Namal Uyana (ironwood forest) is a place of historic and geographically importance in Sri Lanka. The place is unique due to two reasons: first, it is the largest ironwood forest in Asia; second, the largest pink quartz mountain in the island. Namal Uyana has won the attention of the visitor basically due to those two factors. It is also a place of historic importance.
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Directions:
Namal Uyana can be reached either on the Kandy - Jaffna Highway or on Kalawewa - Galewela road. If you take the Kandy-Jaffna Highway first go to Dambulla and then proceed along the Jaffna-Kandy Highway towards Anuradhapura and turn left at the Madatugama Junction . Drive along the Madatugama Road about 7 km. If you come from Colombo turn left at Galewela to the Kalawewa road. Proceed along until you come to the Thoniyagala junction, turn right to the Madatugama road and proceed about 7km.
Pic 2: The paved path through the foest makes his journey easy.
The Ironwood Tree
The Ironwood Tree
The Ironwood Tree
The ironwood tree (mesua ferrea) (na in Sinhalese) belongs to the family of Calophyllaceae. The tree is significant to Sri Lanka because it is also the national tree of Sri Lanka. The tree has been named 'ironwood' because of the hardness of its timber. The tree is also cultivated as an ornamental tree because of its shape, dark green foliage and pinkish young leaves. The ironwood tree thrives especially in the wet zone. The ironwood tree has been a common sight around the Buddhist temples from time immemorial. The reason for cultivating the ironwood tree in temple premises could be due to the fact that it is considered as a Bodhi. According to Theravada Buddhism a Bodhi is a tree under which a Lord Buddha has attained enlightenment. It is believed that four Lord Buddhas prior to the Gauthama Buddha , namely 'Mangala', 'Sumana' , 'Revatha' and 'Sobhitha' had attained enlightenment under an ironwood tree. Hence the ironwood tree is treated with awe and veneration by the Buddhists. There is a belief in the villages that well grown ironwood trees are abodes of various deities. So small shrines could be seen under such huge trees for offering alms to the deity in the tree.
There are number of village names in Sri Lanka which begin with the word 'na': Nagoda, Nawetiya , Nagollagama etc. are just a few to mention. It shows the extent of the ironwood tree associated with the Sri Lankan beside the 'bo-tree'.
The ironwood tree is one of the protected species of trees in Sri Lanka. The timber of the ironwood tree was used to construct Buddhist temples and monasteries in the ancient times. The wooden pillars of most of the ancient temples are ironwood. The best example for this is the Embekke Shrine (a shrine famous for its wood carvings) in Kandy.
Parts of the ironwood tree are also used for various Ayurvedic treatments. The medicinal value of the ironwood tree is explained in various ola-leaf books on indigenous medicine.
A rare species of chameleons.
More Interesting Facts About Namal Uyana
Namal Uyana was declared a national forest reserve by the then prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksha on May 8, 2005. Ven. Wanawasi Rahula Thero serves as the chief incumbent of the forest monastery and also the guardian of the ironwood sanctuary.
👉A web novel written by the young Sri Lankan writer Ruchi Tarin.
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The Venerable Thero arrived at the ironwood forest over two decades ago in order to fulfil a task, according to the thero, he had played in one of his previous births 800 years ago. He says he has some samsaric bond to guard this forest monastery. When the thero arrived at this place he had settled down in a little tree house on a mora tree. At the time the place was on the verge of destruction at the hands of the chena cultivators and loggers who were ignorant of the historical and the archaeological value of this sanctuary. By then a section of the forest had already been destroyed for agricultural purposes. The Venerable Thero made a tremendous effort to create public awareness about this place. He educated people on the value of this place. The venerable Thero's efforts saw some light with the government declaring the place as an archaeological reserve in 2001. That was a great victory for both the Thero and the country as a whole.
MORE HISTORICAL FACTS
Namal Uyana is the location of a ruined monastery which had received the royal patronage of king Dvanampiyatissa (307-267 BC). The granite foundations of very old buildings scattered in a section of the forest bear witness to this fact.
It was during the reign of king Dvanampiyatissa the historic arrival of Arahath Mahinda with a retinue of missionaries occurred. The monarch had a close relationship with the Emperor Asoka of India. Arahath Mahinda was none other than Emperor Asoka's own son. Later the emperor's daughter Nun-Sangamitta also arrived with a sapling of the Sri Maha Bodhi (under which the Gautama Buddha had attained enlightenment) in India. These two events show the strong relationship the two monarchs had between them. This incident could be described as the key turning point in the history of the island nation.
A HUMAN SANCTUARY
At the beginning of the 8th century a section of the ironwood forest became what probably was the world's oldest human sanctuary- a place where people who are in danger from other people can go to be safe. Anyone fleeing their enemies or on the run from even the king was entitled to sanctuary in this forest which was under the sole jurisdiction of Buddhist monks. The king had no right to arrest such person. 😟According to some legends the outlaws and the other persecuted seeking sanctuary in Namal Uyana were transformed into Na-trees. There is also a belief that the ironwood trees in the sanctuary had been planted by these people who sought sanctuary.
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