Relevance of Sri Pada in foreign tourism

Any given time of day throughout the year this revered mountain remains a popular destination for foreign tourists

For Sri Lankans, the popular timeframe for climbing Sri Pada, the 7,359-foot tall mountain considered sacred by Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and Hindus, referred to traditionally as the ‘Sri Pada season,’ is from December to May. Starting on Unduvap full moon in December and ending on Vesak full moon day in May, the Sri Pada pilgrimage is respected by all Sri Lankans. However, Sri Pada, known internationally as Adam’s Peak, is visited by foreigners daily throughout the year, drawn by legend, spirituality and the awe the mountain would hold for a hiker. Foreign tourists often start on their climb by 3 a.m. in order to view the sunrise from the summit. Yet, in terms of facilities the focus on Sri Pada seems to be only during the season time, with the washrooms being unusable and unmaintained off season, with a desolateness surrounding the whole place. In this article we look at the significance of Sri Pada for the global traveller and Sri Lanka’s international tourism sector.

By Surya Vishwa

Not many Sri Lankans venture upon Sri Pada off-season. Yet any given time of day throughout the year this revered mountain remains a popular destination for foreign tourists who climb it, curious as to what they would find when they succeed uphill to the summit. 

Atop Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak) one would find a large nature-induced rock formation resembling a footprint, interpreted as the sacred footprint of Lord Buddha in Buddhist tradition and the footprint of Shiva in the Hindu tradition while Christians and Muslims believe it to be the footprint of Adam. The space which has the footprint is now encircled off and locked, maintained as a shrine to be viewed only during the Lankan pilgrimage season. Surrounding the summit one also finds a resting place for pilgrims which can be accessed off season.

We climbed Sri Pada two weeks ago, starting off from Jaffna, traveling through the night and reaching Hatton by morning and then travelling Via Maskeliya, a scenic tea plantation area in the central hills. 

Our objective was to find out how Sri Pada contributed as a foreign tourism destination in Sri Lanka.

We started the climb by 10 a.m., via the Nallathaniya route, which has cement steps and railings, considered the most popular path, although alternative routes include Ratnapura-Palabaddala, Kuruwita-Erathna, Deraniyagala-Udamaliboda (Ihala-Maliboda), Rajmale – Murraywatta and Dehenakanda-Mukkuwaththa.

Venturing through Nallathanniya we observed many foreigners climbing down briskly, showing no sign of weariness. They had set off earlier that morning between 2 to 3 a.m. and were returning after viewing the sunrise. Some however were climbing up almost alongside us, preferring to take it slower and return by sunset. 

Trekking endeavour 

It seems that Sri Pada is sought after as a trekking endeavour for many Europeans travelling as families. We spoke to Belgium, German and Japanese travellers which included members of two Belgium families. 

Sri Pada is a favourite site amongst Japanese owing to the Japanese Peace Pagoda, located near the base of the mountain where a Japanese Buddhist monk is resident. Although he was abroad at the time of our visit we were told by frequent Sri Lankan climbers of Sri Pada that he sprints up and down the 5,500 steps each morning ringing the ‘peace bell,’ with no sign of fatigue. 

“It is peaceful. It is nice. I wanted to tread up this mountain and I have achieved that,” shared one Japanese mountaineer who seeks out sacred mountains of the world to ascend. 

Amidst the adults, we enjoyed watching the enthusiasm of a very agile three-year-old enjoying Sri Pada, with his parents, running up ahead and cheering the adults on. 

Meanwhile this is what a 51-year-old climber, who had travelled to Sri Lanka with his nine-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter had to say when we met them as they were descending down the mountain:

“We had read about Sri Pada – the Adams Peak and made it a priority to visit when planning our travel itinerary to Sri Lanka. Well, we climbed up but everything was locked. We could not really see anything. But I suppose what matters is that we climbed up and enjoyed the breathtaking views,” he quipped. 

Although he was very polite and made no overt criticism there was however a disappointment in his voice. It is possibly politeness which also prevent foreigners from commenting on the abject condition of latrines. 

Although infrastructure has been introduced it has not been maintained, destroyed or used in an unhygienic manner which makes even cleaning a terrible task. Access to water is available but taps remain broken or with leaks. Some of the pipelines along the way up the mountain seem broken, with water gushing out.

We climbed Sri Pada to understand the relevance of this sacred mountain to global tourism and accompanying us was Santhanam Daniel from Hatton who had climbed this mountain nine times, solely for the purpose of cleaning it. 

Mentality with which people destroy the place

“Myself and another friend from Hatton together with a larger group of nature protectors from Beliatta, in the Southern Province get together annually and give a thorough cleaning twice or thrice a year. Sometimes we cannot understand the mentality with which our people destroy the place with their rubbish accumulated just during this climb. Biscuit packets, plastic of varying sort and bottles are just a miniscule of the trash,” he stated in exasperation. He then added that there is a new initiative being planned to be carried out in August by small and medium scale tourism entrepreneurs and hospitality students in the areas of Norton, Kotagala and Hatton, together with tourism operators in the North, in Jaffna, to enable the washrooms alongside Sri Pada mountain to be in usable condition off season and to clean up the trash thrown around.

“We want more Sri Lankans to join us. I have come here to clean the place off season and have found that foreigners are rightfully concerned about the basic facilities such as washrooms which one does need to use when spending about six hours climbing and descending Sri Pada. We have started a discussion with the Nallathaniya Community Police personnel who we have been in contact with over the years for our shramadana initiatives, to support us to promote Sri Pada for foreigners,” he 

stated. 

The Nallathaniya Police station is responsible for the law and order of the Sri Pada vicinity and has supported several previous community organised clean-up activities. 

“The average number of foreign tourists climbing Sri Pada per day, off season, is around 25 but sometimes can exceed 50,” notes Isaac Ranjith Dustan, a teacher in Kotagala who has ventured into sustainable tourism that focuses strongly on appreciation of nature. 

Promoting citizen responsibility in maintaining a clean country as part of supporting the overall national goal of making the country attractive to visitors, Ranjith is keen that the younger generation of Sri Lankans learn basic tenets of sustainability. 

“I am from Kotagala where I teach Christianity at a school there. Whenever possible, I am keen to create awareness that it is only by keeping this country clean that we can earn from tourism for the long term,” he emphasises. In Norton, two kilometres from the Aberdeen waterfall, he has started a rustic retreat, alongside organising tours across Sri Lanka for local and global travellers who want to revel in nature at its pristine best. 

“I personally am saddened when I see pilgrimage sites such as Sri Pada with trash scattered about. It is our country and it is up to us to ensure foreigners do not take back a negative image of Sri Lanka. Clean and properly functioning public washrooms is a basic necessity if a country is serious about promoting tourism and it is also a responsibility of tourism entrepreneurs to contribute to seeing that these facilities are kept functioning properly.”

Note: We will follow up and support the community action to be taken to clean up Sri Pada in August and the months to come.