From time immemorial, man has been accustomed to use different means of communication, different signals, and to write things related to his tribes on stone walls, on the surfaces of large trees, in a variety of shapes and inks made of wood. How many such inscriptions and stone statues could have been created by the Helas who have a long history?
There are many occasions when we, who inherit such a proud history, are tempted to speak with great arrogance about certain milestones. At times, you may even feel that we are missing out on something that we can talk about. It is with regret that we have to say that the paintings of the Helas on the top of the peak at an altitude of more than 2,500 feet above sea level, dating back to more than 5,000 years ago, are still being exposed to the sun and are being destroyed.
Kurullangala is located in the Poonagala Range, just beyond the southeastern slope of the central hills. After about 02 to 03 km on the road near Karandagolla school on Ella Wellawaya road you will find one way to reach this bird sanctuary.
The value of this place motivates me and others to explore these wonderful paintings. Three persons arrived at Bandarawela by night mail train and the remaining ten arrived at Bandarawela by Badulla bus from Colombo Fort.
We quickly got ready, got into Uncle Methananda’s van, had breakfast on the way and left for Kurullangala. The journey was slightly delayed due to a technical fault in the van which was slightly ahead. We also had skilled technicians so the van could be restored quickly. Anyway Around 9.30 we were able to reach near the Bo tree at the starting point of the Kurullangala journey.
We, who were religious, came to the shrine near the Bo tree, performed our rituals and left for the forest. Going towards the forest along a small canal we came across a small jungle area. After that we proceeded through a large pine forest. Uncle Sudath, a friend of Uncle Methananda, assisted us on this journey. Some of us slipped and fell in some places because the leaves of the pine trees had dried up and fallen to the ground.
We all came to the top of Kurullangala hill through the Phineas jungle and got some rest. On one side you can see the Uma Oya project. Tippers carrying goods to the project can be seen breaking the silence of the forest and pulling upwards. The ancient paintings are about 200 meters below where we are now. To get closer to the paintings, you have to go down a bit and walk across the rock and back up again.
We started descending from the top of the rock and had to go to the other rocks through the mana bushes. The fingers of several members of the group were cut off and bleeding due to the impact of the bushes. We medicated their wounds and began to descend again. The journey was a bit difficult but for us it was not so difficult. That’s because they were experienced mountaineers.
We were able to see the paintings we found around 12.30pm, sometimes hanging on vines, sometimes hanging on ropes, sometimes hanging on rocks along a steep slope without any support. The paintings are about 25 feet high from the bottom. It is amazing how you can climb so high and paint on these stone walls.
A closer look at these paintings reveals that they are almost all animal figures. On one side you can see paintings with bows and a terrestrial shape, which were the main weapons of the hunting era. In addition, these paintings show that attempts have been made to depict different types of animals using different shapes. The heads of the animals in these paintings are pointed downwards.
On one side of the painting are hand-painted stone markings on the walls. I also thought it would show them a signature. A closer look reveals that the marks are on the left hand. Although we can not identify everything that is said in these paintings, it must be said that it is an archeologically important place.
After being there for about an hour and a half, we started our return journey to the rocky outcrop. It was not as difficult as before. We continued our journey as before and successfully completed the Kurullangala climb near the Bo tree where we started our journey. There are two ways to reach Kurullangala. The other way is to climb the Kurullangala rock from the bottom to the top.
