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All Sri Lanka Rochor Adam's Peak

Adam's Peak

Once thought to be the Garden of Eden it holds a holy footprint claimed to belong to Adam, Buddha and Shiva.

Rochor, Sri Lanka

Added By
Brook Wilensky-Lanford
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It get’s busy at the top of Adam’s Peak. Creative Commons by dompling   http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwomthee/5582...
It get’s busy at the top of Adam’s Peak. Creative Commons by dompling   http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwomthee/5582...
  http://sripada.org/
  http://sripada.org/
Creative Commons by Felix Krohn   http://www.flickr.com/photos/kro_royal/469...
Top of Adam’s Peak   Resplendent Ceylon
Adam’s Peak from Afar   http://www.esmetravels.com/category/travel-blog/sri-lanka/page/8/
The Holy peak Sri Padaya viewed near Gal Wangediya   HasinthaWK / Atlas Obscura User
Sunrise at Adam’s Peak   Goksu / Atlas Obscura User
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About

In the Middle Ages, the Garden of Eden was commonly believed to exist on earth—probably on top of a mountain, or on an island, in order to have survived Noah’s Flood. For those looking to find the exact location of the biblical garden, “East” was a popular direction to start looking in.

In 1358, a Florentine monk believed he had found what he was looking for on a very tall mountain on the island of Sri Lanka. Located sixteen kilometers northeast of the city of Ratnapura, Adam' s Peak - also known as the Samanalakanda in Sinhalese and Sivanolipatha Malai in Tamil - rises 7,360 feet above sea level, and offers an unobstructed view over land and sea. Giovanni Marignolli, who traveled the East for 15 years, declared that this particular mountain was “so close to the earthly paradise that from its top one could see paradise were it not for the cloud cover that hides it from view.”

At the top, there is what looks like a fossilized footprint; Marignolli claimed it was Adam’s. The foot-shaped depression is known as the Sri Pada or "sacred footprint" and still holds religious meaning though the claim has gotten more contentious. The Hindus claim the footprint belongs to Shiva while the Buddhists claim the Sri Pada belongs to the Buddha, while Christian and Muslim Sri Lankan's agree that the print definitely belongs to Adam's ancient foot.

The mountain has been climbed for more than a thousand years, and boasts an illustrious list of famous pilgrims including the Arab traveler Ibn Batuta, and possibly, Alexander the Great. It remains a major shrine site and hiking trail today.

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Rites And Rituals

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Added By

Brook WilenskyLanford

Edited By

esmetravels, Blindcolour, MagnumPI, aribrown...

  • esmetravels
  • Blindcolour
  • MagnumPI
  • aribrown
  • Goksu
  • HasinthaWK
  • osanda

Published

August 8, 2011

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Sources
  • Introduction - https://www.weekendnotes.com/adams-peak-sri-pada/
  • Kuruwita Erathna Trail - http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/145066/
  • The Buddhist World - https://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/sri-pada.htm
Adam's Peak
Kuruwita Erathna Sripada Footpath
Rochor
Sri Lanka
6.809641, 80.499411
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