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
