Hot water wells, Maha Oya, Sri Lanka.

email forwarded by jks weerasekara.

The village called Unuwatura bubula.
 with one  hot spring bubbling. 

Formerly unprotected, now there are around 6 such built wells in a very
clean enclosure.
 Over 25 local visitors from far off were bathing at noon when we visited.
 The temperature of the water  is around 55deg C, too hot to touch for too
long.

The small set of shacks seen is the  'town' in this sparse dry area.

Unuwaturabubula meaning 'Hot Springs' is close to MaOya one of the poorest
areas in the country; 
scarcity of a regular seasonal supply of rain disallows full time paddy
farming.

MaOya is 200 Km east of Kandy, east of Mahiyangana. 
The area where our ancient Aadivaasis' ( Veddhas)  yet habit. 

Almost  all  of them now  live normal lives as villagers, sending children
to school, not identifiable as Veddahs, unless tourists wish for an
exhibition! Dambana near Mahiyangana is the place to visit for that.

P.S.

This site was well known even in the 1970s. I have gone there with a party of doctors from the Batticaloa Hospital in the 1980s. There was a mud-track leading from Maha Oya junction, where our batch mate the late Kongahavita Pattividanage Somadasa had been a DMO in 1966. There were about 5 wells with small walls around. The water was too hot to pour on one's body.

PGV