We headed towards Aukana (meaning "devourer of the sun") fairly early in the morning, so as to visit what has been called one of the wonders of the world - the 39-feet high Buddha statue, the tallest Buddha statue on the island, which some attribute to have beeen constructed during the reign of King Dhatusena (459-477 AD), the builder of the great Kalawewa reservoir.
The statue rests on a lotus stone pedestal, his back embedded on the rock and his eyes turned towards Kalawewa.The symbolic gesture, called Mudra is in the form of Ashiva Mudra which signifies giving his blessing.
According to some guides, the best time of the day to view it is at dawn, when the sun rays bring out the hues of the rock image making it come alive against the green colour of the trees.
We were fortunate enough to have visited this popular pilgrimage site at a time of the day which seems to have enhanced the graciousness of the whole scenario and although I had expected the Buddha's statue to be slightly different, I must confess I was impressed with the exquisite expression on his face.
Being aware of the fact that the Aukana Buddha statue lies amidst Raja Rata, said to be the craddle of Sri Lankan civilization made the whole visit a lot more meaningful ...
(To be continued)
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