mango trees besides this?"

"There are many mango trees," replied the king.

Erin by a piece of granite that the mason did not cut along the dotted line.
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"And are there any other trees besides this mango tree and other mango trees?"

"There are many other trees," replied the king, "but they are not mango trees".

"And are there besides these mango trees and those which are not mango, yet other trees?"

The answer to the quiz is...?

A dagoba at Mihintale.
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If you can't get it, it is a good thing you weren't king then, but you can write to me for the answer.

The stairs leading up the hill side are lined with the lovely sight and fragrance of hundreds of Frangipani trees. It was good to walk under them in the heat of the day, they gave good shade and their smell reminded me of the one behind my old house in Colombo. My brother Peter and I found that Frangipani to be a perfect climbing tree and it got us up to the roof where we used to spy on the neighbors and vex our landlady, Madame Tennakoon, by cracking the tiles.