Places that have interested me have been low lying areas, marshes, forests, mountains and sanctuaries. It is like meditation; it is also a realisation — how much nature has given us and how little time we have to appreciate all these wonderful gifts.
This time it was immediately after the Poson Poya that we decided to visit Madolduwa.
Madolduwa is the island portrayed in Martin Wickramasinghe’s famous novel of the same name. To me however, it was not literature and it was not history; it was a whole new sense of well being that filled me.
We left home around 10.30 a.m. and drove along the southern coast admiring the beautiful scenery. It was as if I was looking at a canvas — a vastness of blue and green.
Koggala is about 132 km from Colombo and since Madolduwa is situated in the village of Koggala, it takes about three hours to reach the destination. Also, it is a 15 minutes drive from Galle to this village. Koggala is also the birth place of renowned novelist, Martin Wickramasinghe.
At Koggala we saw a few sign boards in bold letters directing visitors to Madolduwa. We stopped at one of those sign boards to ask for directions, when a young man came up to our car and began to talk without pausing to take a breath. He told us that he had a dingy boat and that he can take us to Madolduwa and four other islands for Rs 3500. We agreed and he got into our car. His name was Ruwan. He was in his 30s and was about five feet tall. He wore an old pair of shorts and a stained t-shirt. He guided us to the boat yard where his boat was anchored.
On the way he kept bragging about his boat. We also got a change to listen to his life story. He told us that he was born in this village and that his mother, brother and niece were saved by him and his father during the tsunami. He described the traumatic time of how they lost all their possessions and were only left with the clothes on their bodies. He began to cry as he relived the agony.
He told us all about the island which he seemed to know like the back of his hand. He said there were eight islands altogether, but according to the time on our hands, we would be able to visit only about four islands — Madolduwa, Kuruluduwa, Thambigeduwa and Kothduwa.
Madolduwa is the most famous island of all eight and is about two to three acres in extent. Situated in one of Sri Lanka’s largest natural lakes, Koggala oya, which is also known as Pol Oya, many people visit Madolduwa as they do not know about the other beautiful islands which are in this large lake, he told us.
We came to the boat yard where Ruwan’s boat was. Ruwan spoke so much about Kothduwa that we decided to visit that island first. Ruwan anchored the boat at the entrance to the island where there was a small wooden bridge. It was such a beautiful place; we felt as if we were in another world.
Kothduwa
This little island is also known as Kurunduduwa (Cinnamon Island) and Ganduwa. It has a great deal of cinnamon grown in it and is inhabited by four families. Kothduwa is about two and a half acres in extent. The water surrounding the island was green. The island itself is somewhat hilly with a rich diversity of vegetation. After we entered the island, a narrow foot path took us to the middle of the island. The foot path was sheltered by trees. There were herbs, bushes and ferns on either side of the pathway and an endless chirping of birds who were nesting there. We also sensed the fragrance of wild flowers and cinnamon.
Incidentally, this island is named Kothduwa because it looks like a Dagaba from far away. A few more minutes of walking brought us to one of the four families living there. The father, mother and daughter came out of the house and greeted us. They were innocent, humble people. The father whose name was Sunny, was peeling cinnamon sticks. He said that this was their livelihood and explained how he produced cinnamon sticks. He had three self-made instruments; to peel the stick, to remove the inner peel and finally to cut the bark; in order — kokatta, thalana kokatta and a small knife.
They lived in a small cottage and there was a small cadjan hut where the cinnamon sticks are put to dry. He also showed us how they pound the cinnamon in a wooden mortar. This powder, he said, is used for cooking as well as for cinnamon tea. The cinnamon plants have a long life and when it is cut new shoots sprout from the root. Peeled sticks are used as fire wood.
Only eleven people live on this island and they travel to the mainland by boat. The children also go by boat to school. It was such a different lifestyle. For instance if any of their relatives wanted to visit them, they had to hoot from the mainland. Thereafter one of the inhabitants will go in the boat to bring them ashore.
These people live in a very calm environment which is not polluted at all. It is a quiet and easy going lifestyle. The little island provides them with everything they need: firewood, fruits, vegetables, coconut, breadfruit, jack and spices. There is much fish in the water. So they are self-sufficient. They offered us cinnamon tea which was very stimulating. They live a very happy and a peaceful life with no competition among them and their needs are limited and looked after by nature.
Kathduwa
It is said this island was used to land sea planes during the Second World War and even today it is used to land sea planes. We saw this island while moving.
Kuruluduwa (Madin Duwa)
This little island is called Kuruluduwa because of the number of birds nesting there. Visitors are not allowed to set foot on this island. However, we saw thousands of birds: migratory birds, wetland birds, common and widespread species such as the house sparrow and rare, threatened and very localised ones, all while we were still on the boat. The best time to watch birds is early in the morning or in the evening when the birds gather in the island. This is a very lush island with an unimaginable amount of foliage.
Diyamera island
We saw this small island while moving.
Thambigeduwa
We stopped here for a few minutes. Though it is called an island, it is just a big piece of Kabok with a few Kirala trees with exposed roots. The Kabok is covered with lot of sea shells (bella) and snails.
Ruwan told us how it got its name. It is said that a cunning person made a forged deed and went to a Muslim and told him about a beautiful island which is very valuable. He had said that many people are interested in this. The greedy man bought this without noticing that it was for Rs. 200,000 and when he went to see the island after that, he realised it was only a useless pile of kabok and that he was cheated. At that point he fell dead. This is how it got its name as Thambigeduwa.
Weduwa
Ruwan said there is a temple wherein many monks reside. We didn’t have enough time to explore this so we had to make do with just looking at it as we passed. He said people go there to meditate.
Madolduwa
Finally, we went to Madolduwa, the place I really wanted to see. When we stepped onto Madolduwa, I felt as if I had stepped back in time. I remembered, all that took place on this island in Martin Wickramasinghe’s book. I remembered the vegetable plots the two boys (Jinna and Upali) had cultivated and the strange light and boat they saw. There were very old trees and many other species of plants. As we went to the middle of the island we saw an old Sekkuwa. We wondered how this was brought to this island. Ruwan told us that many years ago some people had made coconut oil there. However, there were only a few old coconut palms remaining.
After spending about half an hour on the island we returned and headed home.
Back on the mainland I stood and turned towards the islands — the sun was setting, the blue sky was now golden. The golden rays were dancing on the water; a few birds were flying back to their nests and a few fishermen were fishing from their boats. It was truly a magnificent sight. I felt like not wanting to return home. It seemed as if this place had a magnetism — a magnetism that was pulling me back. I did not want to return home.
It was a truly wonderful experience. And how much are we missing when we live inside our concrete houses, I thought.