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General
Facts
Ceylon Tourist Board in its new tourism thrust looks "beyond the beaches"
for Nature, Culture, adventure, village interaction, eco-tourism, but you
need not look beyond Unawatuna,the number 1 beach destination in Sri Lanka,
the sleepy fishing hamlet.
Unawatuna
has a mythical and historical past, which makes it a place like no other!
Mythical
Legend
Was
Unawatuna one of the beach paradises described in Valmiki's epic RAMAYANAYA,
as a "seashore dotted with thousands of trees, coconuts and palms dominating,
strings of houses and hermitages along the coastline human beings and superior
beings such as gandharvas, siddhas, and ascetics, living in them and countless
bejeweled celestial nymphs thronging the shore, the coast intermittently
visited by heavenly beings, gods and demons"?
Culture
Anyhow,
Ramayanaya is definitely connected with this village. The legend has it
that when the Monkey-warrior Hanuman was sent back to India to fetch the
four medicinal herbs, mritasanjeevani, vishalyakarani, suvarnakarani and
sandhani from Himalayas, to heal Lushman who was wounded in his great battle
with Ravana to save the abducted Princess Sita, he fails to identify the
herbs so he uproots that mount and ferries it to the battlefield, but a
hunk of that "fell-down" here, forming the Rumassala Hillock, and the name
of the village derives from Unna-watuna meaning "fell down".
Historical
Past
Historical
background of Unawatuna is that a banished Indian Prince was shipwrecked
and the Goddess of Earth, Manimekala, taking pity created a rocky shelf
for him to save his life and that subsequently he headed to Unawatuna.
The Goddess of chastity, Pattini, created a wall of fire to prevent him
coming ashore, but being a person of some supreme power, he set in motion
a tidal-wave of the ocean with his foot and extinguished the fire and set
foot on the shores of Unawatuna.
It
is said that he lived in Unawatuna and helped the people in various ways
and over the years he had been venerated and worshipped and the Kovil or
the Devalaya on the west end point of the bay which has a history over
thousand years is believed to be the abode of this Devol deity.
In later years a Buduge or House of Buddah and the Swethamalee Chaitiya
or Dagoba was built on the hillock abbutting the Devalaya or House of Gods.
Thousands of pilgrims throng to this place of worship every month of Esala
to offer poojas. This fest is a new Rice offering so most cultivators bring
a share of their crop and pray for timely rain and plentiful harvest. Some
others save a fistful of rice from their daily meal and offer that rice,
still others would purchase a few measures or even full gunnies of rice
along with coconuts to offer.
This
rice is pounded and mixed with coconut milk and treacle and made into a
porridge which is then offered to the deities at the devalaya and given
as alms to thousands of devotees who will trek to the devalaya for this
alms giving or Maha Deva Dana or Kiri Dana. Fisher folk save and offer
part of their earnings called "Goda kotasa" seeking protection on their
forays into the ocean.
This
year's festival will be held for one week from Esala full moon day on 14th
of August 2000.
Colonial
Glory
Yet
another aspect is the colonial past, it is said that the Dutch, after defeating
the Portuguese at the Fort of Negombo, sailed south and landed in Unawatuna
in 1640 and marched to Galle. The Portuguese had encountered the Dutch
soldiers at Magalle (near Closenburg Hotel) where fierce fighting took
place. Over 400 Dutchmen were killed while only 49 Portuguese managed to
get back to their fortification in Galle, where they were held in siege
for four days before they surrendered.
The
Dutch built houses for their officials in Unawatuna. The Nooit Gedatch
hotel, Unawatuna Hospital and the mansion Maharambe are Dutch edifices.
UBR hotel is situated on a land called Parangiyawatta, meaning "land of
the Portuguese" and the area nearby is known as Jayakotuwa, suggesting
there may have been some fortification.
The Galle tower or Edwards Pillar in Rumassala is believed to have been
a fake lighthouse built during World War I and the area is shown as property
of the British Admiralty in old survey maps.
Unawatuna
is also rich in its biodiversity.
Eco-Tourism
Unfortunately
its greatest potential for Eco-tourism, the marsh land or mangrove called
Kadolana, was completely destroyed, dredged and filled up to build a chain
hotel. The hotel never got off the ground as most people believe it was
damned, as it was being built at the door-step of the Wella Devalaya.
Nature
Over
60 species of endemic birds had been sighted in the locality by the ornithologist
Clive Byers like Terns, Egrets, Herons, Sandpipers, Kingfishers and more
rare Lesser Whistling Duck, Asian Palm Swift, White Breasted Waterhen,
Turnstone Loten's Sunbird, Black Bittern etc. They are mostly seen in the
remaining marshy area and Rumassala Hillock.
Beneath the placid Indian Ocean lies wealth of underwater wonderment. The
coral reefs, the shipwrecks, great variety of fish and the turtles who
still wade on shore to lay their nests and at times going right into the
beach front restaurants as if to lay first claim to the sandy shore now
invaded by the tourists and restaurateurs.
The
Rumassala coral reefs at the east end of the Galle Harbor, now endangered
with possible Port development is a unique treasure, more details in the
website listed below. Eco treks in the shrub jungles of Rumassala bring
one close to nature.
How
to get there
Most
visitors to Unawatuna make a beeline here from the BI Airport, Colombo,
which is 150 kms away but would take over four hours by private vehicle
or longer by public transport. Click
here for a map.
Most
guesthouses provide airport transfers, which is the best way to get out
of the busy Colombo area without much hassle.
Air-conditioned
transportation would cost US$45-50 for the trip. Charges at the Airport
Taxi counters could be more depending on the arrivals and time of the day.
By public bus, get to Pettah Central Bus Station and take an A/C bus to
Galle (Rs.75) and take a tuk-tuk to Unawatuna (Rs.80-100). Or, take the
Matara A/C bus (Rs.90) and get off at Unawatuna. You would perhaps be charged
double if you have backpacks or other luggage on buses, no extra charges
on trains.
When
engaging "tuk-tuks" or 3 wheelers as they are known in Sri Lanka, deal
directly with the driver, if you have a "hanger-on" you have a tout on
your back and you'll be "taken for a ride".
Accommodation
Unawatuna
Beach Resort is the only Tourist Board classified hotel.
Other
Ceylon Tourist Board approved places are A and B
grade
guest houses.
However there is a choice of places on par with any approved hotel, amoung
the other family run guest houses and one should look into couple of places
before settling down as most places are close to each other and its worthwhile
to walk into the village without bunking down in the first place you visit.
Best
accommodation is to be found in the Yaddehimulla area, which is the best
residential area and also hugs the best part of the beach. Other areas
are Ganahena and Pillagoda by the Main Road and Jayakotuwa which is rather
congested. Even far flung places in Dalawella and Mihiripenna, couple
of kilometers further down on Matara road are going by the Unawatuna postal
addresses.
Guesthouses
Located Outside Unawatuna Bay Area
Nooit
Gedatch, Sunshine inn, Point De Galle, Sri Gamunu, Shanthi, Sri Wijaya,
and Paragon.
Unawatuna
on the Web
Unawatuna
Travellinks
leads you to all travel related
web sites on the Net
Questions?
If
you want more information about this area you can email the author or check
out our Asia
Insiders page. |
