DAY 02 of Katharagama Pada Yathra ; 01st of July, 2019

“The Katharagama Pada-yathra” is an annual pilgrimage done mainly by Hindu-Tamils in honor of Lord Kadhiratian (God of Katharagama). Some pilgrims walk all the way as far from Jaffna to the secret Devalaya at Katharagama, covering more than 500 kilometers on foot. The most difficult and dangerous part of this journey is no doubt the approximately 100km stretch from Okanda to Katagamuwa, where the pilgrims have to cross the Kumana & Yala National parks. The park gates are kept open for a limited number of days simultaneous to this Katharagama festive season, and the Wildlife Department officials, Security forces and Local Government authorities of the area operate a special program during this period providing pilgrims with drinking water and other assistance at various points within the jungle. There are also a few volunteer groups providing medical assistance and operating ‘dan-sel’ donating meals to the pilgrims. Other than that, all pilgrims old and young cross this forest where wild animals roam frequently with the pure faith that Gods would protect them till the end of the journey, chanting “Aero Hara”, and calling each other ‘Sami’ (Godly person) with the belief God in everyone who as come to help them on their journey. Our group of nine took five nights and six days to complete the journey from Okanda to Katharagama (apex. 110 km), as we went in a slow phase enjoying the Natures wonders and collecting non-degradable waste that ware been thrown here & there within the forest.

On our second day morning, we offered our poojas to the little shrine at Bagura, and set-off around 6.30 am. We had tea with Aggala as breakfast on the way. We did a bit of cleaning on the way, specially near the Kumana Bird Information Center where obviously park tourist were to be responsible for most of the pollution. We reached Kuda-Kebiliththa Dewalaya by noon. Having a river bath in the Kumbukkan river, we held a pooja at the dewalaya. Then we had our Lunch, and crossed the kumbukkana gate before it was closed for the day. We crossed the Kumbukkan-oya and spent the night on the shores of the stream. As we had leftovers from lunch, we only prepared a fresh vegetable salad more for dinner, and had a river-bath as we had plenty of time.