| A visiting German team became familiar to me | | | | tradition tells that when Adam was expelled from |
| when we were having dinner at the beach-end | | | | heaven, God put him on the peak to make the |
| restaurant at the Aquarius resort as we were | | | | shock less terrible. |
| sitting at adjoining tables. They were going to | | | | Adam's Peak is more easily seen from the sea |
| Adam's Peak in a few hours just before midnight | | | | than from land. Early Arab seafarers fascinated |
| as they could reach Adam's peak in the early | | | | with the pyramidal peak wrote of it as "the |
| morning hours of sunrise. | | | | highest mountain in the world". The early tribes |
| Adam's Peak is a beautiful place, which is more | | | | also believed it to be of great height and a native |
| divine than mere fun to visit. There were many | | | | legend tells "from Seyllan to Paradise is forty |
| visitors from around the world who visited | | | | miles, and the sound of the fountains of Paradise |
| Adam's Peak, which is jutting out, sharply | | | | is heard here". |
| skyward from the lush jungles of southwestern | | | | Many early world travelers including the Arab |
| Sri Lanka since historical times. This is also called | | | | traveler and explorer Ibn Batuta and the Venetian |
| Sri Pada, the 'Holy Footprint'. The mountain has | | | | Marco Polo visited the mountain, which had |
| the unique distinction of being sacred to the | | | | attained a legendary status as a mystic pilgrimage |
| followers of four of the world's major religions: | | | | destination. |
| Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. | | | | The German team's visit was well timed as the |
| Long before the development of these religions, | | | | pilgrimage commenced in December and continued |
| however, the aboriginal inhabitants of Sri Lanka, | | | | until the beginning of the monsoon rains in April. |
| the Veddas worshipped the Mountain. Their name | | | | Visitors might experience panic when they travel |
| for the peak was "Samanala Peak", Saman being | | | | along certain parts of the path leading up to the |
| one of the four guardian deities of the island. | | | | mountain, as they are extremely steep. |
| For Hindus, the name of the mountain is "Lord | | | | There is a mythical story prevailing that |
| Shiva's Holy Foot", because it was the | | | | Alexander the Great had fastened chains in |
| world-creative dance of the God Shiva that left | | | | certain sections to make the climb less arduous. |
| the giant footprint. | | | | But there is no evidence that Alexander the |
| According to Buddhist traditions from as early as | | | | Great, the Macedonian king, made it to this far |
| 300 BC, the real print actually was left by the | | | | south in Sri Lanka on his Asia travels, though his |
| Lord Buddha during the third and final of his | | | | empire extended in Asia up to the Indus River in |
| legendary visit to Sri Lanka. When Portuguese | | | | the Indian subcontinent. |
| Christians came to the island in the 16th century | | | | The area people still believe the rain - water taken |
| they claimed the impression to be the footprint of | | | | from the footprint has a wonderful healing power. |
| St. Thomas who, according to legend, first | | | | Adam's Peak is also called 'butterfly - mountain' |
| brought Christianity to Sri Lanka. | | | | because of the myriads of small butterflies that |
| And finally, the Arabs recorded it as being the | | | | fly from all over the island to die upon the sacred |
| solitary footprint of Adam where he stood for a | | | | mountain. |
| thousand years in penance on one foot. An Arab | | | | |