Skywatch Friday- Humannya- Blow Hole, Sri lanka

As we were driving along towards Matara, our driver announced there was a Blow Hole nearby and asked if we wanted to visit. Ofcourse we did!! We nodded our heads till it was ready to fall off our shoulders. He then drove into a narrow lane and puled into a parking lot. Now this amazing thing about Sri Lanka is that in most tourist places, the parking lots are manned by locals. There were old women standing around every corner inviting us to park in their spot. Maybe that is how they earned their living.. Here, we pulled into a lot near a small shop of sorts. We paid the parking fee to the lady [about 100LKR] and made our way down the narrow lane around bends and corners. And then came a sudden flight of steps, basically rocks put together to form steps. We climbed up about 20 of these, came to a landing and then up another 40-50 steps. And then when we stopped to check the place out, we caught the beautiful shimmering ocean beneath. 

There is a small center of sorts with pictures and posters describing the Blow hole and different sea animals around the place with seats meant for school kids[ a visitor information place]. This is also were we bought our tickets [500LKR for the 2 of us] and then went on to find the way to the Blow hole. There were a bunch of rock steps leading up into the trees and beyond. I noticed a couple come down from there and wondered how far the spot really was. And then there were few steps down to the ocean, which was just too inviting to resist. 

My friend and the cab driver went ahead and I caught up with them slowly. I dont have a few of heights, but the rounded rocks were a challenge... I finally reached the top and saw nothing but open space. There was the ocean below, and then I noticed a path of sorts had been made by the high ocean waves. There was railing all around and we positioned ourselves right in front, near the guy who worked there. Ajith has been working at the Blow Hole site for 7yrs now and he says he loves it. He is all about "wait 2 mins madam, it will come, so many big ones in morning.. low tide.. one more.. one more..." kinda guy!! We stood there for nearly an hour, watching the little squirts and a few big ones pop through the cliff . It sure was a sight to behold... 

The Kudawella Blow Hole or Humannya is a rare geological formation of nature. Situated at the southern coastal village of Kudawella, it is the only Blow hole in the entire Asian subcontinent and the 2nd largest in the entire world. The Kudawella village name literally translates to "small beach", it took quite a hit in the 2004 Tsunami  and is in near ruins today. 

The blowhole itself is a natural crack in the rocks, and when the wind blows in the right direction the water shoots up the cliff and into the air The water shoots up above the cliffs during the monsoon seasons [Ajith told us it rises over 30-40 meters]. Infact, the place Humannya [Hoo-mannya] derives its name courtesy the  wooshing sound of the water as it comes up the cliffs.  

We got down half way, went over to the Emerald ocean, spending a few minutes standing amidst the rounded rocks, collecting shells and then made our way back to the car. We felt like we had traveled to the moon and back!

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Skywatch Friday... Above the Indian Ocean

There we were walking from the airport shuttle all set to hop into the flight and head off to our final destination- Colombo. We were flying in a Bombardier Q400 aircraft- "Spicejet Laung", a flight with a capacity of about 50 passengers. We hopped in via the small staircase and found our seat. The flight took off and before we knew it, we were flying on top of the Indian Ocean. The blue beneath and the white fluffy clouds above was just a sight too good to be true! It was a short one hour flight, and most of the time was over the ocean. 

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Skywatch Friday-Durgiana Mandir, Amritsar

We had just landed in Amritsar and plans were being made for the days to follow. We learnt there was a temple near the hotel we stayed at which is a beautiful one. So that was marked as the 1st place to visit, followed by the other sites. We hailed a cab since we were 5 of us and I kinda convinced all that it made sense to travel together rather than in two autos.. :-) 

As the vehicle pulled into the parking lot, I looked around to see if the temple or the gopuram was in site. I did see a tall gopuram but was told that belonged to another temple. We had to walk down the road to see this temple. The temple is called Durgiana Mandir [ named after Goddess Durga] and some also refere to it as the Lakshmi Narayan Temple. It is situated near the Lohgarh Gate. Leaving our footwear in the car, we made our way down the road [well, it was just a path with nothing but stones and rubble] . A huge gate guarded the temple, near which was a small shrine for Vaishno devi. 

The temple was built by Harsai Mal Kapoor  back in 1908  and has been constructed very alike the Golden Temple. Only prominent difference are the silver doors which has led to it being referred to as the Silver Temple. You walk down a long passage with water on either side, and a fountain that was spouting water to quite a height. There was a carpet laid out and the entire place was just clean [not a speck of dirt or trash to be seen anywhere]. All the pillars and light fittings were in Gold colour adding to the grandeur. After the darshan of Goddess Durga, we also went around to see the other shrines located around. There were quite a few,

Sitla Mata Mandir

Lakshmi Narayan Mandir

Bada Hanuman Mandir

Tulsi Das Mandir and the

Sat Narayan Mandir

As we made our way out, I noticed on top of the inner gate the names of all those who were responsible for erecting the temple. The names ran a mile long.. 

[ To know more about this temple, do visit this site]

It was such a visual treat and I was already excited to visit the Golden temple... Which was set aside for later in the day!! 

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