Unawatuna
Encyclopedia
Unawatuna is a coastal village in Galle district
of Sri Lanka
.
Unawatuna is a major tourist attraction and famous for its beautiful beach and corals.
's epic Ramayana
sounds like Unawatuna.
Unawatuna traces its roots to the great epic Ramayana. In the mythological epic, the monkey-warrior Hanuman
was sent back to India
to fetch the four medicinal herbs
by Jambavan namely, mritasanjeevani, vishalyakarani, suvarnakarani, and sandhani from the Himalayas
in order to heal Lakshman who was wounded trying to save the abducted Princess Sita
from the demon king Ravana
. Hanuman failed to identify these herb
s, so he lifted the entire mountain and carried it to the battlefield to try to save Lakshman, but in the process, a chunk of it "fell-down" in the location of the present day Unawatuna, the name of the village derives from "Una-watuna" meaning "fell down".
Currently, an edifice is being built in honour of Hanuman on the harbour end of Rumassala Hill by Japan
ese monk
s of the Mahayana
sect of Buddhism
near the Peace Pagoda that they built.
was shipwrecked and the Goddess of Earth, Manimekalai
, 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 tsunami
with his foot to extinguish 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. Over the years he has been venerated and worshiped, and the Kovil (or Devalaya) on the west end point of the bay which has a history of over a thousand years is believed to be the abode of this Devol deity.
, and the Swethamalee Chaitiya, or Dagaba, was built on the hillock abutting the Devalaya, or House of Gods. Thousands of pilgrims throng to this place of worship every month of Esala to offer poojas. This festival 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.
at the Fort of Negombo, the Dutch
sailed south and landed on Unawatuna in 1640 and marched to Galle
. The Portuguese had encountered the Dutch soldier
s at Magalle (where Closenburg Hotel is now located), and fierce fighting took place there. Over 400 Dutch soldiers were killed, and only 49 Portuguese
could manage 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 official
s in Unawatuna. These constructions include the Nooit Gedacht hotel, Unawatuna Hospital and the mansion Maharambe. 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 Hill 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.
. Unfortunately, its greatest potential attraction for eco-tourism was the marsh land or mangrove called Kadolana which was partially destroyed, dredged and filled up to build a chain hotel which never got off the ground. Many locals believe it to have been cursed for being built at the doorstep of the Wella Devalaya.
Over sixty species
of endemic bird
s, including Tern
s, Egret
s, Heron
s, Sandpipers, Kingfisher
s, as well as rarer species such as the Lesser Whistling Duck, the Asian Palm Swift
, the White Breasted Waterhen, the Turnstone Loten's Sunbird
, and the Black Bittern
have been sighted in the locality by the ornithologist, Clive Byers. These birds are mostly sighted in the remaining marshy area and Rumassala Hillock.
Off the coast of Unawatuna, beneath the Indian Ocean
lies a number of coral reef
s, shipwreck
s, and a great variety of fish
and turtle
s. The turtles still wade onto the shore to lay their nests and eggs, and at times, as if to lay first claim to the sandy shore now invaded by the tourists and dotted by restaurateurs, even go right into the beach front restaurant
s .
The Rumassala coral reefs at the east end of the Galle Harbor attract divers, but are now endangered due to possible port development. Eco treks in the shrub jungle
s of Rumassala are also available.
The Department of Coast Conservation was hard pressed to implement a coastal resources management plan under the Asian Development Bank plan, but did not spring into action on the aftermath of the Tsunami. The Tourism authorities or Urban Development Authority have not yet taken action in regard to this issue.
Now the sea has eaten into Yaddehimulla area, where there is virtually no sandy beach anymore, as the beach area is housing unauthorized buildings put up by political henchmen of Government party politicians of the area. Most restaurants are above 10 feet from waters edge that is lapping up on granite boulders dumped by the Restaurant owners to save their buildings most of which are cracking up on the sea side.
Galle District
Galle is a district in Southern Province, Sri Lanka.- Geological background :Its area is , in which is water and is land. Galle District bounded on the North by Benthara river, South and West by the Indian Ocean and East by Matara and Ratnapura Districts. Topography of Galle District is very...
of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
.
Unawatuna is a major tourist attraction and famous for its beautiful beach and corals.
From Ramayana
The description of the beach paradises in ValmikiValmiki
Valmiki is celebrated as the poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of the epic Ramayana, based on the attribution in the text of the epic itself. He is revered as the Adi Kavi, which means First Poet, for he discovered the first śloka i.e...
's epic Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
sounds like Unawatuna.
- "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 GandharvaGandharvaGandharva is a name used for distinct mythological beings in Hinduism and Buddhism; it is also a term for skilled singers in Indian classical music.-In Hinduism:...
s, SiddhaSiddhaA Siddha सिद्ध in Sanskrit means "one who is accomplished" and refers to perfected masters who, according to Hindu belief, have transcended the ahamkara , have subdued their minds to be subservient to their Awareness, and have transformed their bodies into a different kind of body dominated by...
s, and ascetics, living in them and countless bejewelled celestial nymphs thronging the shore, the coast intermittently visited by heavenly beings, Gods and demons.":
Unawatuna traces its roots to the great epic Ramayana. In the mythological epic, the monkey-warrior Hanuman
Hanuman
Hanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
was sent back to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to fetch the four medicinal herbs
Herbalism
Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, herblore, and phytotherapy...
by Jambavan namely, mritasanjeevani, vishalyakarani, suvarnakarani, and sandhani from the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
in order to heal Lakshman who was wounded trying to save the abducted Princess Sita
SITA
SITA is a multinational information technology company specialising in providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry...
from the demon king Ravana
Ravana
' is the primary antagonist character of the Hindu legend, the Ramayana; who is the great king of Lanka. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, kidnapping Rama's wife Sita, to claim vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of his sister...
. Hanuman failed to identify these herb
Herb
Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...
s, so he lifted the entire mountain and carried it to the battlefield to try to save Lakshman, but in the process, a chunk of it "fell-down" in the location of the present day Unawatuna, the name of the village derives from "Una-watuna" meaning "fell down".
Currently, an edifice is being built in honour of Hanuman on the harbour end of Rumassala Hill by Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s of the Mahayana
Mahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
sect of Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
near the Peace Pagoda that they built.
Alternate mythology
A banished Indian PrincePrince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
was shipwrecked and the Goddess of Earth, Manimekalai
Manimekalai
Manimekalai or Maṇimekalai , written by the Tamil Buddhist poet Seethalai Saathanar is one of the masterpieces of Tamil literature. It is considered to be one of the five great epics of Tamil literature. Manimekalai is a poem in 30 cantos...
, taking pity created a rocky shelf for him to save his life and that subsequently he headed to Unawatuna. The Goddess of Chastity, Pattini
Pattini
In Sinhala Buddhist belief the Pattini is a guardian deity of Buddhism. She is the deification of Kannagi, who is the central character of the Tamil epic Silapadhikaram of Ilango Adigal...
, created a wall of fire to prevent him coming ashore, but being a person of some supreme power, he set in motion a tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
with his foot to extinguish 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. Over the years he has been venerated and worshiped, and the Kovil (or Devalaya) on the west end point of the bay which has a history of over a thousand years is believed to be the abode of this Devol deity.
Dagaba
In later years a Buduge, or House of BuddhaGautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
, and the Swethamalee Chaitiya, or Dagaba, was built on the hillock abutting the Devalaya, or House of Gods. Thousands of pilgrims throng to this place of worship every month of Esala to offer poojas. This festival is a new rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
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
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
milk and treacle
Treacle
Treacle is any syrup made during the refining of sugar and is defined as "uncrystallized syrup produced in refining sugar". Treacle is used chiefly in cooking as a form of sweetener or condiment....
and made into a porridge
Porridge
Porridge is a dish made by boiling oats or other cereal meals in water, milk, or both. It is usually served hot in a bowl or dish...
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.
Colonial period
After defeating the PortuguesePortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
at the Fort of Negombo, the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
sailed south and landed on Unawatuna in 1640 and marched to Galle
Galle
Galle is a city situated on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, 119 km from Colombo. Galle is the capital city of Southern Province of Sri Lanka and it lies in Galle District....
. The Portuguese had encountered the Dutch soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
s at Magalle (where Closenburg Hotel is now located), and fierce fighting took place there. Over 400 Dutch soldiers were killed, and only 49 Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
could manage 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 official
Official
An official is someone who holds an office in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority .A government official or functionary is an official who is involved in public...
s in Unawatuna. These constructions include the Nooit Gedacht hotel, Unawatuna Hospital and the mansion Maharambe. 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 Hill is believed to have been a fake lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
built during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and the area is shown as property of the British Admiralty in old survey
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
maps.
Eco-Tourism
Unawatuna is rich in its biodiversityBiodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
. Unfortunately, its greatest potential attraction for eco-tourism was the marsh land or mangrove called Kadolana which was partially destroyed, dredged and filled up to build a chain hotel which never got off the ground. Many locals believe it to have been cursed for being built at the doorstep of the Wella Devalaya.
Over sixty species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of endemic bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, including Tern
Tern
Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily of the gull family Laridae . They form a lineage with the gulls and skimmers which in turn is related to skuas and auks...
s, Egret
Egret
An egret is any of several herons, most of which are white or buff, and several of which develop fine plumes during the breeding season. Many egrets are members of the genera Egretta or Ardea which contain other species named as herons rather than egrets...
s, Heron
Heron
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....
s, Sandpipers, Kingfisher
Kingfisher
Kingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species being found in the Old World and Australia...
s, as well as rarer species such as the Lesser Whistling Duck, the Asian Palm Swift
Asian Palm Swift
The Asian Palm Swift is a small swift. It is very similar to the African Palm Swift, Cypsiurus parvus, and was formerly considered to be the same species....
, the White Breasted Waterhen, the Turnstone Loten's Sunbird
Sunbird
The sunbirds and spiderhunters are a family, Nectariniidae, of very small passerine birds. There are 132 species in 15 genera. The family is distributed throughout Africa, southern Asia and just reaches northern Australia. Most sunbirds feed largely on nectar, but also take insects and spiders,...
, and the Black Bittern
Black Bittern
The Black Bittern, Ixobrychus flavicollis, is a bittern of Old World origin, breeding in tropical Asia from Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka east to China, Indonesia and Australia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances....
have been sighted in the locality by the ornithologist, Clive Byers. These birds are mostly sighted in the remaining marshy area and Rumassala Hillock.
Off the coast of Unawatuna, beneath the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
lies a number of coral reef
Coral reef
Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...
s, shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
s, and a great variety of fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
and turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
s. The turtles still wade onto the shore to lay their nests and eggs, and at times, as if to lay first claim to the sandy shore now invaded by the tourists and dotted by restaurateurs, even go right into the beach front restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s .
The Rumassala coral reefs at the east end of the Galle Harbor attract divers, but are now endangered due to possible port development. Eco treks in the shrub jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
s of Rumassala are also available.
Current status
The recent Asian Tsunami Tidal wave swept away many beach front restaurants and has devastated the sandy beach to a great extent, marring the natural beauty of what was once claimed to be one of the twelve best beaches in the world.The Department of Coast Conservation was hard pressed to implement a coastal resources management plan under the Asian Development Bank plan, but did not spring into action on the aftermath of the Tsunami. The Tourism authorities or Urban Development Authority have not yet taken action in regard to this issue.
Now the sea has eaten into Yaddehimulla area, where there is virtually no sandy beach anymore, as the beach area is housing unauthorized buildings put up by political henchmen of Government party politicians of the area. Most restaurants are above 10 feet from waters edge that is lapping up on granite boulders dumped by the Restaurant owners to save their buildings most of which are cracking up on the sea side.