Mannar, revisited

The long weekend in October was eagerly awaited as a trip to Mannar was planned with family friends. Unfortunately, at the last moment they couldn’t make it, but we decided to keep to our plans though the kids were a little disheartened.

We left home (Nawala) at 5 in the morning and took our first break at the dried out Thabbowa Tank around 8am. We expected some bird activity but guess we were too late for that.

Dried out Thabbowa Tank

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We proceeded to Nochchiyagama and refilled our tank. The IOC shed there is the last one with “extra premium” and “extra mile” brands of petrol/diesel. Though there is an IOC shed in Mannar it does not have these.

We drove through the Deyata Kirula Road to Oyamaduwa, which is a treat to drive. But we could not enjoy our drive as there were many katussas and thalagoyas killed on the road. Many were majestically sunbathing on the tarmac without knowing their fate. We had to drive very slow, with extra care avoiding the lizards on the road. We passed that stretch around 9 am and may be they come out for sun bathing. We saw a cobra and had to stop to assist a tortoise to cross the road. There were some crushed tortoises too. This is what happens when we encroach their territory.

“Deyata Kirula Road” through the greenery

Inmates of Oyamaduwa Farm coming out

It is 50kms from Nochchiyagama to Thanthirimale and we reached there by 10 a.m. The road from Oyamaduwa to Thanthirimale is not carpeted but is in good shape Though it was a Poya Day it was not crowed as we expected. We were blessed with a gloomy sky, if not it would have been a nightmare to walk on the rock in the hot sun.

Thanthirimale Rock Temple

Surrounding ponds

Buddha Statue Carved into the rock

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We entered A14 at Gajasinhapura, only about 8kms from Thanthirimale, and from there onwards the road was a dream.

We took a detour to see “Periyamurippu Irrigation Project” just 1km away from A14. You have to turn inland near Madu Police Road (long before Madu). The water level has reduced to a minimum and the old bridge will be replaced by a new bridge very soon.

Periyamurippu Irrigation Project (Two years ago)

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Water level reduced to a minimum now

Upcoming new bridge

Suspension Bridge

We did not forget to enjoy ourselves on the suspension bridge built nearby. The drastic change we noticed in the environment, apart from the water level, was that normalcy had returned to this area. There was a small kovil built near the bridge and villagers were performing a pooja with a priest. They offered us hot hot “muruthan bath” which we enjoyed welcoming the friendly gesture.

We proceeded towards Madu and the road was in great shape all the way up to Madu. By 11.00 we were in Madu and it was crowded with devotees. The new Madu Railway Station must be bringing these large crowds. Madu too had undergone development during the past two years and one addition was the new cafeteria that has come up near the entrance offering a variety of food including lunch packets. Madu received showers after a long lapse of ten months while we were there. That was the first sign of the onset of the rainy season there.

Madu Shrine at a distance

Inside the Shrine

We left Madu around 12.30 and stooped at the Giant Tank, which was also dried out, for lunch. It was welcoming the see the “Jana Awanhala” operated by the Army has been converted into the “Rice Bowl Restaurant”. They have used natural material from roof to floor including benches, chairs etc. They were very helpful and allowed us to use to place to have our home brought lunch.

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Dried out Giant Tank in the background of the gloomy sky

Rice Bowl Restaurant

After a hearty lunch we proceeded towards Mannar. As the sky was getting cloudy, we briefly stopped at the causeway and did not wait long. We witnessed some bird activity, but the migrants are yet to come as the ponds are still dried out.

Causeway framed by clowdy sky

Mannar landscape has changed over the past two years, especially with the addition of the new railway line running across. The work is in rapid progress and hopefully will be completed by December. The old Thoddaweli Railway station right in front of 4Ts is no more, but is being replaced with a new one. (Which will soon bring loads of bird watches to Mr.Lawrance! )

Remnants of Thodaweli Railway Station – two years ago

The upcoming station in front of 4Ts

We were warmly welcomed by ever-friendly Mr.Lawrance and 4Ts hasn’t changed much. The new wing has just begun when we visited in 2011. We had booked the large family room with one double and two single beds– the only room with A/C. We relaxed in our room until the harsh Mannar sun go down and left 4Ts around 3.30 to explore the town.

We first visited Thirukketiswaram Kovil, a famous Hindu Kovil, which is just a few kilometers away from A 14 – on the new Poonaryn Road. The lake in front of the Kovil was full of birds and we spent some time enjoying the scene.

The turn off from A14 towards Kovil

Thirukketiswaram Kovil

Lake full of birds in front of the Kovil

We came back to town via new Mannar-Poonaryn Road, but heard that road work has been stopped just a few kms away from the Kovil. We stopped on the way to watch some local boys collecting their daily catch in the shallow lagoon.

Fishing in the lagoon by Mannar-Poonaryn Road

The trio

We visited the famous Biobab tree close to the town. The place was crowded with two large bus loads of people. That is one change we witnessed in Mannar after two years. Today there are many local tourists visiting Mannar. May be people have had enough of Jaffna and Mannar must be the next attraction!

Gigantic Biobab Tree and my three dwarfs

The last stop for the day was the old Duch Fort in the heart of the twon. We walked along the thich walls right round the Fort. There were many local tourists roaming around enjoying the scenay from the elevated walls of the Fort. From there we watched the sun go down the causeway painting a myriad of colours in the horizon.

Old Dutch Fort

A bell tower??

Note the thick walls

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Causeway at a distance

The sun going down

After witnessing the sun going down we had a refresing cup of tea with delicious pol rotti from the Army kade near the Fort. (even the next evening kids insisted going their for the tasty pol rotti.)

We headed back to 4Ts enjoying the twilight scenery.

At 4Ts the power supply was disturbed on and off. Mr. Lawrance said its now a common occurrence in Mannar. May be Mannar was over-crowded with tourists for the long weekend and the power grid was unable to serve the demand. But 4Ts had their generator running providing an uninterrupted service. We had their special string hoppers with cuttle fish curry, paripu and sambol for dinner and settled for an early night.

DAY 2

Our priority No. 01 was a boat trip to Adam’s Bridge. S0, we left for Thalaimannar with the first rays of the sun as we wanted to catch the first boats. But it was one of those overcast mornings after overngith rains and we all douted our luck. We were by the pier by 7.30 and were the first to arrive. The Navy has moved their boat service colse to the light house/pier as the sea is rough around where they operated two years ago.

The boats waiting in the backdrop of a gloomy sky

The Pier

The lighthouse

View from the pier

We got the opportunity to walk along the pier and saw the decaying railway line of yesteryears, while hopefully waiting for the boat service to start.

A page from history

The decaying pier

Decaying….

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The service did not start as scheduled at 7.30 due to overcast skies and the officers were waiting for a green light, communicating with their counterparts on the “sands”. The place was getting crowded with loads of tourist but the gloomy weather cast doubts on everyone’s minds.

Finally our prayers were answered and around 9.30 we were given life jackets and were loaded into a small boat. But the boatmen found it difficult to start the engine in the shallow waters filled with sand and they had to drag it far into the sea to get the boat started. Finally we set off to Adam’s bridge despite the gloomy sky.

Started off against the overcast

Fading landscape

Approaching the “Sands”

The isle is ours

Patterns of nature

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No boundaries…..its all ours

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Colours of “Sands”

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Fertile ground – a myriad of colours….

Good bye sands…..

Enjoying the ride back to shore

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We were back at the pier by 11 and by then there was a large crowd waiting for the boats. We thanked the Navy personnel for bringing us safely back and left for Urumalae.

To get to Urumalee you have to come back to the main road and turn right (towards sea) between the Thalaimannar Police Station and the school. That road takes you to Urumalae.

Towards Urumaalae

Old lighthouse at Urumalae

Closer view of the iron giant

From Urumallee you can see a tower in Rameshwaran far far away in the horizon, with your naked eye. We initially planned to have a sea bath at Urumalea but since there were no sea bathers we gave up.

From there we proceeded to see “Adam’s Mausoleum”. To reach the 20 ft long two graves one has to turn left from the Uramalae Road (the turn off is just as you pass the statue shown below). You have to proceed nearly 1km until you come to the small green building behind a clearing where the two graves are housed. We could not gather any information regarding the history or the significance of “Adam’s Mausoleum” as the caretaker was not there nor was there a signboard giving details. But, it seemed that the placed has been turned into a religious site by Muslim devotees. I was later told that there are a few more places in Mannar where you get 20ft long tombs like this.

Statue at the turnoff

Entrance to the compound

Entrance to the building ….the door is just 4.5ft in height

The two 20ft long graves

As there was nothing much to see we were soon on our way and passed Thalimannar Chruch.

Church at Thlaimannar

After exploring Thalaimannar, we were back on the tarmac towards Thoddaweli in the hot sun. Somewhere around Pesalai we met this bridal procession crossing the road, may be after the ceremony in the Kovil.

Bridal party crossing the road

We walked into the Pesali Fisheries Center just out of curiosity and they had loads of giant crabs and prawns at unbelievable prices. Crabs were just Rs.80 a kilo! Hope the upcoming railway line will help them market their catch.

We had a grand lunch at 4Ts and spent the warm afternoon in the comfort of our room. The evening had us exploring Mannar further, this time along the coastal road. The road in front of 4Ts is in great shape now and it leads you to the coastal road running towards Mannar. The coastal road is gravel but is easily manageable. We saw many bird activities and passed a number of fishing villages on our way to Mannar.

The coastal road

“Manthai Salterns”’ at a distance

Majestic Mannar Church

An “Education Centre” – a tuition class – along the coastal road

It was drizzling throughout and we abandoned the idea of going towards Thalladi Railway bridge. We bought Mannar special dried fish and a variety of mangoes from the market and headed towards 4Ts after a cup of tea with pol rotti from the army kiosk near the Fort.

Without turning to 4Ts at Thoddaveli we took the right turn that took us to Erukkalampiddi – a fishing village on a tiny strip of land. It is like an arm stretched out to the sea. When you drive towards the end you can see Mannar causeway at a distance. It was a delightful sight with the sun going down.

Erukkalampiddi at a distance

We had rice and curry with crabs for our dinner and there were no power interruptions that night.

DAY 3

After a filling b’fast of dossai and vadai we bid good bye to Mr.Lawrance promising another visit probably by the train. We had earlier planned to use Old Mannar Road via Vilpattu for our return journey but as we experienced rain in Mannar we thought of avoiding it as it would be an unnecessary risk in rainy weather. So to make up for the lost excitement we took the coastal road via Vankalai to Arrippu and joined A14 at Murunkan.

The turn off at Thalladi was closed due to construction work and we proceeded further and took the next turn off to the right. The road was excellent for a few kms and then there were stretches of construction going on giving us a taste of the “Old Mannar Road.”

We reached Arippu after struggling along the road for nearly an hour. “Arippu Fort” though it’s called a “fort” is a single storied building in ruins found within the boundaries of a village. It is supposed to be where Robert Knox was kept in captivity for some time.

We visited Doric House known as “Ali Rani” by the locals next. I felt The Doric has crumbed more to the sea and if restoration work of some kind is not under way it will soon be washed away.

Doric House at Arippu

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The Doric Tower

We spent some time enjoying the view from Doric and proceeded to Mrunkan by turning inland at Silavathura. The road was in great shape and we joined A14 at about 11.30.

Soon we heard over “breaking news” that the Kala Oya Causeway was flooded over three feet and Puttalam – Mannar Road was closed for traffic. We were more than glad that we did not take the risk of proceeding along that road.

We passed Madu and noticed large crowds at the station waiting for a train. We bought lunch packets from a nearby kiosk – again run by the army and had it in a shady place near a dried out lake on the Oyamaduwa Road.

The return journey was uneventful as we did not do any detours. We wanted to get back early as the kids had to have a good rest to be back at school the next day. We reached home by 6 with our hearts filled with lovely memories of Mannar.

Thanks for reading!