The yearly pilgrimage has just begun. The season when tourist and devotee alike trek many a weary miles to reach the dizzy heights of Sri Lanka’s most sacres mountain Sri Pada which is Sinhala means ‘Sacred Foot’. The pilgrimage is to pay homage to the Buddha, to redeem vows and also to witness the mystery and grandeur of the sunrise as it pierces the horizon in all its splendour. This is traditionally referred to by Buddhists as ‘Hirusevaya’.

Fact, legend and folklore are woven around Sri Pada (also referred to as Adam’s Peak) — 7,360 feet above sea level and situated in the Central Hills of Sri Lanka and which is also Universally known because it is the only mountain in the world which has the distinction of being sacred to the followers of three great faiths — the Buddhists, the Muslims and the Hindus.

The Buddhists believe that it was on the summit of this peak that the Gauthama Buddha set his Foot Print when He visited Sri Lanka for the third time. This act was a result of the humble request made to the Buddha by God Saman, the-Guardian Deity of Sri Pada. And this fact is recorded in the Mahawamsa- the ancient chronicle of the Sinhalese.

When the Teacher compassionate to the whole world, had preached the doctrine there, he rose, the Master and left the trace of His Foot Print plain to the sight on Samanalakuta the ancient name of Adam'a Peak which means Samanala mountain.

The Muslims believe that when Adam was driven out of Paradise, he alighted on this peak and stood on one foot till his sins were forgiven. Hence the reference to it as Adam’s Peak.

“The Blessed Foot Print – the Foot of our Father Adam is on a lofty black rock in a wide plateau”. The Hindus, on the other hand, claim it to be the Foot Print of God Siva. Agnostics say that this foot print is that of IEU ‘Primaeval Man’ and the Chinese say that it is the foot of FOE.

But whatever the beliefs or claims – Sri Pada, the cone shaped peak, the cone shaped peak which can be seen from the sea many miles away from the sea coast has come to be venerated by millions of people the world over. And during the pilgrim season which begins in January and ends in April, the young and the old mostly clad in spotless white, make their arduous climb shivering in the icy cold breeze in the fervent belief that the greater the hardship experienced, the greater the merit earned.