By P.K. Balachandran, IANS
Colombo : Sri Lanka is going to use the Hindu epic Ramayana to attract Indian tourists in a big way.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) has formed a committee to work out an ambitious scheme to develop and promote as many as 34 sites in the island associated with the Ramayana,” SLTDA chief S. Kalaiselvam said.
“We want to get started on this soon,” Kalaiselvam told IANS.
According to the Ramayana, Ravana brought Sita to Sri Lanka in a flying machine called “Pushpaka Vimanam” by the Hindus and “Dandu Monara Yanthraya” by the Sinhalese Buddhists.
This reportedly landed at Werangatota, about 10 km from Mahiyangana, east of the hill station of Nuwara Eliya in central Sri Lanka.
Sita was then taken to Goorulupota, now known as Sitakotuwa, where Ravana’s wife Mandodari lived. Seetakotuwa is about 10 km from Mahiyangana on the road to Kandy.
Sita was housed in a cave at Sita Eliya on a highway that links Colombo with Nuwara Eliya, another exotic hill station. A temple dedicated to her exists there.
Sita is believed to have bathed in the mountain stream flowing beside the temple.
These are not the only sites in Sri Lanka associated with the Ramayana.
North of Nuwara Eliya, in Matale district, is Yudhaganapitiya, where the Rama-Ravana battle reportedly took place.
According to a Sinhalese legend, Dunuwila is the place from where Rama shot the “Bramshira” arrow (Brahmastra) that killed Ravana. Ravana was making battle plans in a place called Lakgala when the killer arrow struck him.
Lakgala is a rock from the top of which Ravana could see northern Sri Lanka clearly. It served as a watchtower following the expectation that Rama would invade the island to rescue his consort.
Ravana’s body was placed on the rock at Yahangala for his subjects to pay their last respects.
Since Ravana was a Brahmin, it was considered a sin to kill him, even in battle. To wash off the sin, Rama prayed at the Munneswaram temple in Chilaw, 80 km north of Colombo. At Manaweri, north of Chilaw, is a temple Rama is said to have gifted.
Rumassala and Ramboda, also in the tea-growing central highlands, are associated with Hanuman.
It is believed that Hanuman dropped the Dronagiri mountain, which he brought from the Himalayas, at Rumassala. At Ramboda, known for its massive waterfalls, a temple for Hanuman has now sprung up.
Legend has it that the Koneswaram temple, in the eastern district of Trincomalee, was a gift to Ravana from Lord Shiva because the former was an ardent devotee.
At the Buddha Vihara at Kelani, near Colombo, there is a representation of Rama handing over the “captured” Sri Lanka to Ravana’s brother Vibheeshana, who sided with him in his conflict with Ravana.
The idea of using sites associated with the Ramayana was first mooted by a Kolkata-based businessman in the late 1990s. But the Sri Lankan press was not for it saying the country would be “invaded” by Indians, spoiling the serene atmosphere of the Nuwara Eliya hills.
At that time, Sri Lanka was cultivating the high spending and sophisticated Western markets and not budget tourists from India. But very soon it was clear that Sri Lanka could not do without Indian tourists.
The preferred traffic from Britain and Germany tended to peter out with the escalation of the war in the island and terror bombings in Colombo. But Indian tourists came undeterred.
Soon, arrivals from India outstripped those from Britain and Germany, which were in the top slot.
Several Indian and Sri Lankan airlines now fly between the two countries. The official carrier Sri Lankan alone carried 1.1 million passengers to and from India during April 2006-March 2007. This was 32 percent of its global traffic.
It, therefore, makes sense to the Sri Lankan tourism authorities to build on the bonanza. And what would attract Indians to Sri Lanka more than the sites associated with the Ramayana?