Sarath Samaranayake's Official Blog: A picnic to “Little England” in Sri Lanka

During the month of May, 2012, my family and I went on a picnic to Nuwara Eliya, the city of lights or more popularly known as “Little England” in Sri Lanka. Nuwara Eliya, surrounded by lush green tea plantations is situated at an elevation of 6182 feet above mean sea level and it is gifted with cold and pleasant climatic condition throughout the year.

A part of Nuwara Eliya town

Nuwara Eliya has been the main hill resort of Sri Lanka and the heart of the tea industry from the times of the colonial period up to date. Nuwara Eliya used to be a pleasure retreat of the European planters. Therefore, the town still looks very much an English town with many English-style bungalows and buildings.

History records that Nuwara Eliya was discovered by a hunting party led by Dr. John Davy in 1818. The British governor at the time, Sir Edward Barnes, was informed about this city and subsequently decided to reside there, thus creating a health resort, which soon became internationally renowned.Even though Nuwara Eliya was discovered by John Davy in 1818, it was Sir Samuel Baker who took initiative to convert Nuwara Eliya to be an English town in the 19^th century.

Travelers from the UK are particularly attracted by the architecture which is decidedly Victorian and even modern buildings are built in the same fashion to preserve Nuwara Eliya's unique atmosphere. Nuwara Eliya town is not big but it has many hotels, restaurants, and supermarkets. One of the most attractive places in the “City of Lights” is Victoria Park which is said to have been named to commemorate the 60^th Jubilee Coronation of Queen Victoria in the years of 1897.

Victoria Park in Nuwara Eliya town

Originally the park was used as the the research field of Haggala Botanical Garden which is located 4 km away from the city center. Furthermore, it is known that this park was established by planting an Oak tree by a German Princes who visited Nuwara Eliya at the latter part of the 19th Century.

The park is 27 acres in extent and about 90% of the flora species available here are those of foreign plants. Since the park is a great tourist attraction in Nuwara Eliya, during holidays, local people visit the park in groups while foreigners never want to miss a stroll across Victoria Park with their cameras focusing on wide varieties of flowers.

Different varieties of flowers in bloom

Nuwara Eliya post office, one of the oldest English style buildings

While we were in the park, we noticed an Australian lady with her two kids doing some drawings seated on the grass. The two children (a boy and a girl) around 5 and 4 years old were drawing some figures on pieces of paper while their mother was teaching them how to draw. This activity has attracted the attention of local visitors who were curious to know what those two children were drawing. It should be specifically stated here that when most local visitors (not all) go on a picnic, they generally do not focus on educational activities such as the one described above instead they mostly enjoy taking photos or just seeing the place. However, this Australian lady and her two kids are exemplary in that they show us even a family picnic/trip can educationally be used to help children improve their life skills and knowledge.

Australian mom teaches her two kids how to draw human figures

In a corner of the park is a children’s playground with a mini-train in which both children and adults can take a ride. It is maintained by the Nuwara Eliya municipal council. A train the ride will cost you 100 rupees per one. It can be a thrilling experience for both children and their parents alike because the procedure involved in traveling in a real train such as issuing tickets, checking tickets, sounding the horn before it begins to move, signaling, going through a tunnel, and leaving and arriving the train on the platform are performed on the same way as a railway station does.

Mini-train in the Victoria Park

Another an interesting place which we visited is a temple devoted to the Lord of Hanuman (a Hanuman is a Hindu a deity who is an ardent devotee of Rama, the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu, and a central character in the Indian epic Ramayan. A general among the vanaras, Hanuman is a disciple of Lord Rama in the war against the demon king Ravan. (more information about Hanuman, Rama and Ravana of Lanka are available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanuman).

Hanuman temple at Ramboda in Sri Lanka-devotees are waiting while the pooja is being conducted inside the temple

This temple is called Sri Baktha Hanuman Temple and it has been constructed on the hills of Ramboda which is believed to be an area where Rama’s forces gathered against Ravana. The hills of Ramboda are also believed where Hanuman was searching for Sita. (The story of Rama and Ravana is an epic). The Chinmaya mission of Sri Lanka has built an Anjaneyar temple with Hanuman as the presiding deity. The image of Lord Hanuman which is placed inside the temple is 16 feet tall. To reach the temple, one has to go 500 meters up on the road which branches off the Kandy- Nuwara Eliya main road about one-kilo meter before Tawalantena.

We posed for a picture while walking up the road leading to the Sri Hanuman temple

Since the day we visited the temple was a Sunday (6^th May 2012), there were many devotees belonging to both communities: Sinhala and Tamils. They visit this temple either to make a vow, make an offering or fulfill a vow made seeking the god’s assistance previously. As the temple is erected on a higher elevation, the surrounding mountains covered with tea plantations and hills replete with green vegetation can be clearly viewed from this temple.