Sept 3, 2024 – Nuwara Eliya
The first half of the day was spent in reaching Nuwara Eliya and visiting the Sita Amman Kovil. Read all about that here – Exploring Nuwara Eliya and Sita Amman Kovil.
After getting the darshan of Maa Sita we went to the famous Damro Tea Factory at Bambarakelle. Sri Lankan tea is loved across the world and Damro Labookellie is part of the reason why that is. They have extensive tea gardens in Nuwara Eliya, the weather being just perfect for it.
We did the tour of the Tea factory and at the end of the tour, we got to taste a cup of tea. Very refreshing. After this short refreshing tea break, Rohan drove us to the Bhakt Hanuman Temple at Ramboda.
The Ramboda Waterfall
It had started to rain again, so we just took pictures of the Ramboda waterfall that’s on the way to the temple.
The picture I took doesn’t do justice to the waterfall. The one below that I took from Tripadvisor’s website shows the entire waterfall. Worth getting out of the car for if it’s not raining.
We then drove upto the Bhakt Hanuman Temple. It’s a steep climb and if you are short on breath and time, it’s best to take a tuk tuk or a taxi. From the place where Rohan parked the car to the temple is also a short climb. There is a restaurant on this level. To reach the temple you need to take a flight of stairs.
The views from the Ramboda Hill –
Hanuman and Ramboda Hills
In Tamil Ramboda is written as “RamPadai” which means Ram’s troops. It’s believed that Bhagwan Ram gathered all his troops in this location before the battle with Ravana. Hanuman also searched in these hills for Maa Sita before finding her in Ashok Vatika.
The Bhakt Hanuman temple was built by Chinmaya Mission in 1999. Bajrang Bali’s murti is 18 feet tall and as you look at him, the reverence for this Chiranjeevi just grows. He could have destroyed Ravana in an instant, but his devotion to Bhagwan Ram and his knowledge of the past, present and future didnt let him do that.
When we climbed up the stairs to reach the Hanuman Temple, it was 5.05 pm. The Panditji said we had to wait till 5.30 pm to get HIS darshan as they were making preparations for the Puja. We did three pradakshinas of Hanuman Ji’s temple and waited. The screen was removed exactly at 5.30 pm and Hanuman Chalisa started playing. A divine feeling, cannot be explained in words.
Krishna Dosai, Kandy
We drove back to Kandy and reached by about 8.30 pm. Instead of going to Balaji Dosai we decided to try Krishna Dosai restaurant that’s exactly on the other side of the road from Balaji. Sadly Krishna Dosai didnt work for us :(. The owner tried explaining about his constraints, but it didnt help. Would not suggest visiting this restaurant despite the high rating on google…. they have to improve their cleanliness standards and the taste of the dosais significantly.
Krishnan and I walked across to Balaji to eat a “good” dosa before returning to the hotel.
I clicked this picture as we were walking towards the car … serene Buddha watching over Kandy.
Do read an earlier blogpost of mine – Hold on, Hanuman is on the Way 🙏🏿
Footnote : If you need help organising your trip in Sri Lanka, reach out to Suren at Destination Sri Lanka. He put together a really nice itinerary and was very flexible with the schedule, changing it as we went along. Suren can be reached at +94 777 557 035. Attaching his visiting card below – 