Sri Lanka’s Aborigines’, or the Veddha’s meaning “people
of the forest” of Sri Lanka has
a history much older than prince Vijaya’s landing in 5th century BC and the
origins of the Sinhala race. Archaeological evidence suggest that modern Veddha’s Neolithic ancestors inhabited this island as far back as
10,000 BC with. Once roaming the Great Plains’ of the north central region to
the central mountains, today the remaining Veddha population are confined to Dambana which is close to Maduru
oya sanctuary.
VEDDAS IN DAMBANA
Today, the Veddha’s
confined to a reserve in the district of Monaragala and are more contemporary
as far as at least the cloths and commerce are concerned. A perfect place to
observe Veddha is their last remaining village of Dambana and organise a camp
close to or within the reservation and Veddha’s will be more than glad to show
you their ways of life, with an axe hanging from their shoulders and a bow slung
behind them, gives you the impression nothing much has changed since the dawn
of time for these proud warriors of the forest.
RECOMONDED ITINERARIES IN DABANA
Day 1
You
will be transferred from Kandy 22 kms on Mahinyangana road and then another 18
kms inland by a van where you will be starting the trek through home spice
gardens, vegetable fields, rice fields, tea plantation, pigmy forests and
plateaus. The trek is approximately about 8 kms one way and its 16 kms in
total. At the end of the trail you would be able to swim at a base of a nice
waterfall. You are expected to encounter with species such as Deer, Barking
deer, Deer monkey and various types of Lizards. In this trek you will be
climbing from 1200 ft to 1850 ft. On the way back you will be able to do some
bird watching.
In
the night you will be staying in a mobile tented camp in the Knuckles mountain
range above 1200 ft from the sea level.
Day
2
After
breakfast you will be trekking through tea plantation, pine forest, a typical
Kandyan village and rice fields. This is a circular trek which is approximately
about 18 kms. Village culture and bird watching are some of the highlights of
this trip. At this end of this trek you will be transferred to Veddha Village
to camp overnight which is 3 hours drive. Enjoy the campout with Veddhas with a
Bon fire.
Day
3
After
breakfast at the Veddha camp experience Veddha’s way of life. Witness Veddha
dance, demonstration of traditional hunting methods and Baby cradling. Then
drive about 1 ½ hours to do a 4 kms trek to a waterfall. After a swim in the
waterfall enjoy a village lunch and then be transferred to kandy by 6 pm.
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