The foremost objective of visiting Nuara Eliya was to go to Seeta Eliya. Just a few kilometers before Nuara Eliya, is a temple dedicated to Lord Rama, his consort Sita and the mighty Hanuman. We visited ‘Ashok Vatika’, a beautiful garden on a hillock where Ravana captured Sita and kept her in custody. He made this garden extremely beautiful to seduce Sita in order to win her heart. ‘Ashok Vatika’ as decribed in the epic ‘Ramayana’ should have been very beautiful as they say because Nuara Eliya as it is today is such a breathtaking place and the climate is so wonderful. So it looks true that Ravana’s intention of keeping Sita in this far off place was manifold and the garden in which she was withheld must have been extremely beautiful with pretty flowers, waterfalls, streams and cool breeze….
Anyhow, it was mighty Hanuman who went there secretly in search of Sita and had found her in captivity. He then, with great relief informed Lord Rama that at last they had found Mother Sita in a very beautiful garden called ‘Ashok Vatika’ captured by the demon Ravana. Those readers who are unfamiliar please know that this story is from the great Indian epic ‘Ramayana’. We went to see the temple erected at the site of the stream where Sita used to bathe. It is a very basic temple made by Indians.
We begin with a few pictures of this temple in this photo gallery.
Ashok Vatika in Seeta Eliya
Paintings depicting Ramayana on the walls of the temple.
They say that these huge footprints are those of Lord Hanuman. I went upto that place and compared my foot with the giant size of the foot of Hanuman! The yellow markings around the huge holes are the footprints of Hanuman when he stepped on these rocks to gain entry into Ashok Vatika- as the story goes.
We leave Nuara Eliya.
Because of temperate climate, it is favourable for all types of vegetation to grow in abundance. Large amounts of vegetables are grown here and supplied to other cities. Fresh veggies for travellers to buy and take home!
Tea gardens occupy kilometers and kilometers and almost all slopes of small mountains and provide tons of fresh air in the atmosphere in return. I still remember the clean and fresh air that prevailed there. Most of Sri Lanka’s tea is produced here.
Tea Factory
Chamomile growing in the tea factory. Chamomile tea is an excellent anti-depressent and antioxidant.
Of this and that….
Turtle Conservation Centre
Green turtle and Ridley Turtles.
The previous ones are pictures of just four days old and four weeks old turtles respectively. Their eggs are protected by the conservationists in this sanctuary.This turtle is an adult one and many such turtles are rescued from the sea if they are in a crisis and if their bodies mangled by trawlers. They are taken care of by the caretakers inside. The others which are hatched here are nurtured and left in the sea at the right time with the help of the fishermen to live in their natural environment finally.
Adult turtle
Masks Museum
With this image, we are finishing the whole series of the picture gallery of Sri Lanka toured by me between 26th March to 4th April’13. Indeed it was a long trip but so much has been benefitted, innumerable insights received and deep learning have been bestowed by Param Guru Shri Mahavatar Babaji. I seek his blessings for all of us who read this blog with love and devotion towards God and also from the many sages and divine souls who are guiding all of us silently in our endeavours.
It is very important that we grow everyday in Spirit and become holy so that we can one day have communion with the Silent Spectator and our beloved sweetheart. The more we grow that love for Him inside, the more we liberate ourselves from all the sufferings that we have created for ourselves by forgetting the Divine Presence in us.
The aim of showcasing these pictures was not what it is normally meant to be. The approach has been very different. I just wanted to tell all the devotees of the many Sadgurus and Mahatmas who are following some daily practices all over the world that remember it is very important to take care of ourselves by not getting lost in this Maya. It is essential that we take charge of our lives and with our own hard efforts release ourselves from the lack of wisdom and Divine Light and learn to live each day in Divine ecstasy and deep love for God. The mentor and our Gurus will make us do all the difficult tasks to accomplish the higher goals of spiritual life. We will be given rough and tough lessons to do but the merciful God will also show us his Creation called the world even if we have no desire of it. If we roam in this world with holding the unseen, silent hand of God, we will never get drowned in the delusion or deception caused by our own ignorance.
The section ‘Of this and that’ is exactly that. With merciful God’s kindness, we got to see so many things in Sri Lanka unexpectedly as if it was pre-planned and we did not know about it before. Whether it were the hotels or the people or the driver, everything was so good, right and perfect. Everything was carried out so smoothly because the power behind all the planning and organizing was from the Higher Sources.
With my heart so full of thanks and loving gratitude, I thank God, Shri Mahavatar Babaji, other saints and endearing angels as well as all the people who have made this tour so successful. The pictures are mere documentation of a very extraordinary trip that I made and will be retold to myself from time to time in future……
Revised on 15.04.21