Day 208-An Ancient Village Tour In Kandalama

Would you like to join me on a tour to an ancient village?

For 500 Lankan rupees (less than US$5) , you'll have your own personal guide, a rare opportunity to a home tour of traditional mud houses and even some tea and cakes afterward. You can start the tour anytime from  9am but we will have to be back in the hotel before 6pm. Wild animals, you see.

Yes? Now? Great! Don't worry about payment yet,  it will just be added to your hotel bill. Do please follow me into the woods........

....we have now left the hotel compound. It will be a 15 minute trek to the puranagama or traditional village. Warning: On our way, we may meet cobras, wild hogs, maybe even elephants. So do tread carefully. For extra protection, us locals also pay our respects to Ganesha. See this stone placed under a tree just outside the hotel gate? Yes, a drawing of Ganesha is on the stone. Now break off a branch and place it on the string tied between the two trees. That's your offering. Let's now pray for a safe journey.

Almost there and a good time for some background facts. This village is believed to have been built sometime in 1935. I guess the word ancient is a bit of a misnomer here. This is especially so in the context of a truly ancient country like Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon and formerly, formerly known as Serendip where the first Sinhalese were believed to have landed in the 6th century BC. 1935 is really more recent than ancient but let's face it, who will want to see a recent village?

Can you see the 1st house now? You may be interested to know that arrangements can be made for guests to stay there if they wish to really experience the rural life. The hotel has however temporarily stopped this service as we are currently in the midst of upgrading the amenities.

Before we go in, I will like to show you the games area. Here is a swing, nothing special except for the fact that the seat is made from elephant bone.

Now that I say it's elephant bone, everyone wants a closer look, eh?

And here we have the village alarm system. It's hung just outside the village gate near the entrance into the jungle. The bigger animals, like elephants,  will knock into the bottles when they come through thus alerting the villagers. Ingenious, isn't it, especially if you love old bottles.

And did you say you also love rusty tin cans? Here is one converted into a birdhouse.  

This is one of the first thing that greets you upon entry into the village. A small lotus pond so welcoming it feels like you are stepping onto the welcome mat of a home.

I see you are now trembling with excitement at the sight of this traditional house . Are you really in the process of building a village house yourself? In miniature? How thrilling then it must be  for you to see one up close and personal. Now, this house is made entirely with dung and mud for the walls and floors,  palm leaves and timber for the roof. What is yours made of?

The sitting area is outside here. In the evenings after a hard days' work, villagers gather here to relax or discuss matters relating to their crops or animals. Let me show you some details which you may want to incorporate into your tribal house:

A chest and a chair  outside the house

Grinder on the floor and a free demonstration on the how-to, you turn it with the  outer handle

 From the roof, a hanging basket and

 a water container

Here we are inside the hut. It is really just big enough for a luxurious bed specially for  the guest/s. We may not have electricity but we do have a phone up on a shelf against the wall, in case of emergency, you see.

You get your light from this window and that is the door to the bathroom.

 

Shower...if you can figure out how. This picture shows the shower head.

The kitchen is in the annexed building, even smaller than the other and this is what the inside looks like....

Right

 

Left

Outside again...

Can anyone guess what this is for? I thought it could be for hanging clothes or dried foods but what about those sticks?

This has to be one of my favourite things in the village, a coop in midair. See the ladder against the tree? Every evening, all the chickens will be kept safely in the coop so that they will not be hunted and eaten by other animals. 

About ten steps away from the 1st house is the second house that is currently inhabited by the caretaker and his assistant.

This is Mr Caretaker busy preparing tea...

Unlike the first house, the inside of this one is used as a cooking area with the back doorway leading straight to the outhouse or toilet. You will find interesting details in the kitchen evidencing unchanged habits and customs from decades before...

Baskets on the wall....

Straw tray of coconut shavings....

water pot with cover

Utensils in their holders

A boiling kettle

Another water pot.

Come, let's gather at the sitting area, it's a nice balmy afternoon for a chat with Mr Caretaker.

Tea is served, my 4th cup because you are the 4th guest I have brought here today. Try the cake, it's delicious!

The tea is not sweetened. Take a piece of the kittul, suck it as you drink your tea. Like it?  I think you may have found the best way to enjoy plain tea.

The afternoon goes by quickly and as dusk approaches, I am afraid we will have to bid Mr Caretaker goodbye and make our way back. Before we go, lets visit the village shrine and pray for a safe journey back.

Details

Temple decoration

 

Do remember to close the gate behind you.....

We don't want any uninvited guests.
Goodbye, puranagama.

As just as we returned to the hotel....

it began to gently drizzle.......

Hertance Kandalama formerly known as Kandalama was one of  Geoffrey Bawa's most acclaimed ceations.  It started as a wildly controversial project as no one thought it could be built without destroying a very sensitive local environment, in a remote dry region of Sri Lanka. There were demonstrations and protests, even strikes by the workers making the building process a difficult and complicated one. 

Today, it is an outstanding success story, not only in its eco friendly design, but in that it provides sustainable development and employment in a region which is otherwise desperately poor. 

Pictures above are of The Heritance Kandalama, Sigiriya wing (top) and a view of the lake from the infinity pool (bottom).